Daniel 5 Cross References - BSB

¹ Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. ² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ³ Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. ⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing, ⁶ his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together. ⁷ The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” ⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him. ⁹ Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered. ¹⁰ Hearing the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen entered the banquet hall. “O king, may you live forever!” she said. “Do not let your thoughts terrify you, or your face grow pale. ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king, ¹² did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.” ¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom. ¹⁵ Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this inscription and interpret it for me, but they could not give its interpretation. ¹⁶ But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” ¹⁷ In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the inscription for the king and interpret it for him. ¹⁸ As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor. ¹⁹ Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him. ²¹ He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes. ²² But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription. ²⁵ Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. ²⁶ And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ²⁷ TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. ²⁸ PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” ²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

³ In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.

⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror. ⁵ They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

¹⁴ The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.

³⁹ While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.

⁵⁷ I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁰ For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

²¹ On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”

⁷ “Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

²⁵ In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. ²⁶ Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷ And Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

¹³ As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD.

¹⁵ The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

²⁰ After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

¹⁶ King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁰ In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁸ who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials.

⁷ King Cyrus also brought out the articles belonging to the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus king of Persia had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ⁹ This was the inventory: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 silver utensils, ¹⁰ 30 gold bowls, 410 matching silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles. ¹¹ In all, there were 5,400 gold and silver articles. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

¹⁶ Then I said to the priests and to all this people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Look, very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying to you a lie. ¹⁷ Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin? ¹⁸ If they are indeed prophets and the word of the LORD is with them, let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, not be taken to Babylon. ¹⁹ For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the bases, and the rest of the articles that remain in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²² ‘They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”

¹⁹ The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

² And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.

⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king,

¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

¹⁸ As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.

²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

²³ Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.” ²⁴ And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. ⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; ⁶ they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; ⁷ they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats. ⁸ Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. ¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; ¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths. ¹⁸ Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

¹⁹ To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains? ²⁰ To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple?

⁸ I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.

¹⁷ But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.

⁶ They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship. ⁷ They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.

⁴ They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter. ⁵ Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.” ⁶ There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power. ⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. ⁸ But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood! ⁹ Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up. ³ So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. ⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded: ⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.” ⁷ Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and all kinds of music, the people of every nation and language would fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁸ At this time some astrologers came forward and maliciously accused the Jews, ⁹ saying to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, may you live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the golden statue, ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace. ¹² But there are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—who have ignored you, O king, and have refused to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.” ¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up? ¹⁵ Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?” ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

⁸ For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal. ⁹ Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness. ¹⁰ And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands. ¹¹ I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts. ¹² I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them. ¹³ I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

²⁹ Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

²⁴ It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen. ²⁵ Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity. ²⁶ And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. ²⁷ There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.” ²⁸ When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁰ Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

³⁰ Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths, ³¹ God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.

¹ A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

³³ At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.

¹⁵ Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this inscription and interpret it for me, but they could not give its interpretation.

²⁴ Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription. ²⁵ Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. ²⁶ And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ²⁷ TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. ²⁸ PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

¹⁴ having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!

² For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

²⁰ A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. ²¹ Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him. ²² He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword. ²³ He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand. ²⁴ Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack. ²⁵ For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, ²⁶ rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield. ²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,

¹⁹ For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build. ²⁰ Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure. ²¹ Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure. ²² In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him. ²³ When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats. ²⁴ Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him. ²⁵ It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him. ²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. ²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

¹⁸ Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. ¹⁹ How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors! ²⁰ Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

²⁷ None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.

⁷ Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt. ⁸ Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

² A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” ³ Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. ⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.

³ Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!

¹⁷ Every hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water.

⁷ And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

¹ In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.

¹⁹ At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,

⁵ I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.

¹⁹ For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,” replied Belteshazzar, “may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!

⁹ Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered. ¹⁰ Hearing the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen entered the banquet hall. “O king, may you live forever!” she said. “Do not let your thoughts terrify you, or your face grow pale.

²⁸ Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”

¹⁰ She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

¹² Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.

⁸ In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

⁴² Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”

⁷ The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.

¹⁷ for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”

¹¹ Therefore, flee at once to your home! I said I would richly reward you, but instead the LORD has denied your reward.”

²⁵ Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.”

¹ After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him.

