Daniel 5 Cross References - ISV

¹ Belshazzar’s FestivalKing Belshazzar put on a great festival for a thousand of his officials. He joined all one thousand of them in getting drunk. ² Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them. ³ As ordered, they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the sanctuary of God’s Temple in Jerusalem, and the king, his officials, his wives, and mistresses drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
⁵ The Handwriting on the WallAt that moment, humanlike fingers of a hand appeared near the lamp stand of the royal palace and wrote on the plaster of the wall. ⁶ While the king watched the back of the hand as it was writing, his facial expression changed. Utterly frightened, he lost control of his own bowels and his knees knocked together.
⁷ The king cried out to bring in enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He announced to the advisors of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me its meaning will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around his neck, and will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
⁸ Then all the king’s advisors came in, but they were unable to read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more frightened, and his facial expression showed it. His officials also were thrown into confusion.
¹⁰ Hearing the voices of the king and his officials, the queen entered the banquet hall. “Your majesty, live forever,” the queen said. “Don’t be frightened by your thoughts or allow your facial expression to show it. ¹¹ There’s a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the holy gods. During your grandfather’s reign, he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom, like that of the gods. Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar—your kingly predecessor—appointed him to be chief administrator over the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, ¹² because he was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and understanding, along with an ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. His name is Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar. Call for Daniel, and he will reveal the meaning of the writing.”
¹³ Daniel Interprets the HandwritingThen Daniel was brought before the king. The king spoke up and told Daniel, “So you are Daniel, one of the Judean exiles whom my grandfather the king brought from Judah! ¹⁴ I’ve heard about you, that a spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom. ¹⁵ Take note that the advisors and enchanters were brought before me to read the writing and explain its meaning, but they were unable to do so. ¹⁶ However, I’ve heard that you can provide meaning and interpretation, and that you can solve difficult problems. If you are able to read the writing and report its meaning, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
¹⁷ At this, Daniel answered, speaking directly to the king, “Let your gifts and rewards be given to someone else. However, I’ll read the writing for the king and tell him its meaning. ¹⁸ Your majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty, as well as greatness, glory, and splendor. ¹⁹ And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages revered and feared him. He executed those whom he desired to execute, he spared those whom he wished to spare, he promoted those whom he desired to promote, and he humbled those whom he wished to humble. ²⁰ But when he became arrogant and his spirit hardened, he was removed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. ²¹ He was driven away from human society and given the mind of an animal. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like cattle, and his body was soaked with dew from the sky until he realized that the Most High God is sovereign over human kingdoms and places over them whomever he desires.
²² “But you, Belshazzar, his grandson, haven’t humbled yourself, even though you knew all of this.
²³ “You’ve exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven.
“You’ve had the vessels from his Temple brought into your presence.
“And you, your officials, and your wives and mistresses drank wine from them.
“You praised gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which can’t see, hear, or demonstrate knowledge.
“But you didn’t honor God, who holds in his power your very life and all your ways.
²⁴ “Therefore, the hand that wrote this inscription was sent from his presence. ²⁵ This is the written inscription: MENE, MENE, TEKEL AND PARSIN
²⁶ These are the meanings of the words:MENE: God has audited your kingdom—and has ended it. ²⁷ TEKEL: You’ve been weighed on the scales—and you don’t measure up. ²⁸ PERES: Your kingdom has been divided—and will be given to the Medes and Persians.”
²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave orders to clothe Daniel in purple, to place a chain of gold around his neck, and to proclaim him the third highest ruler of the kingdom.
³⁰ That night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed, ³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62.

²⁰ The Dreams are FulfilledOn the third day, which just happened to be Pharaoh’s birthday, he threw a party for all his servants. He lifted the head of both his senior security advisor and of his head chef in front of his servants—

³ In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his officials and ministers, and the military leaders of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the provincial officials were present.

⁴ And as for my heart, horror has terrified me; the twilight I longed for has started to make me tremble. ⁵ They set the tables; they spread the carpets; they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers! Oil the shields!”

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies called for weeping and mourning, for shaving heads and wearing sackcloth.

¹⁴ “Nevertheless, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has revealed himself to my hearing: ‘“Surely because of you this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,’ says the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.”

³⁹ When they’re excited I’ll serve them their banquet, and make them drunk until they’re merry. They’ll sleep forever and won’t wake up,” declares the LORD.

⁵⁷ I’ll make their leaders, their wise men, their governors, their deputies, and their warriors drunk so that they sleep forever and don’t wake up,” declares the King whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹⁰ Indeed, while tangled as by a thorn bush, while drunken as by a strong drink, the Ninevites will be burned like dry straw.

²¹ An opportunity came during Herod’s birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”

⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” David reassured him, “because I’m going to show gracious love to you in memory of your father Jonathan. I’m going to restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you’ll always have a place at my table!”

²⁵ Joram’s son Ahaziah began to reign as king of Judah during the twelfth year of the reign of Ahab’s son Joram, king of Israel. ²⁶ Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year.
His mother was named Athaliah. She was the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. ²⁷ Ahaziah lived his life following the example of Ahab’s household, practicing what the LORD considered to be evil, just like the household of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law to Ahab’s household.

¹³ Jerusalem’s Citizens are Sent into ExileNebuchadnezzar carried off from there all of the treasures of the LORD’s Temple, along with the treasures in the king’s palace. He cut into pieces all the gold vessels in the LORD’s Temple that King Solomon of Israel had made, just as the LORD had said would happen.

¹⁵ The captain of the guard also confiscated the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver.

²⁰ After this he married Absalom’s daughter Maacah, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

¹⁶ King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah. He cut down his mother’s idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook.

¹⁰ At the beginning of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable articles from the LORD’s Temple, and he installed Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁸ who took back to Babylon every article in God’s Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple, the king’s assets, and those of his officers.

⁷ Temple Instruments ReturnedKing Cyrus also brought out from storage the service instruments from the Temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of Sheshbazzar, governor of Judah. ⁹ Here is a partial inventory:
Gold dishes: 30
Silver dishes: 1,000
Sacrificial knives: 29
¹⁰ Gold bowls: 30
Silver bowls of another kind: 410
Miscellaneous instruments: 1,000
¹¹ The complete inventory of gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all to Jerusalem, along with the exiles from Babylon.

⁷ All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his country’s time also comes, and then many nations and great kings will use him as a slave.

¹⁶ The People and Priests Told to Submit to BabylonThen I spoke to the priests and all this people: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: “The vessels from the Temple are about to be returned from Babylon very soon now.” Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁷ Don’t listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon and you’ll live. Why should this city become a ruin? ¹⁸ If they’re prophets, and if they have a message from the LORD, let them plead with the LORD of the Heavenly Armies so that the utensils that remain in the LORD’s Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem might not be taken to Babylon. ¹⁹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says about the pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city ²⁰ that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he took Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon— ²¹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says about the vessels that remain in the LORD’s Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, ²² “They’ll go into Babylon and there they’ll remain until the time I take note of them,” declares the LORD. “Then I’ll bring them up and return them to this place.”’”

¹⁹ The captain of the guard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver.

² Within a week, the Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with valuable objects from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar brought them to the temple of his god in the land of Shinar and stored them in its treasure house.

