the Jews, 9. And they began to say unto king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, God grant thee long life.

Thou hast sent forth a commandment, that when all men hear the sound of trumpets, and of drums, and of harps, and of violins, and of psalteries, and of lutes, and of all kinds of instruments, they should fall down and worship the graven image; 11. And whosoever would not fall down and worship should be cast into a fiery furnace.

Now there are Jewish men whom thou hast set over the offices of the land of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: they have despised thy commandment, and have not honoured thy gods, neither have they worshipped the graven image which thou hast set up.

And Nebuchadnezzar commanded with fury and wrath to set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. And the men were set before the king.

And Nebuchadnezzar began to speak unto them: How? will ye not, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, honour my God, and worship the graven image which I have set?

Come, send ye. As soon as you hear the sound of trumpets, drums, harps, violins, psalteries, lutes and all kinds of strings, fall down and worship the image I have made. If you do not worship it, you will be thrown into the fiery furnace from that hour. Let us see who is the God who will deliver you out of my hand!

And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, began to speak unto king Nebuchadnezzar, saying, There is no need that we should answer thee.

Behold, our God, whom we honour, is able to deliver us out of the fiery furnace, and also to deliver us out of thine hand.

And if he will not do it, know thou that we will not honour thy gods, nor worship the graven image which thou hast set up.

And Nebuchadnezzar was full of wrath, and stood in a vile place against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and commanded that the furnace should be made seven times hotter than it was wont to be made.

And he commanded the best men of war that were in his host to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the fiery furnace.

So these men were bound with their coats, and their shoes, and their hats, and their other garments, and cast into the burning fiery furnace.

For the king’s commandment must be hasted. And they stirred up the fire in the furnace, and the men that burnt Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were consumed in the flames of the fire.

And the three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down into the burning fiery furnace, as they were bound.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and said unto his counsellors: Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? And they answered and said unto the king: Yes, O king!

And he answered and said, Behold, I see four men loose in the fire, and they are unharmed; and the fourth is like unto him, as if he were a son of the gods.

And Nebuchadnezzar came near before the hole of the burning furnace, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of GOD most high, come out, and come hither. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.

And the princes, and the lords, and the governors, and the king’s counsellors, came together, and saw that the fire had no power in the bodies of these men, neither was the hair of their heads singed, neither were their coats corrupted; yea, there was no smell of fire in them.

And Nebuchadnezzar began to say, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants, which trusted in him, and kept not the king’s commandment, but offered up their bodies, to honour no god, nor to worship any but their God.

Now therefore this is my commandment: Whosoever of all nations, people, and tongues shall blaspheme the God of Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he shall perish, and his house shall be shamefully destroyed. For there is no other God who can save like this.

And the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego great authority in the land of Babylon.
(Daniel)
Chapter 4
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation by Daniel.

King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, people and tongues: God grant you much peace!

I have seen fit to declare the signs and wonders which God Most High hath done for me.

For his signs are great, and his wonders are mighty; and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endureth for ever.
Ch. 4, v. 1: I Nebuchadnezzar, when I had good rest in my house, and was at ease in my castle,

I saw a dream, and was afraid; and the thoughts which I had upon my bed concerning the vision which I had seen grieved me.

And I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought up before me, to tell me what the dream signified.

And they brought up the astrologers, and the wise men, and the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they could not tell me what it signified, 5. Till at the last Daniel came before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, which hath the spirit of the holy gods. And I told the dream before him: 6. Belteshazzar, thou chief of the stargazers, whom I know to have the spirit of the holy gods, and that nothing is hid from thee, tell the vision of my dream; which I have seen, and what it signifieth.

And this is the vision which I saw upon my bed: behold, there stood a tree in the midst of the land, and it was very high,

great and thick; his height reached to heaven, and spread to the end of all the land.

His boughs were fair, and bare much fruit, whereof all things did eat. All the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the air sat on its branches, and all flesh fed on it.

And I saw a vision upon my bed, and, behold, a holy watcher came down from heaven, 11. And he cried with a loud voice, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off the boughs thereof, and strip off the leaves thereof, and scatter the fruit thereof; that the beasts that lie under it may run, and the birds flee from the branches thereof.

But let the rod abide in the earth with his roots: but let him walk in the field in the grass with chains of iron and brass: let him lie under the dew of heaven, and let him be wet, and let him feed with the beasts of the herbs of the earth.

And the heart of man shall be taken from him, and the heart of a beast shall be given unto him, until seven times shall pass over him.

These things are determined in the council of the watchmen: The council of the watchmen, and the conversation of the saints, that the living may know that the Most High hath power over the kingdoms of men, and giveth them to whomsoever he will, and exalteth the lowly unto them.

This dream have I seen, O king Nebuchadnezzar. But thou, Belteshazzar, tell me what it is: for all the wise men of my kingdom cannot tell me what it is: but thou canst, because the spirit of the holy gods is with thee.

And Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was afraid for an hour, and his thoughts were troubled. And the king said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream and the interpretation thereof grieve thee. And Belteshazzar began to say, O my lord, that the dream were to thine enemies, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

The tree which thou sawest, that it was great and thick, and that the height thereof reached unto heaven, and spread abroad over all the earth,

And the boughs thereof were good, and the fruit thereof abundant, and all that did eat thereof; and the beasts of the field dwelt under him: And the beasts of the field dwelt under him, and the fowls of the air sat upon his boughs:

This is thou, O king, that art great and mighty: for thy power is great, and reacheth unto heaven; and thy dominion endureth unto the end of the world.

And the king saw a holy watcher come down from heaven, and say, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but let the stump with the roots thereof remain in the earth: but let it walk in the grass of the field in chains of iron and brass, and let it lie under the dew of heaven, and let it be wet, and let it feed with the beasts of the field, until seven times be past upon it: 21. This is the interpretation, O king; and such counsel of the most High is upon my lord the king.

Thou shalt be cast out from among men, and shalt dwell with the beasts of the field; and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen; and thou shalt lie under the dew of heaven, and be wet, until seven times be past upon thee; that thou mayest know that the Most High hath power over the kingdoms of men, and giveth them to whomsoever he will.

But that it is said, Nevertheless let the stick remain with the roots of the tree: thy kingdom shall remain unto thee, when thou shalt know the power that is in heaven.

Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and cleanse thee from thy sins by righteousness, and from