² And all of Mordecai’s powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? ³ For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

⁹ For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck. ¹⁰ Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense, ²⁶ who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’

¹³ You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.

¹¹ I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.

² So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

⁶ But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁶ So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. ⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, and they could not interpret it for me.

¹⁴ He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.

¹⁶ But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

² and over them three administrators, including Daniel, to whom these satraps were accountable so that the king would not suffer loss. ³ Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

⁹ These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.

¹² So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror! ¹³ You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate. ¹⁴ Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside. ¹⁵ This is what they are to you—those with whom you have labored and traded from youth—each one strays in his own direction; not one of them can save you.

²⁷ Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.

⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, and they could not interpret it for me.

¹¹ Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step. ¹² His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side. ¹³ It devours patches of his skin; the firstborn of death devours his limbs. ¹⁴ He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.

¹⁴ He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.

⁶ Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman in labor.

⁶ Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

²⁴ We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.

⁶ Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

⁶ his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

⁸ So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.

³ When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

¹⁷ During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.” ¹⁸ And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

²⁰ As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed. ²¹ And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed. ²² “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.”

³¹ Bathsheba bowed facedown in homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

⁴ You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.

³⁴ So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

⁴ Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

⁹ saying to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, may you live forever!

⁶ So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever!

²¹ Then Daniel replied, “O king, may you live forever!

¹¹ One night both the chief baker and I had dreams, and each dream had its own meaning. ¹² Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually. ¹³ And it happened to us just as he had interpreted: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.” ¹⁴ So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁷ And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”

¹¹ What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁸ But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream: ⁹ “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation.

¹⁸ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.

²² And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!”

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹⁶ One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.

⁹ Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

¹ Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions. ² She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. So she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind. ³ And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain.

¹ Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. So she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind. ² And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him to explain.

³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellence in whom all my delight resides.

²⁶ A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.

²⁷ A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit.

⁷ The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

⁸ But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:

³ Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

¹ When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

¹⁶ Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover. ²⁰ All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves.

⁷ And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem.

¹⁶ So the exiles did as proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, each of them identified by name, to represent their families. On the first day of the tenth month they launched the investigation,

²¹ And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

²⁵ Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”

² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

¹³ Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”

¹ In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one that had appeared to me earlier.

²⁷ I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

¹ After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him.

³ So Jesus’ brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples there may see the works You are doing.

¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king, ¹² did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. ¹¹ And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

¹² So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!

³ he said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it.” ⁴ Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” ⁵ The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble. ⁶ But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation.” ⁸ The king replied, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time, because you see that my word is final. ⁹ If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.” ¹⁰ The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer. ¹¹ What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

⁷ The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” ⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.

⁸ “We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

⁷ The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.

²³ that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

¹³ Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁶ But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And although Naaman urged him to accept it, he refused.

²⁶ But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?

⁴⁶ I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.

²⁰ But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

⁸ When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

¹⁷ I will thank the LORD for His righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

² I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

² How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!

⁸ But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!

³⁵ to deny a man justice before the Most High,

³⁸ Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

³⁷ You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. ³⁸ Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

² I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

¹⁷ This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’

²² you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth. ²³ And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’ ²⁴ This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king: ²⁵ You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

²² My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”

⁴⁸ However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

¹³ About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions.

¹⁹ So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

¹⁴ The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.

⁹ behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰ Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. ¹² But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all the words I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴ For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’”

⁵ By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. ⁶ So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him. ⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

¹² This response made the king so furious with anger that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the decree went out that the wise men were to be executed, and men went to look for Daniel and his friends to execute them.

⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:

⁶ And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”

²⁰ and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace. ²¹ So they were tied up, wearing robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and they were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.

²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”

²² you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

⁵ and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”

¹ Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.

¹⁷ Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go.

¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

⁶ Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people on their way as they departed?

¹⁴ But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.

¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low. ¹² Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.

⁵ Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured that he will not go unpunished.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹² How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations. ¹³ You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north. ¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” ¹⁵ But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. ¹⁶ Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble, ¹⁷ who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”

¹ “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.