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

¹¹ There’s a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the holy gods. During your grandfather’s reign, he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom, like that of the gods. Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar—your kingly predecessor—appointed him to be chief administrator over the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers,

¹³ Daniel Interprets the HandwritingThen Daniel was brought before the king. The king spoke up and told Daniel, “So you are Daniel, one of the Judean exiles whom my grandfather the king brought from Judah!

¹⁸ Your majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty, as well as greatness, glory, and splendor.

²³ “You’ve exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven.
“You’ve had the vessels from his Temple brought into your presence.
“And you, your officials, and your wives and mistresses drank wine from them.
“You praised gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which can’t see, hear, or demonstrate knowledge.
“But you didn’t honor God, who holds in his power your very life and all your ways.

²³ Some time later, the Philistine officials got together to present a magnificent sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to throw a party, because they were claiming, “Our god has given Samson into our control!”
²⁴ When the people saw Samson, they praised their god, claiming: Our god has given our enemy into our control; the one who was destroying our land, and who has killed many of us.

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, crafted by human hands. 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 touch; feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even groan with their throats. ⁸ Those who craft them will become like them, as will all those who trust in them.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, worked by the hands of human beings. ¹⁶ Mouths are attributed to them, but they cannot speak; sight is attributed to them, but they cannot see; ¹⁷ ears are attributed to them, but they do not hear, and there is no breath in their mouths. ¹⁸ Those who craft them— and all who trust in them— will become like them.

¹⁹ To an idol? A craftsman makes the image, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains. ²⁰ To the impoverished person? He prepares an offering— wood that won’t rot— Or to the one who chooses a skilled craftsman and seeks to erect an idol that won’t topple?”

⁸ I, the LORD, am the one, and I won’t give my name and glory to another, nor my praise to idols.

¹⁷ Those who trust in carved idols will turn back and be completely disappointed, along with those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”

⁶ Those who pour out gold in a purse, weigh silver in a balance, hire a goldsmith in order to make a god, and then they bow down and even worship it. ⁷ And they lift it on their shoulders, carry it, set it up in its place, and there it stands. It cannot move from that spot. One may even call to it, but it cannot answer nor save him from his distress.

⁴ They decorate it with silver and gold. They secure it with nails and hammers so it won’t totter. ⁵ Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can’t speak! They must always be carried because they can’t walk! Don’t be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good.” ⁶ There is no one like you, LORD. You are great, and your name is great and powerful. ⁷ Who wouldn’t fear you, king of the nations? This is what you deserve! Indeed, among all the wise men of the nations, and throughout all their kingdoms, there is no one like you! ⁸ Everyone is stupid and senseless. They follow worthless instruction from a piece of wood! ⁹ Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. The idols are the work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothing is violet and purple. The idols are all the work of skilled craftsmen.

¹ Dedicating the Image to NebuchadnezzarSome time later, king Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue, making it 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. He set it up in the Dura Valley within the province of Babylon. ² Then King Nebuchadnezzar summoned the regional authorities, governors, deputy governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other administrators of the provinces, ordering them to come to the dedication of the statue that he had erected.
³ So the regional authorities, governors, deputy governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other administrators of the provinces assembled to dedicate the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They took their places in front of the statue that he had erected. ⁴ Then a herald proclaimed aloud: “People of all nations, and languages are commanded: ⁵ Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various instruments, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that was set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. ⁶ Anyone who does not fall down and worship is immediately to be thrown into the blazing fire furnace.”
⁷ Therefore, when all of the people “heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments,” all the “people, nations, and languages” began to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
⁸ Daniel’s Friends are AccusedJust then, certain influential Chaldeans took this opportunity to come forward and denounce the Jews. ⁹ They told King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your majesty, live forever. ¹⁰ You, your majesty, issued this decree: ‘Every man who hears the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments is to fall down and worship the golden statue. ¹¹ Whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown into a blazing fire furnace.’
¹² “Certain influential Jewish men whom you appointed to manage the city of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—have neither paid attention to you, your majesty, nor served your gods. And they won’t worship the golden statue that you set up.”
¹³ The Threat of the Fire FurnaceNebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and furiously ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t worship my gods and that you don’t worship the golden statue that has been set up? ¹⁵ Now, if you are ready at this very moment to obey ‘the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp,’ and worship the image that I have made… If you do not so worship, you will immediately have cast yourselves into the middle of the blazing fire, and what god is there who can deliver you from my power?”
¹⁶ Daniel’s Friends Answer King NebuchadnezzarShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “It’s not necessary for us to respond in this matter. ¹⁷ Your majesty, if it be his will, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the blazing fire furnace, and he will deliver us from you. ¹⁸ But if not, rest assured, your majesty, that we won’t serve your gods, and we won’t worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

³⁷ In conclusion, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and give glory to the King of heaven: For everything he does is true, his ways are just, and he is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

⁸ She didn’t recognize that it was I who provided her grain, wine, and oil, and it was I who gave her silver, while they crafted gold for Baal. ⁹ “Therefore I’ll return and take back my grain at harvest time and my new wine in its season. I’ll take back my wool and my flax that was to have covered her nakedness. ¹⁰ So now I’ll reveal her lewdness to the eyes of her lovers, and no man will rescue her from my control. ¹¹ I’ll put a stop to her mirth, along with her celebrations, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all of her festive assemblies. ¹² I’ll destroy her vines and her fig trees, about which she said, ‘These are the earnings that my lovers paid me. I’ll make them grow into a forest, and the wild animals will eat from them.’ ¹³ I’ll punish her for the time she has devoted to the Baals, to whom she burned incense, and for whom she put on her earrings and jewels so she could go after her lovers and forget me,” declares the LORD.

¹⁹ “Woe to the one who says to a tree, ‘Wake up!’ or ‘Arise!’ to a speechless stone. Idols like this can’t teach, can they? Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver, there’s no breath in it at all.”

²⁹ So if we are God’s children, we shouldn’t think that the divine being is like gold, silver, or stone, or is an image carved by humans using their own imagination and skill.

²⁴ By making silver shrines of Artemis, a silversmith named Demetrius provided a large income for skilled workers. ²⁵ He called a meeting of these men and others who were engaged in similar trades and said, “Men, you well know that we get a good income from this business. ²⁶ You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. ²⁷ There is a danger not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into disrepute and that she will be robbed of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.”
²⁸ When they heard this, they became furious and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁰ The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. ²¹ They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

⁵ The wicked triumph only briefly; the joy of the godless is momentary.

³⁰ However, before they had fulfilled their desire, while their food was still in their mouths, ³¹ the anger of God flared against them, and he killed the strongest men and humbled Israel’s young men.

¹ Advice on Life and Justice After many rebukes, the stiff-necked man will be broken incurably, without any warning.

³¹ As these words were being spoken by the king, a voice came out of heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, this is declared to you: ‘The kingdom has been taken from you!

³³ The decree was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar immediately. He was driven away from people to eat grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

⁸ Then all the king’s advisors came in, but they were unable to read the writing or tell the king what it meant.

¹⁵ Take note that the advisors and enchanters were brought before me to read the writing and explain its meaning, but they were unable to do so.

