33 Now there was in Jewry the prophet Habakkuk,§ who had made stew, and had broken bread into a bowl. He was going into the field to bring it to the reapers. 34 But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Go carry the dinner that you have into Babylon to Daniel, in the lions’ den.”
35 Habakkuk said, “Lord, I never saw Babylon. I don’t know where the den is.”
36 Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and lifted him up by the hair of his head, and with the blast of his breath set him in Babylon over the den.
37 Habakkuk cried, saying, “O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God has sent you.”
38 Daniel said, “You have remembered me, O God! You haven’t forsaken those who love you!” 39 So Daniel arose and ate; and the angel of God set Habakkuk in his own place again immediately. 40 On the seventh day, the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den, he looked in, and, behold, Daniel was sitting. 41 Then the king cried with a loud voice, saying, “Great are you, O Lord, you God of Daniel, and there is none other beside you!” 42 So he drew him out, and cast those that were the cause of his destruction into the den; and they were devoured in a moment before his face.
† 1:2: The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”
‡ 1:2: The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
§ 1:3: or, seed
† 2:31: “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
† 3:1: A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres.
‡ 3:23: The Song of the Three Holy Children is an addition to Daniel found in the Greek Septuagint but not found in the traditional Hebrew text of Daniel. This portion is recognised as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches. It is found inserted between Daniel 3:23 and Daniel 3:24 of the traditional Hebrew Bible. Here, the verses after 23 from the Hebrew Bible are numbered starting at 91 to make room for these verses.
§ 3:77: Some authorities transpose this verse and the next one.
† 3:91: Verses 91-97 were numbered 24-30 in the traditional Hebrew text of Daniel.
† 9:2: When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “LORD” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name (Hebrew “יהוה”, usually pronounced Yahweh).
‡ 9:25: “Anointed One” can also be translated “Messiah” (same as “Christ”).
§ 9:26: “Anointed One” can also be translated “Messiah” (same as “Christ”).
† 13:1: The History of Susanna is translated from chapter 13 of Daniel in the Greek Septuagint. It is not found in the traditional Hebrew text of Daniel. The History of Susanna is recognised as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches.
† 14:1: Bel and the Dragon is translated from chapter 14 of Daniel in the Greek Septuagint. It is not found in the traditional Hebrew text of Daniel. Bel and the Dragon is recognised as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches.
‡ 14:3: a firkin is about 41 litres or 11 gallons.
§ 14:33: Gr. Ambakoum.
Wisdom of Solomon
The Wisdom of Solomon
The Wisdom of Solomon is recognised as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches.
1
1 Love righteousness, all you who are judges of the earth.
Think of the Lord† with a good mind.
Seek him in singleness of heart,
2 because he is found by those who don’t put him to the test,
and is manifested to those who trust him.
3 for crooked thoughts separate from God.
His Power convicts when it is tested,
and exposes the foolish;
4 because wisdom will not enter into a soul that devises evil,
nor dwell in a body that is enslaved by sin.
5 For a holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit,
and will depart from thoughts that are without understanding,
and will be ashamed when unrighteousness has come in.
6 For‡ wisdom is a spirit who loves man,
and she will not hold a§ blasphemer guiltless for his lips,
because God is witness of his inmost self,
and is a true overseer of his heart,
and a hearer of his tongue.
7 Because the spirit of the Lord has filled† the world,
and that which holds all things together knows what is said.
8 Therefore no one who utters unrighteous things will be unseen;
neither will Justice, when it convicts, pass him by.
9 For in his counsels the ungodly will be searched out,
and the sound of his words will come to the Lord to bring his lawless deeds to conviction;
10 because a jealous ear listens to all things,
and the noise of murmurings is not hidden.
11 Beware then of unprofitable murmuring,
and keep your tongue from slander;
because no secret utterance will go on its way void,
and a lying mouth destroys a soul.
12 Don’t court death in the error of your life.
Don’t draw destruction upon yourselves by the works of your hands;
13 because God didn’t make death,
neither does he delight when the living perish.
14 For he created all things that they might have being.
The generative powers of the world are wholesome,
and there is no poison of destruction in them,
nor has Hades‡ royal dominion upon earth;
15 for righteousness is immortal,
16 but ungodly men by their hands and their words summon death;
deeming him a friend they§ pined away.
They made a covenant with him,
because they are worthy to belong with him.
2
1 For they said† within themselves, with unsound reasoning,
“Our life is short and sorrowful.
There is no healing when a man comes to his end,
and no one was ever known who‡ was released from Hades.
2 Because we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we will be as though we had never been,
because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart,
3 which being extinguished, the body will be turned into ashes,
and the spirit will be dispersed as thin air.
4 Our name will be forgotten in time.
No one will remember our works.
Our life will pass away as the traces of a cloud,
and will be scattered as is a mist,
when it is chased by the rays of the sun,
and§ overcome by its heat.
5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and our end doesn’t retreat,
because it is securely sealed, and no one† turns it back.
6 “Come therefore and let’s enjoy the good things that exist.
Let’s use the creation earnestly as in our youth.
7 Let’s fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes,
and let no spring flower pass us by.
8 Let’s crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9 Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry.
Let’s leave tokens of mirth everywhere,
because this is our portion, and this is our lot.
10 Let’s oppress the righteous poor.
Let’s not spare the widow,
nor regard the grey hair of the old man.
11 But let our strength be a law of righteousness;
for that which is weak is proven useless.
12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he annoys us,
is contrary to our works,
reproaches us with sins against the law,
and charges us with sins against our training.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.
15 He is grievous to us even to look at,
because his life is unlike other men’s,
and his paths are strange.
16 We were regarded by him as something worthless,
and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness.
He calls the latter end of the righteous happy.
He boasts that God is his father.
17 Let’s see if his words are true.
Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life.
18 For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him,
and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.
19 Let’s test him with insult and torture,
that we may find out how gentle he is,
and test his patience.
20 Let’s condemn him to a shameful death,
for he will be protected, according to his words.”
21 Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray;
for their wickedness blinded them,
22 and they didn’t know the mysteries of God,
neither did they hope for wages of holiness,
nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls.
23 Because God created man for incorruption,
and made him an image of his own everlastingness;
24 but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil,
and those who belong to him experience it.
3
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died.
Their departure was considered a disaster,
3 and their travel away from us ruin,
but they are in peace.
4 For even if in the sight of men they are punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
5 Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good;
because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.
6 He tested them like gold in the furnace,
and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine.
They will run back and forth like sparks amongst stubble.
8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples.
The Lord will reign over them forever.
9 Those who trust him will understand truth.
The faithful will live with him in love,
because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.
10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves,
those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord;
11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable.
Their hope is void and their toils