¹⁸ Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”

¹⁵ “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”

¹⁸ Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

⁶ For this is what the LORD says: The allies of Egypt will fall, and her proud strength will collapse. From Migdol to Syene they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Lord GOD.

³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” ³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. ³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” ³³ At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.

¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹³ But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

¹⁴ Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth. ¹⁶ But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

³ Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. ⁴ They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. ⁵ They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves, ⁶ so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. ⁷ They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.

¹⁷ May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace. ¹⁸ May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.

²⁴ Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

²⁵ You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

²³ but he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.

¹² And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD.

¹⁰ Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

⁴ because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

³² For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

⁴⁷ That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

¹⁷ If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, ¹⁰ then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” ¹³ When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.

²⁹ But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” ³³ When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.

⁶ But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

¹⁷ Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

⁷ Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

¹⁹ and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

²³ Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”

¹ After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, ² carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue. ³ When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. ⁴ But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained. ⁵ That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold. ⁶ Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors. ⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon our god Dagon.” ⁸ So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” “It must be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel. ⁹ But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.

¹⁰ You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

¹⁰ The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

⁴ Does He not see my ways and count my every step?

¹⁴ If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath, ¹⁵ all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

²⁹ When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. ¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; ¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.

³ You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

⁴ When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.

²⁴ A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?

¹² For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—

¹⁰ “Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.

¹⁹ They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.

²³ Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

⁵ This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

²³ I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.

²⁹ Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

² “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

⁵ By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has grown proud because of it.

¹⁷ Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.

¹⁰ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,

² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ³ Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

⁴ Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright—but the righteous will live by faith—

¹⁸ What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. ¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

²⁵ Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

²⁸ ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ ²⁹ Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

⁴ So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil.

¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

⁵ The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months. ⁶ And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.

⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

¹⁴ When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

¹ This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received: ² Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. ³ I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph. ⁴ Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war. ⁵ They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country. ⁶ Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt. ⁸ Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear. ⁹ Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. ¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless. ¹² I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger. ¹⁴ Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.

¹ This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. ² A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” ³ Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. ⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror. ⁵ They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields! ⁶ For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. ⁷ When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” ⁸ Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. ⁹ Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” ¹⁰ O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.

¹ “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate. ² Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams. ³ Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.” ⁴ Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is His name—is the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ “Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms. ⁶ I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke. ⁷ You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome. ⁸ So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’ ⁹ These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells. ¹⁰ You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ ¹¹ But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.

¹¹ And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. ¹² But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

¹ This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans: ² “Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’ ³ For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.” ⁴ “In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God. ⁵ They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. ⁶ My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. ⁷ All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’ ⁸ Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock. ⁹ For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed. ¹⁰ Chaldea will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the LORD. ¹¹ “Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions, ¹² your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who bore you will be disgraced. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds. ¹⁴ Line up in formation around Babylon, all you who draw the bow! Shoot at her! Spare no arrows! For she has sinned against the LORD. ¹⁵ Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her. ¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land. ¹⁷ Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” ¹⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. ²⁰ In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve. ²¹ Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD. ²² “The noise of battle is in the land—the noise of great destruction. ²³ How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! ²⁴ I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD. ²⁵ The LORD has opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come against her from the farthest border. Break open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain. Devote her to destruction; leave her no survivors. ²⁷ Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment. ²⁸ Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple. ²⁹ Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets, and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD. ³¹ “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you. ³² The arrogant one will stumble and fall with no one to pick him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities to consume all those around him.” ³³ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon. ³⁵ A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men. ³⁶ A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror. ³⁷ A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered. ³⁸ A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols. ³⁹ So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there. ⁴¹ Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth. ⁴² They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. ⁴⁴ Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?” ⁴⁵ Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them. ⁴⁶ At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.

² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

¹⁸ that have been known for ages.’

⁶ let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.

⁹ Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

³⁰ They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”

¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰ Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

¹¹ But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ¹² ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.

¹³ his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.

¹⁷ Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.

² A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”

¹ This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: ² “I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

³¹ and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

²⁸ So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

³ Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a ram with two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later. ⁴ I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

²⁰ The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.

¹ In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes, a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—

⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror. ⁵ They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields! ⁶ For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. ⁷ When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” ⁸ Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. ⁹ Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

¹¹ Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.

³¹ One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.

¹ Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. ² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

¹ Now it pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,