²⁴ “Therefore, the hand that wrote this inscription was sent from his presence. ²⁵ This is the written inscription: MENE, MENE, TEKEL AND PARSIN
²⁶ These are the meanings of the words:MENE: God has audited your kingdom—and has ended it. ²⁷ TEKEL: You’ve been weighed on the scales—and you don’t measure up. ²⁸ PERES: Your kingdom has been divided—and will be given to the Medes and Persians.”

¹⁹ Then I’ll say to myself, “You’ve stored up plenty of good things for many years. Take it easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’ ²⁰ But God told him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you’ve accumulated?’

¹⁴ having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.

² for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ When people say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.

¹² I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened—the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their actions, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to their actions. ¹⁴ Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. (This is the second death—the lake of fire.) ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

²⁰ “The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life, a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless. ²¹ Terrifying sounds ring in his ears; when times are prosperous, the Destroyer will attack him. ²² He does not believe he will escape darkness; he is destined for the sword. ²³ He wanders around for food—where is it? He knows that a time of darkness is near. ²⁴ Distress and pressure terrify him; they overwhelm him, like a king poised for attack. ²⁵ “For he has raised his fist against God, defying the Almighty. ²⁶ He defiantly ran against him carrying his thick, reinforced shield. ²⁷ Though he covered his face with fat, and is grossly overweight at the waist,

¹⁹ because he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he didn’t build. ²⁰ “Since his appetite won’t quit; he won’t let anything escape his lust. ²¹ Because nothing was left for him to devour, therefore his prosperity won’t last. ²² Even though he is satiated and self-sufficient, he suffers— everyone in any sort of trouble will attack him. ²³ “It will come about that, when he has filled himself to the full, God will vent his burning anger on him; he will pour it out on him and on his body. ²⁴ Though he dodges an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will pierce him. ²⁵ It will impale him and come out through his back; the point will glisten as it protrudes through his gall bladder, and he will be terrified. ²⁶ “Total darkness has been reserved for his treasures; a fire that has no need to be kindled will devour him and consume whatever remains in his possession. ²⁷ Heaven will reveal his iniquity, while the earth will rise up against him.

²³ May their eyes be blinded and may their bodies tremble continuously.

¹⁸ You have certainly set them in slippery places; you will make them fall to their ruin. ¹⁹ How desolate they quickly become, completely destroyed by calamities. ²⁰ Like a dream when one awakens, Lord, you will despise their image when you arise.

²⁷ No one is weary, no one stumbles, and no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt around their waists will come undone, nor will their sandal straps be broken.

⁷ Because of this, every hand will go limp, and every man’s courage will melt. ⁸ They will be terrified; pain and anguish will seize them; they’ll writhe like a woman in labor. They’ll look aghast at one another; and their faces will be ablaze with fear.

² A dire vision has been announced to me: the traitor betrays, and the plunderer takes loot. Get up, Elam! Attack, Media! I am putting a stop to all the groaning she has caused. ³ Therefore my body is racked with pain; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am so upset that I cannot hear; I am so frightened that I cannot see while I’m reeling around. ⁴ And as for my heart, horror has terrified me; the twilight I longed for has started to make me tremble.

³ Strengthen the feeble hands, and support the stumbling knees.

¹⁷ Every hand will be limp. Every knee will glisten with sweat.”

⁷ When they’ll ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that just arrived. Every heart will melt with fear, every hand will grow limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will glisten with sweat.’ Look! It has come and it will be fulfilled,” declares the Lord GOD.

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar’s DreamDuring the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him. As a result, he couldn’t sleep.

¹⁹ The King Orders an ExecutionOut of control with rage, Nebuchadnezzar’s facial expression changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.

⁵ I had a dream that made me afraid. The thoughts that went through my mind while in bed and the visions in my head terrified me.

¹⁹ Daniel’s InterpretationThen Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was greatly troubled for a while and was terrified by his thoughts. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or its meaning terrify you.”
Belteshazzar responded, “Your majesty, if only the dream were about your enemies and its meaning about those who oppose you!

⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more frightened, and his facial expression showed it. His officials also were thrown into confusion.
¹⁰ Hearing the voices of the king and his officials, the queen entered the banquet hall. “Your majesty, live forever,” the queen said. “Don’t be frightened by your thoughts or allow your facial expression to show it.

²⁸ “At this point the vision ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts continued to alarm me, and I lost my natural color, but I kept quiet about the matter.”

¹⁰ Nineveh is devastated, deserted, and desolate. Her heart melts, her knees knock. Every stomach is upset, every face grows pale.

¹² Live as God’s PeopleTherefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees,

⁸ Pharaoh Seeks an InterpretationThe very next morning, he was frustrated about the dream, so he sent word to summon all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them what he had dreamed, but no one could interpret them.

⁴² Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand, placed it on Joseph’s hand, had him clothed in fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ Then he provided him with a chariot as his second-in-command, outfitted with a group of people who shouted out in front of him, “Bow your knees!” And that’s how Pharaoh set Joseph over the entire land of Egypt.
⁴⁴ Pharaoh Rewards JosephPharaoh also told Joseph, “I’m still Pharaoh, but without your permission nobody in all of the land of Egypt will so much as lift up their hands or take a step!”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and Midian left to visit Balaam, bringing an honorarium with them, and communicated Balak’s concerns to him.

¹⁷ I’m determined to reward you generously, and I’ll do everything you tell me to do. So come right away and curse this people for me.’”

¹¹ Now get out of here! I had promised you that I would definitely honor you, but now the LORD has kept me from doing that!”

²⁵ “Did all of you see this man coming up?” one Israeli asked. “He comes up to defy Israel, and the king will richly reward the man who kills him. He will give his daughter to him and will make his father’s house tax free in Israel.”

¹ Haman is Promoted by AhasuerusSometime later King Ahasuerus promoted Hammedatha the Agagite’s son Haman, elevating him to a position above all the other officials who were with him.

² Now as to all the powerful and great deeds of Ahasuerus, along with an exact statement about the high position of Mordecai to which the king promoted him, these things are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia, are they not? ³ Indeed, Mordecai the Jew was second in authority only to King Ahasuerus and was a powerful official among the Jewish people. Mordecai was accepted favorably by his many kinsmen, and he sought the good of his countrymen and spoke out for the welfare of all his people.

⁹ They will be a graceful wreath for your head and a chain for your neck.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

²⁵ who frustrates the omens of idle talkers, and drives diviners mad, who turns back the wise, and makes their knowledge foolish; ²⁶ who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, “It will be inhabited,” and of Judah’s cities, “They will be rebuilt,” and of her ruins, “I’ll raise them up”;

¹³ according to your multiple schemes. Let them stand up now— those who conjure the heavens and gaze at the stars, predicting at the new moons— and save you from what is about to happen to them.

¹¹ I adorned you with jewels, placing bracelets on your hand and necklaces on your neck.

² So the king gave orders to summon diviners, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to reveal to the king what he had dreamed. When they came and stood before him,

⁶ But if you do relate the dream to me as well as its meaning, you’ll receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. Therefore reveal the dream to me, along with its meaning.”

⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and lavished many great gifts on him, including making him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over the advisors of Babylon.

⁶ So I gave an order to bring in all of the advisors of Babylon so they would tell me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷ Then the diviners, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers came in, and I told them the dream. But they could not reveal its interpretation to me.

