DouayRheims(i)
1 In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind.
2 Then the king commanded to call together the diviners and the wise men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans: to declare to the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in mind I know not what I saw.
4 And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king, live for ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.
5 And the king, answering, said to the Chaldeans: The thing is gone out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream, and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.
6 but if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you shall receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour: therefore, tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said: Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said: I know for certain, that you seek to gain time, since you know that the thing is gone from me.
9 If, therefore, you tell me not the dream, there is one sentence concerning you, that you have also framed a lying interpretation, and full of deceit, to speak before me till the time pass away. Tell me, therefore, the dream, that I may know that you also give a true interpretation thereof.
10 Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said: There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king; neither doth any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man, or Chaldean.
11 For the thing that thou asketh, O king, is difficult: nor can any one be found that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.
12 Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath, commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.
13 And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain: and Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be put to death.
14 Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the king's army, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.
15 And he asked him that had received the orders of the king, why so cruel a sentence was gone forth from the face of the king. And when Arioch had told the matter to Daniel,
16 Daniel went in, and desired of the king, that he would give him time to resolve the question, and declare it to the king.
17 And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias, his companions:
18 To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of the God of heaven, concerning this secret, and that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,
20 And speaking, he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude are his.
21 And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms, and establisheth them: giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding:
22 He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.
23 To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee: because thou hast given me wisdom and strength: and now thou hast shewn me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us the king's discourse.
24 After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will tell the solution to the king.
25 Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king, and said to him: I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Juda, that will resolve the question to the king.
26 The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltassar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?
27 And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The secret that the king desireth to know, none of the wise men, or the philosophers, or the diviners, or the soothsayers, can declare to the king.
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pass in the latter times. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:
29 Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pass.
30 To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom that I have more than all men alive: but that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and thou mightest know the thought of thy mind.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look thereof was terrible.
32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass.
33 And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of a summer's threshing floor, and they were carried away by the wind: and there was no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.
37 Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:
38 And all places wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the field do dwell: he hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things under thy power: thou, therefore, art the head of gold.
39 And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break, and destroy all these.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but yet it shall take its origin from the iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay: the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall be mingled indeed together with the seed of man, but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.
44 But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never by destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever.
45 According as thou sawest, that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and broke in pieces the clay and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shewn the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is faithful.
46 Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.
47 And the king spoke to Daniel, and said: Verily, your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things: seeing thou couldst discover this secret.
48 Then the king advanced Daniel to a high station, and gave him many and great gifts: and he made him governor over all the provinces of Babylon: and chief of the magistrates over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, over the works of the province of Babylon: but Daniel himself was in the king's palace.
(13:1) Now there was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim:
(13:2) And he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a bery beautiful woman, and one that feared God.
(13:3) For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses.
(13:4) Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honourable of them all.
(13:5) And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: That iniquity came out from Babylon, from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people.
(13:6) These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that hand any maters of judgment came to them.
(13:7) And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband's orchard.
(13:8) And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her:
(13:9) And they perverted their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments.
(13:10) So they were both wounded with the love of her, yet they did not make known their grief one to the other.
(13:11) For they were ashamed to declare to one another their lust, being desirous to have to do with her:
(13:12) And they watched carefully every day to see her. And one said to the other:
(13:13) Let us now go home, for it is dinner time. So going out, they departed one from another.
(13:14) And turning back again, they came both to the same place: and asking one another the cause, they acknowledged their lust: and then they agreed together upon a time, when they might find her alone.
(13:15) And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard: for it was hot weather.
(13:16) And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves, and were beholding her.
(13:17) So she said to the maids: Bring me oil, and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me.
(13:18) And they did as she bade them: and they shut the doors of the orchard, and went out by a back door to fetch what she had commanded them, and they knew not that the elders were hid within.
(13:19) Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said:
(13:20) Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us, and lie with us.
(13:21) But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids form thee.
(13:22) Susanna sighed, and said: I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands.
(13:23) But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.
(13:24) With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the elders also cried out against her.
(13:25) And one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it.
(13:26) So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door, to see what was the matter.
(13:27) But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed: for never had there been any such word said of Susanna. And on the next day,
(13:28) When the people were come to Joakim, her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death.
(13:29) And they said before the people: Send to Susanna, daughter of Helcias, the wife of Joakim. And presently they sent.
(13:30) And she came with her parents, and children and all her kindred.
(13:31) Now Susanna was exceeding delicate, and beautiful to behold.
(13:32) But those wicked men commanded that her face should be uncovered, (for she was covered) that so at least they might be satisfied with her beauty.
(13:33) Therefore her friends, and all her acquaintance wept.
(13:34) But the two elders rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head.
(13:35) And she weeping, looked kup to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord.
(13:36) And the elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, ans sent away the maids from her.
(13:37) Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her.
(13:38) But we that were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together.
(13:39) And him indeed we could not take, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors, he leaped out:
(13:40) But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing we are witnesses.
(13:41) The multitude believed them, as being the elders, and the judges of the people, and they condemned her to death.
(13:42) Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass,
(13:43) Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me.
(13:44) And the Lord heard her voice.
