The Koine Bible

And King Astyages was added to his fathers, and Cyrus the Persian took over his kingdom.

And Daniel was the king’s companion and more glorious than all his friends.

And there was an idol for the Babylonians, whose name was Bel, and there were spent on it each day twelve artabae of fine flour and forty sheep and six metretai of wine

And the king revered him and went every day to worship him, but Daniel worshiped his God

And the king said to him, Why do you not worship Bel? And he said, Because I do not revere idols made by hands, but the living God, the one who made the heaven and the earth and who has dominion over all flesh.

And the king said to him, Does Bel not seem to you to be a living god? Or do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?

And Daniel laughed and said, Do not be deceived, O king; for this is inside indeed clay, but outside bronze, and it has neither eaten nor ever drunk.

And the king, becoming enraged, called his priests and said to them, If you do not tell me who is the one who devours this expense, you will die; but if you show that Bel is eating them, Daniel will die, because he has blasphemed against Bel.

And Daniel said to the king, Let it be according to your word. And there were seventy priests of Bel, besides wives and children.

And the king came with Daniel into the house of Bel

And the priests of Bel said, Behold, we are running out; but you, O king, lay out the foods, and having mixed the wine, set it out, and shut the door and seal it with your ring, and come in the morning, if you do not find everything eaten by Bel, we will die, or Daniel, who is lying against us.

But they despised it, because they had made a hidden entrance under the table, and through it they entered continually and consumed them.

And it happened, when those had gone out, that the king set out the food for Bel

And Daniel ordered his boys, and they brought ashes and scattered over the whole temple before the king alone, and going out they closed the door and sealed it with the king’s ring and went away

But the priests came by night according to their custom, and their wives and their children, and they ate everything and drank it up.

And the king rose early in the morning, and Daniel with him.

And the king said, The seals are yours, Daniel. And he said, Yours, O king.

And it happened, when they opened the doors, that the king looked upon the table and cried out with a loud voice, Great are you, Bel, and there is no deceit at all beside you.

And Daniel laughed and restrained the king from not letting him go inside, and he said, Look now at the floor and know whose tracks these are.

And the king said, I see the tracks of men and women and children.

And the king, becoming angry, then seized the priests and their wives and their children, and they showed him the hidden doors through which they used to go in and consume the things on the table.

And the king killed them, and gave Bel over to Daniel, and he overthrew him and his shrine

And there was a great dragon, and the Babylonians worshipped him.

And the king said to Daniel, You are not able to say that this is not a living God, and worship him.

And Daniel said, I will worship the Lord my God, because he is the living God. But you, O king, give me authority, and I will kill the dragon without sword and staff.

And the king said, I give to you.

And Daniel took pitch and fat and hairs and boiled them together and made cakes and gave them into the mouth of the dragon, and having eaten, the dragon burst apart, and he said, See your objects of worship.

And it happened, when the Babylonians heard, they were very indignant and gathered together against the king and said, The king has become a Jew; he has pulled down Bel and killed the dragon and slaughtered the priests.

And they said, having come to the king, Give Daniel over to us; but if not, we will kill you and your house.

And the king saw that they were pressing him greatly, and being compelled, he handed over Daniel to them.

And they threw him into the lions’ pit, and he was there six days.

Now there were in the pit seven lions, and there used to be given to them each day two bodies and two sheep, but then there was not given to them so that they might devour Daniel.

And Habakkuk the prophet was in Judea, and he himself had boiled a stew and crumbled bread into a bowl, and he was going into the field to carry it to the reapers.

And an angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, Carry the food that you have to Babylon to Daniel, to the lions’ den

And Habakkuk said, Lord, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not know the pit.

And the angel of the Lord took hold of his crown and, having lifted him by the hair of his head, set him in Babylon above the pit in the roar of his spirit.

And Habakkuk cried out, saying: Daniel, Daniel, take the meal that God has sent to you.

And Daniel said, For you have remembered me, O God, and you have not forsaken those who love you.

And Daniel arose and ate, and the angel of God returned Habakkuk at once to his place

And the king came on the seventh day to mourn Daniel, and he came to the pit and looked, and behold, Daniel was sitting

And crying out with a loud voice he said, Great are you, Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you.

and he drew him up; but those who were the cause of his destruction he threw into the pit, and they were devoured immediately before him