¹⁴ He called out aloud:‘Cut down the tree and cut off its branches. Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit. Let the animals get out from under it, and let the birds leave its branches.

¹⁶ However, I’ve heard that you can provide meaning and interpretation, and that you can solve difficult problems. If you are able to read the writing and report its meaning, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave orders to clothe Daniel in purple, to place a chain of gold around his neck, and to proclaim him the third highest ruler of the kingdom.

² along with three chief administrators from them, one of which was Daniel. The regional authorities reported to these three administrators, so that the king would experience no losses. ³ Daniel distinguished himself among all the administrators and regional authorities, because he was of an extraordinary spirit. Therefore the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.

⁹ Both of these things will overtake you suddenly on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite the multitude of your incantations and the great power of your spells.”

¹² “But stand up now with your spells and your many incantations, at which you have labored from your childhood until today, ¹³ according to your multiple schemes. Let them stand up now— those who conjure the heavens and gaze at the stars, predicting at the new moons— and save you from what is about to happen to them. ¹⁴ “See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by. ¹⁵ So will they be to you—those with whom you toiled and did business since your childhood— they wander about, each in his own direction; there is not one who can save you.

²⁷ By way of answer, Daniel addressed the king:“None of the advisors, enchanters, diviners, or astrologers can explain the secret that the king has requested to be made known.

⁷ Then the diviners, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers came in, and I told them the dream. But they could not reveal its interpretation to me.

¹¹ The Wicked Perish without Descendants“He is petrified by terror that surrounds him on all sides; they chase at his heels. ¹² He is starved for strength; and is ripe for a fall. ¹³ Something gnaws on his skin; a deadly disease consumes his limbs. ¹⁴ Torn from the security of his home, he is brought before the king of terrors.

¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered them; with many lightning bolts he frightened them.

⁶ Trembling seized them there, pains like those of a woman in labor,

⁶ The Day of the LORDWail out loud, because the Day of the LORD is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty!

²⁴ We have heard the news about it, and our hands are limp. Distress has seized us like a woman in labor.

⁶ Ask about this and think about it— Can a man give birth to a child? Why then do I see every strong man with his hands on his thighs like a woman giving birth, and all their faces have turned pale?

⁶ While the king watched the back of the hand as it was writing, his facial expression changed. Utterly frightened, he lost control of his own bowels and his knees knocked together.

⁸ and I was left alone to observe this magnificent vision. Nevertheless, no strength remained in me—my face lost its color, and I became weak.

³ When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, as was all of Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people concealed themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains.

¹⁷ While she was suffering due to her difficult labor, the midwife told her, “Don’t fear! You’re going to have another son.”
¹⁸ Just before she died, Rachel called her son’s name Ben-oni, but his father Jacob named him Benjamin.

²⁰ As she was about to die, the women standing around her said, “Don’t be afraid! You’ve given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay attention. ²¹ She had named the boy Ichabod, saying, “Glory has departed from Israel,” because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. ²² She said, “Glory has departed from Israel, because the Ark of God has been captured.”

³¹ “King David,” Bathsheba said as she bowed low in front of the king with her face to the ground, “your majesty, may you live forever.”

⁴ Job Accuses His Friends“But as for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless quacks.

³⁴ How then, can you console me so worthlessly? What is left of your answers is treachery.”

⁴ The Chaldeans responded to the king in Aramaic: “May the king live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we’ll reveal its meaning.”

⁹ They told King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your majesty, live forever.

⁶ Then these administrators and regional authorities went as a group to the king and said this, “Your majesty, live forever!

²¹ Daniel replied to the king, “May your majesty live forever!

¹¹ We each had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. ¹² There was a Hebrew young man incarcerated with us, who was also working as a servant to the captain of the bodyguard.
“We each related our dreams, and then he interpreted them for us. He provided specific meanings for each of our dreams. ¹³ And what he interpreted for each of us came true! Pharaoh restored me to my responsibilities, but he executed the other man.”
¹⁴ Pharaoh Tells Joseph His DreamPharoah sent word to summon Joseph quickly from the dungeon, so they shaved his beard, changed his clothes, and then sent him straight to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ “I’ve had a dream,” Pharaoh told Joseph, “but nobody can interpret it. I’ve heard that you can interpret dreams.”

¹⁷ “So your humble servant is saying, ‘Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the LORD your God remain present with you.’”

¹¹ Furthermore, what the king is asking is so difficult that no one can reveal it except the gods—and they don’t live with human beings.”

⁴⁷ The king told Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and the Revealer of Secrets, because you were able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and lavished many great gifts on him, including making him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over the advisors of Babylon.

⁸ Eventually, Daniel appeared before me. (He is called Belteshazzar, in accordance with the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is within him.) I told him my dream: ⁹ “Belteshazzar, chief of the diviners, since I know that the spirit of the holy gods is within you, and no mystery too difficult for you, explain to me the vision of my dream that I saw, along with its interpretation.

¹⁸ “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning, since none of the advisors in my kingdom can tell me its interpretation. But you are able to do so because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

¹⁴ I’ve heard about you, that a spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom.

²² The people kept shouting, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!”

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!”

¹⁶ The Fortune TellerOnce, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of fortune-telling and who had brought her owners a great deal of money by predicting the future.

⁹ I will make those who belong to the synagogue of Satan—those who claim to be Jews and aren’t, but are lying—come and bow down at your feet. Then they will realize that I have loved you.

¹ The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation with the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions. ² She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all of her questions. Nothing was hidden from Solomon that he did not explain to her.

¹ The Queen of Sheba Visits Jerusalem
When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind. ² Solomon answered all of her questions. Because nothing was hidden from Solomon, he hid nothing from her.

³ As for the saints that are in the land, they are noble, and all my delight is in them.

²⁶ The righteous person is cautious with respect to his neighbor, but the lifestyle of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷ Whoever controls what he says is knowledgeable; anyone who has a calm spirit is a man of understanding.

⁷ The chief officer assigned the name “Belteshazzar” to Daniel, the name “Shadrach” to Hananiah, the name “Meshach” to Mishael, and the name “Abednego” to Azariah.

⁸ Eventually, Daniel appeared before me. (He is called Belteshazzar, in accordance with the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is within him.) I told him my dream:

³ Daniel distinguished himself among all the administrators and regional authorities, because he was of an extraordinary spirit. Therefore the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.

²⁹ I work hard and struggle to do this, using the energy that he powerfully provides in me.

¹ A Plot to Hinder the WorkWhen the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian captivity had built their Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,

¹⁶ The Israelis—the priests, the descendants of Levi, and the other related descendants who had returned from captivity—celebrated with joy at the dedication of the Temple of God.

¹⁹ The First Post-Captivity Passover
The former exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month ²⁰ because the priests and descendants of Levi had purified themselves together—all of them were pure—and they killed the Passover lamb for every former exile, for their relatives the priests, and for themselves.

⁷ Then they sent word throughout Judah and Jerusalem to everyone who had returned from the exile, to gather together in Jerusalem.

¹⁶ The People Carry Out Their PromiseSo those who had returned from exile did this. Ezra the priest and leaders of certain ancestral groups listed by name devoted themselves to examine the situation on the first day of the tenth month.