(13:45) And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel:
(13:46) And he cried out with a loud voice: I am clear from the blood of this woman.
(13:47) Then all the people turning themselves towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken?
(13:48) But he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned a daughter of Israel?
(13:49) Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her.
(13:50) So all the people turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: Come, and sit thou down among us, and shew it us: seeing God hath given thee the honour of old age.
(13:51) And Daniel said to the people: Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them.
(13:52) So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them, and said to him: O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out, which thou hast committed before:
(13:53) In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill.
(13:54) Now then if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together: He said: Under a mastic tree.
(13:55) And Daniel said: Welll hast thou lide against thy own head: for behold the angel of God having recieved the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two.
(13:56) And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived tee, and lust hath perverted thy heart:
(13:57) Thus did you do to the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness.
(13:58) Now, therefore, tell me, under what tree didst thou take them conversing together. And he answered: Under a holm tree.
(13:59) And Daniel said to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you.
(13:60) With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him.
(13:61) And they rose up against the two elders, (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth) and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbour,
(13:62) To fulfil the law of Moses: and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
(13:63) But Helcias, and his wife, praised God, for their daughter, Susanna, with Joakim, her husband, and all her kindred, because there was no dishonesty found in her.
(13:64) And Daniel became great in the sight of the people from that day, and thence forward.
(13:1) Now there was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim:
(13:2) And he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a bery beautiful woman, and one that feared God.
(13:3) For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses.
(13:4) Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honourable of them all.
(13:5) And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: That iniquity came out from Babylon, from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people.
(13:6) These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that hand any maters of judgment came to them.
(13:7) And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband's orchard.
(13:8) And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her:
(13:9) And they perverted their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments.
(13:10) So they were both wounded with the love of her, yet they did not make known their grief one to the other.
(13:11) For they were ashamed to declare to one another their lust, being desirous to have to do with her:
(13:12) And they watched carefully every day to see her. And one said to the other:
(13:13) Let us now go home, for it is dinner time. So going out, they departed one from another.
(13:14) And turning back again, they came both to the same place: and asking one another the cause, they acknowledged their lust: and then they agreed together upon a time, when they might find her alone.
(13:15) And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard: for it was hot weather.
(13:16) And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves, and were beholding her.
(13:17) So she said to the maids: Bring me oil, and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me.
(13:18) And they did as she bade them: and they shut the doors of the orchard, and went out by a back door to fetch what she had commanded them, and they knew not that the elders were hid within.
(13:19) Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said:
(13:20) Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us, and lie with us.
(13:21) But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids form thee.
(13:22) Susanna sighed, and said: I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands.
(13:23) But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.
(13:24) With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the elders also cried out against her.
(13:25) And one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it.
(13:26) So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door, to see what was the matter.
(13:27) But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed: for never had there been any such word said of Susanna. And on the next day,
(13:28) When the people were come to Joakim, her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death.
(13:29) And they said before the people: Send to Susanna, daughter of Helcias, the wife of Joakim. And presently they sent.
(13:30) And she came with her parents, and children and all her kindred.
(13:31) Now Susanna was exceeding delicate, and beautiful to behold.
(13:32) But those wicked men commanded that her face should be uncovered, (for she was covered) that so at least they might be satisfied with her beauty.
(13:33) Therefore her friends, and all her acquaintance wept.
(13:34) But the two elders rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head.
(13:35) And she weeping, looked kup to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord.
(13:36) And the elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, ans sent away the maids from her.
(13:37) Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her.
(13:38) But we that were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together.
(13:39) And him indeed we could not take, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors, he leaped out:
(13:40) But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing we are witnesses.
(13:41) The multitude believed them, as being the elders, and the judges of the people, and they condemned her to death.
(13:42) Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass,
(13:43) Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me.
(13:44) And the Lord heard her voice.
(13:45) And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel:
(13:46) And he cried out with a loud voice: I am clear from the blood of this woman.
(13:47) Then all the people turning themselves towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken?
(13:48) But he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned a daughter of Israel?
(13:49) Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her.
(13:50) So all the people turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: Come, and sit thou down among us, and shew it us: seeing God hath given thee the honour of old age.
(13:51) And Daniel said to the people: Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them.
(13:52) So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them, and said to him: O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out, which thou hast committed before:
(13:53) In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill.
(13:54) Now then if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together: He said: Under a mastic tree.
(13:55) And Daniel said: Welll hast thou lide against thy own head: for behold the angel of God having recieved the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two.
(13:56) And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived tee, and lust hath perverted thy heart:
(13:57) Thus did you do to the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness.
(13:58) Now, therefore, tell me, under what tree didst thou take them conversing together. And he answered: Under a holm tree.
(13:59) And Daniel said to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you.
(13:60) With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him.
(13:61) And they rose up against the two elders, (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth) and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbour,
(13:62) To fulfil the law of Moses: and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
(13:63) But Helcias, and his wife, praised God, for their daughter, Susanna, with Joakim, her husband, and all her kindred, because there was no dishonesty found in her.
(13:64) And Daniel became great in the sight of the people from that day, and thence forward.