²¹ So Daniel remained there in service until the first year of King Cyrus.

²⁵ Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and informed him: “I’ve found a man from the Judean captives who will make known the meaning to the king.”

² Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them.

¹³ Then they told the king, “Daniel, who is one of the Judean exiles, pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the written decree, since he is still praying three times a day.”

¹ The Vision of the Ram and Goat“During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw a vision after the earlier vision that had appeared to me.

²⁷ Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and ill for days, but afterward I got up and went about the king’s business. Nevertheless, I was astonished by the vision, and could not understand it.”

¹ The Unbelief of Jesus’ BrothersAfter this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, because he didn’t want to travel in Judea, since the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill him.

³ So his brothers told him, “You should leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples can see the actions that you’re doing,

¹¹ There’s a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the holy gods. During your grandfather’s reign, he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom, like that of the gods. Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar—your kingly predecessor—appointed him to be chief administrator over the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, ¹² because he was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and understanding, along with an ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. His name is Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar. Call for Daniel, and he will reveal the meaning of the writing.”

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep— he has closed your eyes, you prophets, he has covered your heads, you seers!”
¹¹ “And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers, ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ ¹² Or when they give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers, ‘I don’t know how to read.’”

¹² “But stand up now with your spells and your many incantations, at which you have labored from your childhood until today,

³ the king told them, “I have dreamed a dream and I will remain troubled until I can understand it.”
⁴ The Chaldeans responded to the king in Aramaic: “May the king live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we’ll reveal its meaning.”
⁵ In reply the king told the Chaldeans, “Here is what I have commanded: If you don’t tell me both the dream and its meaning, you’ll be destroyed and your houses will be reduced to rubble. ⁶ But if you do relate the dream to me as well as its meaning, you’ll receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. Therefore reveal the dream to me, along with its meaning.”
⁷ They replied again, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we’ll disclose its meaning.”
⁸ The king responded, “I’m convinced that you’re stalling for time because you’re aware of what I’ve commanded. ⁹ So if you don’t disclose the dream to me, there will be only one sentence for all of you. You have conspired together to present lies and corrupt interpretations until the situation changes. Now tell me the dream and I’ll know that you can reveal its true meaning.”
¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered the king directly, “There’s not a single man on earth who can do what the king has commanded. No king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such a thing from any diviner, enchanter, or Chaldean. ¹¹ Furthermore, what the king is asking is so difficult that no one can reveal it except the gods—and they don’t live with human beings.”

⁷ The king cried out to bring in enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He announced to the advisors of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me its meaning will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around his neck, and will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
⁸ Then all the king’s advisors came in, but they were unable to read the writing or tell the king what it meant.

⁸ “We had a dream,” they replied, “but there’s no one to interpret it.”
“Interpretations belong to God,” Joseph told them, “so please tell me your stories.”

⁷ The king cried out to bring in enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He announced to the advisors of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me its meaning will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around his neck, and will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁸ Now 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 take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you won’t be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

¹³ Elisha asked the king of Israel, “What do I have in common with you? Go visit your parents’ prophets.”
The king of Israel replied, “No! The LORD has summoned these three kings so he can hand them over to Moab!”

¹⁶ But Elisha replied, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not receive anything from you.” Though Naaman urged him to take it, Elisha declined.

²⁶ But Elisha responded, “Didn’t my heart break as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants?

⁴⁶ Then I will speak of your decrees before kings and not be ashamed.

²⁰ But Peter told him, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s free gift with money!

⁸ When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance, when he separated the human race, he set boundaries for the people according to the number of the children of God.

¹⁷ But as for me, I will praise the LORD for his righteousness, and I will sing to the name of the LORD Most High.

² I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praises to your name, Most High!

² For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.

⁸ But you are exalted forever, LORD.

³⁵ when a person’s rights are perverted in defiance of the Most High.

³⁸ Do not both good and evil things proceed from the mouth of the Most High?

³⁷ You, your majesty, king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory, ³⁸ so that wherever people, wild animals, or birds of the sky live, he has placed them under your control, giving you dominion over them all—you’re that head of gold.

² It gives me great pleasure to tell about the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

¹⁷ This order is announced by the observers, and the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires, and he places the least important of men over them.’

²² it’s you, your majesty! You’ve become great and strong, your greatness has grown to the heavens, and your dominion reaches to the distant parts of the earth.
²³ “Your majesty saw a holy observer descending from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump in the ground, along with its roots, bound with iron and bronze in the field grass. Let him be soaked with the dew of the sky and live with the wild animals of the field until seven seasons pass over him.’
²⁴ “This is the meaning, your majesty, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against his majesty, the king: ²⁵ You’ll be driven from people, and you’ll live among wild animals of the field. You’ll eat grass like cattle and be soaked with the dew of the sky while seven years pass you by—until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.

³² You’re to be driven away from people. You’re to live with the wild animals of the field. You are to be made to eat grass like cattle, and seven years will pass you by until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.’”

²² My God sent his angel and sealed the mouths of the lions. They have not harmed me, proving that I’m innocent before him. Also against you, your majesty, I’ve committed no offense.”

⁴⁸ However, the Most High does not live in buildings made by human hands. As the prophet says,

¹³ On the road at noon, O King, I saw a light from heaven that was brighter than the sun. It flashed around me and those who were traveling with me.

¹⁹ “And so, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

¹⁴ The king’s wrath results in a death sentence, but whoever is wise will appease him.

⁹ I’m now sending for all the tribes from the north, declares the LORD, and for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’ll bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I’ll utterly destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰ I’ll destroy the sounds of gladness and rejoicing from them, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand mill and also the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
¹² ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I’ll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever. ¹³ I’ll bring on that land all the things I spoke against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied about the nations. ¹⁴ Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I’ll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.’”

⁵ “By my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁶ Now I’ve given all these lands to my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I’ve even given him the wild animals to serve him. ⁷ All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his country’s time also comes, and then many nations and great kings will use him as a slave.

¹² At this point, the king flew into a rage and issued an order to destroy all the advisors of Babylon. ¹³ When the order went out to kill the advisors, they searched for Daniel and his friends to kill them, too.

⁴ Then a herald proclaimed aloud: “People of all nations, and languages are commanded:

⁶ Anyone who does not fall down and worship is immediately to be thrown into the blazing fire furnace.”

²⁰ Then he issued orders to his elite guard to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with ropes and throw them into the blazing fire furnace. ²¹ So the elite guard tied them up fully clothed, still wearing their robes, tunics, and turbans, and threw them into the blazing fire furnace,

²⁹ So I decree that people from any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will be destroyed and their house reduced to rubble, because there is no other god who can save like this.”

²² it’s you, your majesty! You’ve become great and strong, your greatness has grown to the heavens, and your dominion reaches to the distant parts of the earth.

⁵ Moreover, just as wine leads astray the proud and powerful man, he remains restless; he has expanded his appetite— like the afterlife or death itself, he is never satisfied. He gathers to himself all of the nations, taking captive all of the people for himself.”

¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You have no authority over me at all, except what was given to you from above. That’s why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹ Obey Your GovernmentEvery person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by God’s permission. The existing authorities have been established by God,

¹⁷ You are still acting arrogantly against my people by not letting them go.

¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, because of what happened to the Egyptians when they acted arrogantly against Israel.”

⁶ Why should you harden your hearts just as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? Isn’t it true that after God toyed with them, they let Israel go, and off they went?

¹⁴ But they would not listen. Instead, they were stubborn, just like their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.

¹³ Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve, and hardened his heart, and would not return to the LORD God of Israel.

¹¹ dispensed the fury of your anger, made sure that you have humbled every proud person, ¹² stared down and subdued every proud person, trampled the wicked right where they are,

⁵ The LORD detests those who are proud; truly they will not go unpunished.

¹⁸ Pride precedes destruction; an arrogant spirit appears before a fall.

¹² The Fall of the Day Star“How you have fallen from heaven, Day Star, son of the Dawn! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation! ¹³ You said in your heart, ‘I’ll ascend to heaven, above the stars of God. I’ll erect my throne; I’ll sit on the Mount of Assembly in the far reaches of the north; ¹⁴ I’ll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I’ll make myself like the Most High.’ ¹⁵ But you are brought down to join the dead, to the far reaches of the Pit. ¹⁶ “Those who see you will stare at you. They will wonder about you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who made kingdoms quake, ¹⁷ who made the world like a desert, who destroyed its cities, who would not open the jails for his prisoners?’

¹ The Fall of Babylon “Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a chair, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For no longer will they call you tender and attractive.

¹⁸ Say to the king and the queen mother, “Come take a lowly seat, because your beautiful crowns have fallen off your heads.”

¹⁵ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I’m about to bring on this city and all its towns all the disaster that I declared against it because they were determined not to obey my message.’”

¹⁸ “Come down from glory, and sit on parched ground, O woman who lives in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab will come up against you to destroy you. He will destroy your strongholds.

⁶ Continued Judgment on Egypt“This is what the LORD says: ‘Those who are supporting Egypt will fall; her majestic strength that she brought from the Aswan fortress will collapse by the sword that invades her,’ declares the Lord GOD.

³⁰ he commented to himself, “Isn’t Babylon great? I’ve built a royal palace in it by my own might and power, for the sake of my majesty.”
³¹ As these words were being spoken by the king, a voice came out of heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, this is declared to you: ‘The kingdom has been taken from you! ³² You’re to be driven away from people. You’re to live with the wild animals of the field. You are to be made to eat grass like cattle, and seven years will pass you by until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.’”
³³ The decree was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar immediately. He was driven away from people to eat grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

⁵¹ He displayed his mighty power with his arm. He scattered people who were proud in mind and heart. ⁵² He pulled powerful rulers from their thrones and lifted up humble people.

¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹³ Instead, continue to encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,

¹⁴ Indeed, this time I’m sending all my plagues against you, your officials, and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵ Indeed, by now I could have sent forth my hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been destroyed from the earth. ¹⁶ However, I’ve kept you standing in order to show you my power and to declare my name in all the earth.

³ Unproductive due to poverty and hunger, they could only scratch in parched soil, devastated and desolated. ⁴ “They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat; and roots of the broom shrub for food. ⁵ Driven away from human company, they were shouted at as though they were thieves. ⁶ They lived in the most dangerous of ravines, in holes in the ground, and among rocks. ⁷ They bray like donkeys among the bushes and huddle together under the desert weeds.

¹⁷ Let them be humiliated and terrified permanently until they die in shame. ¹⁸ Then they will know that you alone— whose name is LORD— are the Most High over all the earth.

²⁴ Then all the trees of the fields will know that I, the LORD, bring down the lofty tree and exalt the lowly tree. I dry up the green tree and cause the dry tree to bud. I the LORD have spoken this, and I will fulfill it.”

²⁵ You’ll be driven from people, and you’ll live among wild animals of the field. You’ll eat grass like cattle and be soaked with the dew of the sky while seven years pass you by—until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.

³⁵ All who live on the earth are nothing compared to him. He does what he wishes with the heavenly armies and with those who live on earth. No one can hold back his power or say to him, ‘What did you do?’

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

²³ except that he never humbled himself to the LORD like his father Manasseh had done. In fact, Amon multiplied his own guilt

¹² He practiced what the LORD his God considered to be evil and never humbled himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD.

¹⁰ If favor is shown to the wicked, they don’t learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they act perversely and do not perceive the majesty of the LORD.

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

³² John came to you living a righteous life, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. But even when you saw that, you didn’t change your minds at last and believe him.”

⁴⁷ That servant who knew what his master wanted but didn’t prepare himself or do what was wanted will receive a severe beating.

¹⁷ If you understand these things, how blessed you are if you put them into practice!

⁸ Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, told them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed, ¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹ He is ‘the stone that was rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.’
¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”
¹³ Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend 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 keep on obeying him.”
³³ When the Council heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill them.

⁶ But he gives all the more grace. And so he says, “God opposes the arrogant but gives grace to the humble.”

¹⁷ Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin.

⁵ Be Humble and AlertIn a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: “God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁶ Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

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

¹⁹ Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, “Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

²³ Some time later, the Philistine officials got together to present a magnificent sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to throw a party, because they were claiming, “Our god has given Samson into our control!”

¹ The Philistines’ Troubles because of the ArkThe Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² Then the Philistines took the Ark of God, brought it to the temple of Dagon, and placed it beside Dagon. ³ When the people of Ashdod got up the next morning, there was Dagon, lying on the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD. They took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴ But when they got up the next morning, there was Dagon, lying on the ground again in front of the Ark of the LORD. Dagon’s head and both of his arms were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left intact. ⁵ This is why neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
⁶ The LORD heavily oppressed the people of Ashdod, devastating and afflicting Ashdod and its territories with tumors of the groin. ⁷ When the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “Don’t let the Ark of the God of Israel stay with us, because he is severely attacking us and our god Dagon.” ⁸ They sent messengers and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and asked, “What are we to do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
They said, “Let the Ark of the God of Israel move to Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel.
⁹ After they moved it, the LORD moved against the town, causing a very great panic. He struck the men of the town, from young to old with tumors of the groin.

¹⁰ You just defeated Edom and you’re arrogant. Bask in your victory and stay home. Why incite trouble so that you—yes, you!—fall, along with Judah with you?”

¹⁰ and that the life of every living thing rests in his control, along with the breath of every living human being?

⁴ He watches my life, observing every one of my actions, does he not?”

¹⁴ If he were to decide to do so, that is, to take back to himself his spirit and breath of life, ¹⁵ every living thing would die all at once, and mankind would return to dust.”

²⁹ When you withdraw your favor, they are disappointed; Take away their breath, and they die and return to dust.

¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but he gave the earth to human beings.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, worked by the hands of human beings. ¹⁶ Mouths are attributed to them, but they cannot speak; sight is attributed to them, but they cannot see; ¹⁷ ears are attributed to them, but they do not hear, and there is no breath in their mouths.

³ You scrutinize my life and my rest; you are familiar with all of my ways.

⁴ When they stop breathing, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans evaporate!

²⁴ A man’s steps are directed by the LORD; how then can anyone understand his own way?

¹² “For the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has reserved a time to oppose all who are proud and haughty, and the self-exalting— they will be humbled.

¹⁰ God is Exalted“Now I’ll rise up,” the LORD has said, “now I’ll exalt myself; now I’ll be lifted up.

¹⁹ and have thrown their gods into the fire—but they are not gods, but rather the products of human hands, mere wood and stone. So the Assyrians destroyed them.

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

⁵ God Speaks about the ServantThis is what God says— the God who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its produce, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

²³ Jeremiah’s PrayerLORD, I know that a person’s life is not his to control, nor does a person establish his way in life.

²⁹ “Summon many to Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Camp all around her, let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds. Do to her just as she has done. For she has behaved arrogantly against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

² “Son of Man, tell Tyre’s Commander-in-Chief, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Because your heart is arrogant, and because you keep saying, ‘I have taken my seat, I am a god, seated in God’s seat right in the middle of the sea,’ and because you’re a man, and not a god, even though you pretend that you have a god-like heart…

⁵ By your great wisdom, by your skills in trading you have amassed wealth for yourself and your heart has become arrogant because of your wealth.”

¹⁷ Your heart grew arrogant because of your beauty; you annihilated your own wisdom because of your splendor. Then I threw you to the ground in the presence of kings, giving them a good look at you!

¹⁰ Assyria’s Fall Due to Arrogance“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because of its towering height, with its summit reaching into the clouds, and because it was haughty in its position,

² Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them. ³ As ordered, they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the sanctuary of God’s Temple in Jerusalem, and the king, his officials, his wives, and mistresses drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

⁴ “Notice their arrogance— they have no inward uprightness— but the righteous will live by their faith.

¹⁸ Judgment on the Idol Maker“Where is the benefit in owning a carved image, that motivates its maker to carve it? It is only a cast image— a teacher that lies— because the engraver entrusts himself to his carving, crafting speechless idols. ¹⁹ “Woe to the one who says to a tree, ‘Wake up!’ or ‘Arise!’ to a speechless stone. Idols like this can’t teach, can they? Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver, there’s no breath in it at all.”

²⁵ and he isn’t served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

²⁸ For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ‘…Since we are his children, too.’ ²⁹ So if we are God’s children, we shouldn’t think that the divine being is like gold, silver, or stone, or is an image carved by humans using their own imagination and skill.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened. ²² Though claiming to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

⁴ Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one God.

⁶ He must not be a recent convert, so that he won’t become arrogant and fall into the devil’s condemnation.

¹³ No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.

⁵ The beast was allowed to speak arrogant and blasphemous things, and it was given authority for 42 months. ⁶ It uttered blasphemies against God, against his name, and against his residence, that is, against those who are living in heaven.

⁵ The Handwriting on the WallAt that moment, humanlike fingers of a hand appeared near the lamp stand of the royal palace and wrote on the plaster of the wall.

¹⁴ If a human being dies, will he live again? I will endure the entire time of my assigned service, until I am changed.

¹ The Destruction of BabylonA message that Amoz’s son Isaiah received about Babylon: ² “Raise a banner on a bare hilltop! Cry out loud to them! Give a wave of the hand, signaling for them to enter the gates of the nobles. ³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones; I have also summoned my warriors, those who rejoice in my triumph, to carry out my angry judgments. ⁴ “Listen! There’s a noise on the mountains like that of a great multitude! Listen! There’s an uproar among the kingdoms, like that of nations massing together! The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is mustering an army for battle. ⁵ They’re coming from a faraway land, from the distant horizon— the LORD and the weapons of his anger— to destroy the entire land.”
⁶ The Day of the LORDWail out loud, because the Day of the LORD is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty! ⁷ Because of this, every hand will go limp, and every man’s courage will melt. ⁸ They will be terrified; pain and anguish will seize them; they’ll writhe like a woman in labor. They’ll look aghast at one another; and their faces will be ablaze with fear. ⁹ Watch out! The Day of the LORD is coming— cruel, with wrath and fierce anger— to turn the entire inhabited earth into a desolation and to annihilate sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations won’t shine their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon won’t shine its light. ¹¹ I’ll punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I’ll put an end to the pomposity of the arrogant, and overthrow the insolence of tyrants. ¹² I’ll make people scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than gold from Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I’ll make the heavens tremble. The earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, at the time of his burning anger. ¹⁴ They will be like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with no one to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.

¹ Elam and Media are RebukedA message concerning the pasture by the Sea. “Like whirlwinds in the Negev sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a distant land. ² A dire vision has been announced to me: the traitor betrays, and the plunderer takes loot. Get up, Elam! Attack, Media! I am putting a stop to all the groaning she has caused. ³ Therefore my body is racked with pain; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am so upset that I cannot hear; I am so frightened that I cannot see while I’m reeling around. ⁴ And as for my heart, horror has terrified me; the twilight I longed for has started to make me tremble. ⁵ They set the tables; they spread the carpets; they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers! Oil the shields!”
⁶ The Fall of BabylonFor this is what the LORD told me: “Go post a lookout. Have him report what he sees. ⁷ When he sees chariots, each man with a pair of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him pay attention, full attention.” ⁸ Then the lookout shouted: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and I am stationed at my post throughout the night. ⁹ Look! Here come riders, each man with a pair of horses!” They’re shouting out the answer: “Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and they have shattered all the images of her gods on the ground! ¹⁰ O my downtrodden people, my wall! I’ll tell you what I have heard from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel.”

¹ The Fall of Babylon “Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a chair, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For no longer will they call you tender and attractive. ² Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your robes, bare your legs, and wade through the rivers. ³ Your nakedness will be exposed, and your disgrace will also be seen. I’ll take vengeance, and I will spare no mortal. ⁴ “Our Redeemer— the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name— is the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ “Sit silent, and enter into the darkness, you daughter of the Chaldeans; for no more will they call you Queen of Kingdoms. ⁶ I was angry with my people, and I desecrated my heritage, and gave them into your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the aged you laid your yoke most heavily. ⁷ You said, ‘I will always continue—Queen forever!’ You didn’t take these things into your thinking, nor did you think about their consequences. ⁸ “Now hear this, you wanton creature, lounging with no cares, and saying to herself: ‘I am the one, and there will be none besides me; I won’t live as a widow, nor will I see the loss of children.’ ⁹ Both of these things will overtake you suddenly on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite the multitude of your incantations and the great power of your spells.”
¹⁰ Self-Deception of the Babylonians“You trusted in your own knowledge. You said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge have misled you. You said in your heart, ‘I am the one, and there will be none besides me.’ ¹¹ “But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will not be able to ward off; and devastation will come upon you suddenly, and you won’t anticipate it.

¹¹ This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
¹² ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I’ll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever.

¹ Prophecies against BabylonThis is the message that the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans. ² “Declare and proclaim among the nations. Lift up a banner and proclaim. Don’t conceal anything. Say, ‘Babylon will be captured. Bel will be disgraced, and Marduk will be destroyed. Her idols will be disgraced, and her filthy images will be destroyed.’ ³ For a nation from the north will go up against her. It will make her land into an object of horror, and no one will live in it. Both people and animals will wander off, and they’ll leave. ⁴ In those days, and at that time,” declares the LORD, “the people of Israel will come together with the people of Judah. They’ll be weeping as they travel along, and they’ll be seeking the LORD their God. ⁵ They’ll ask the way to Zion, turning their faces in that direction. They’ll come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that won’t be forgotten. ⁶ My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them toward the mountains. They go from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. ⁷ All who find them devour them, but their enemies say, ‘We’re not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.’ ⁸ Move away from the middle of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans. Be like male goats at the head of the flock. ⁹ Indeed, I’m going to stir up and bring against Babylon a great company of nations from the land of the north. They’ll deploy for battle against her, and from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior; they won’t miss their targets. ¹⁰ The Chaldeans will become plunder, and all who plunder them will get more than enough,” declares the LORD. ¹¹ “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you plunderers of my inheritance, though you skip around like a heifer in the grass and neigh like stallions, ¹² your mother will be greatly devastated, she who gave birth to you will be ashamed. She will become the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the anger of the LORD she won’t be inhabited, but will be utterly devastated. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and will scoff because of all her wounds. ¹⁴ Deploy the troops all around Babylon. All who bend the bow, shoot at her and spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. ¹⁵ Raise a battle cry against her on every side. She has surrendered, her pillars have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her. ¹⁶ Eliminate from Babylon the one who plants seeds and the one who uses the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor’s sword, let each one turn toward his own people and flee to his own land.”
¹⁷ Hope for Israel“Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed his bones. ¹⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I’m about to judge the king of Babylon and his land, just as I’ve judged the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ I’ll bring Israel back to his pasture. He will graze on Carmel, on Bashan, on Mt. Ephraim, and on Gilead—his hunger will be satisfied. ²⁰ In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the iniquity of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; and the sin of Judah, but none will be found, because I’ll pardon those I leave as a remnant.’”
²¹ God’s Judgment on Babylon“Go up against the land of Merathaim and the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill them with swords, and completely destroy them,” declares the LORD, “and do everything that I’ve commanded you. ²² The noise of battle is in the land, and great destruction. ²³ How the hammer of all the earth is cut off and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations! ²⁴ I’ll set a trap for you, and you will be caught, Babylon, but you don’t realize it. You will be found and also seized, because you challenged the LORD! ²⁵ “The LORD will open his armory, and bring out the weapons of his anger. Indeed, a work of the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will be in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come to her from afar. Open up her barns. Pile her up like heaps of grain, and completely destroy her. Don’t leave any survivors. ²⁷ Put all her bulls to the sword, let them go down to the slaughter. How terrible for them because their day has come, the time of their judgment. ²⁸ “The sound of fugitives and refugees will come from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for his Temple. ²⁹ “Summon many to Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Camp all around her, let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds. Do to her just as she has done. For she has behaved arrogantly against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ Therefore, her warriors will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day,” declares the LORD. ³¹ “Look, I’m against you, arrogant one,” declares the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies. “Indeed your day is coming, the time of your judgment. ³² The arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there will be no one to lift him up. I’ll set fire to his cities, and it will devour everything around him.” ³³ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, along with the people of Judah. All their captors have held on to them and refused to let them go. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name. He will vigorously plead their case in order to bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the LORD, “and against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her officials and her wise men. ³⁶ A sword against the diviners. They’ll be made fools. A sword against her warriors. They’ll be shattered. ³⁷ A sword against her horses, against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst. They’ll become women. A sword against her treasures. They’ll be plundered. ³⁸ A drought against her waters. They’ll dry up. For it’s a land of idols, and they go mad over their terrifying images. ³⁹ Therefore the desert creatures along with hyenas will live there. They’ll live in it with ostriches, but people won’t live in it again. They won’t inhabit it from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ Just as when God overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “so also no one will live there. No human being will reside in it. ⁴¹ “Look, people are coming from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the ends of the earth. ⁴² They grab bow and spear. They’re cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, as they ride on horses deployed like men ready for battle against you, daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the news about them, and his hands hang limp. Distress has seized him, like a woman in labor.
⁴⁴ “Look, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan to a pasture that grows year round, so I’ll drive them away from her in an instant, and I’ll appoint whomever is chosen over her. Indeed, who is like me? Who gives me counsel? Who is the shepherd who will stand against me?” ⁴⁵ Therefore, hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the strategy that he devised against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely they’ll drag the little ones of the flock away. Surely their pasture will be desolate because of them. ⁴⁶ At the shout that Babylon has been seized, the earth will be shaken, and the cry will be heard among the nations.

² in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, noted in the Scripture the total years that were assigned by the message from the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem: 70 years.

¹⁸ that have been known from long ago.’

⁶ let my righteousness be weighed in honest scales, and God will make known my integrity.

⁹ Human beings are a mere vapor, while people in high positions are not what they appear. When they are placed on the scales, they weigh nothing; even when weighed together, they are less than nothing.

³⁰ They’re called reject silver, because the LORD has rejected them.

¹⁸ “Son of Man, Israel has become like dross to me. All of them are like remnants of bronze, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace—the dross left over from smelting silver. ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, ‘Because all of you have become dross, watch out! I’m going to gather all of you at the center of Jerusalem, ²⁰ just like a smelter gathers all the silver, bronze, lead, and tin to the center of a furnace and injects fire in order to melt it, I’m going to gather you in my anger and rage, make you settle down—and then I’m going to melt you down.

¹¹ “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.

¹³ the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s action.

¹⁷ Babylon FallsWatch out! I’m stirring up the Medes against them, who care nothing for silver and take no delight in gold.

² A dire vision has been announced to me: the traitor betrays, and the plunderer takes loot. Get up, Elam! Attack, Media! I am putting a stop to all the groaning she has caused.

¹ Cyrus: God’s Deliverer This is what the LORD says to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, as I strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him and gates that cannot keep closed: ² “I myself will go before you, and he will make the mountains level; I’ll shatter bronze doors and cut through iron bars.

³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62.

²⁸ Daniel achieved success during the reigns of Darius and Cyrus the Persian.

³ “Then I turned my head to look, and to my surprise, a two-horned ram was standing beside the canal. The two horns grew long, the first one growing longer than the second, with the longer one springing up last. ⁴ I watched the ram charging westward, northward, and southward. No animal could stand before him, nor was there anyone who could deliver from his control. He did as he pleased and exalted himself.

²⁰ The ram that you saw with a pair of horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

¹ Daniel’s Prayer“In the first year of the reign of Darius son of Ahasuerus, a descendant of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—

⁴ And as for my heart, horror has terrified me; the twilight I longed for has started to make me tremble. ⁵ They set the tables; they spread the carpets; they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers! Oil the shields!”
⁶ The Fall of BabylonFor this is what the LORD told me: “Go post a lookout. Have him report what he sees. ⁷ When he sees chariots, each man with a pair of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him pay attention, full attention.” ⁸ Then the lookout shouted: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and I am stationed at my post throughout the night. ⁹ Look! Here come riders, each man with a pair of horses!” They’re shouting out the answer: “Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and they have shattered all the images of her gods on the ground!

¹¹ Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes— he has decided to destroy Babylon. Indeed, it’s the LORD’s vengeance, vengeance for his Temple.

³¹ One runner runs to meet another runner, and one messenger to meet another messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been seized from one end to the other.

¹ Belshazzar’s FestivalKing Belshazzar put on a great festival for a thousand of his officials. He joined all one thousand of them in getting drunk. ² Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them.

¹ Daniel’s Service to DariusIt pleased Darius to appoint 120 regional authorities over the kingdom throughout the realm,