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¹Darius decided to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, stationed throughout the realm,

²and over them three administrators, including Daniel. These satraps would be accountable to them so that the king would not be defrauded.

³Daniel distinguished himself above the administrators and satraps because he had an extraordinary spirit, so the king planned to set him over the whole realm.

⁴The administrators and satraps, therefore, kept trying to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. But they could find no charge or corruption, for he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

⁵Then these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

⁶So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live forever.

⁷All the administrators of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an edict that for thirty days, anyone who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den.

⁸Therefore, Your Majesty, establish the edict and sign the document so that, as a law of the Medes and Persians, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed.”

⁹So King Darius signed the written edict.

¹⁰When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

¹¹Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.

¹²So they approached the king and asked about his edict: “Didn’t you sign an edict that for thirty days any person who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “As a law of the Medes and Persians, the order stands and is irrevocable.”

¹³Then they replied to the king, “Daniel, one of the Judean exiles, has ignored you, the king, and the edict you signed, for he prays three times a day.”

¹⁴As soon as the king heard this, he was very displeased; he set his mind on rescuing Daniel and made every effort until sundown to deliver him.

¹⁵Then these men went together to the king and said to him, “You know, Your Majesty, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or ordinance the king establishes can be changed.”

¹⁶So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you continually serve, rescue you!”

¹⁷A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed.

¹⁸Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and he could not sleep.

¹⁹At the first light of dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den.

²⁰When he reached the den, he cried out in anguish to Daniel. “Daniel, servant of the living God,” the king said, “has your God, whom you continually serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

²¹Then Daniel spoke with the king: “May the king live forever.

²²My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths; and they haven’t harmed me, for I was found innocent before him. And also before you, Your Majesty, I have not done harm.”

²³The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. When Daniel was brought up from the den, he was found to be unharmed, for he trusted in his God.

²⁴The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den — they, their children, and their wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

²⁵Then King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation, and language who live on the whole earth: “May your prosperity abound.

²⁶I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end.

²⁷He rescues and delivers; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for he has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

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

¹In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind as he was lying in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and here is the summary of his account.

²Daniel said, “In my vision at night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea.

³Four huge beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.

⁴“The first was like a lion but had eagle’s wings. I continued watching until its wings were torn off. It was lifted up from the ground, set on its feet like a man, and given a human mind.

⁵“Suddenly, another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, with three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up! Gorge yourself on flesh.’

⁶“After this, while I was watching, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back. It had four heads, and it was given dominion.

⁷“After this, while I was watching in the night visions, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, frightening and dreadful, and incredibly strong, with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and it trampled with its feet whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

⁸“While I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. And suddenly in this horn there were eyes like the eyes of a human and a mouth that was speaking arrogantly.

⁹“As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of his head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire.

¹⁰A river of fire was flowing, coming out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands served him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.

¹¹“I watched, then, because of the sound of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued watching, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to the burning fire.

¹²As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time.

¹³I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him.

¹⁴He was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

¹⁵“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was deeply distressed within me, and the visions in my mind terrified me.

¹⁶I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him to clarify all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things:

¹⁷‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will rise from the earth.

¹⁸But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever.’

¹⁹“Then I wanted to be clear about the fourth beast, the one different from all the others, extremely terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws, devouring, crushing, and trampling with its feet whatever was left.

²⁰I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three fell — the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and that looked bigger than the others.

²¹As I was watching, this horn waged war against the holy ones and was prevailing over them

²²until the Ancient of Days arrived and a judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.

²³“This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.

²⁴The ten horns are ten kings who will rise from this kingdom. Another king, different from the previous ones, will rise after them and subdue three kings.

²⁵He will speak words against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High. He will intend to change religious festivals and laws, and the holy ones will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time.

²⁶But the court will convene, and his dominion will be taken away, to be completely destroyed forever.

²⁷The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey him.’

²⁸“This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts terrified me greatly, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.”

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

²I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.

³I looked up, and there was a ram standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last.

⁴I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became great.

⁵As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

⁶He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury.

⁷I saw him approaching the ram, and infuriated with him, he struck the ram, breaking his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power.

⁸Then the male goat acted even more arrogantly, but when he became powerful, the large horn was broken. Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.

⁹From one of them a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land.

¹⁰It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars fall to the earth, and trampled them.

¹¹It acted arrogantly even against the Prince of the heavenly army; it revoked his regular sacrifice and overthrew the place of his sanctuary.

¹²In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful in what it did.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last  — the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the army to be trampled?”

¹⁴He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

¹⁵While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man.

¹⁶I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

¹⁷So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

¹⁸While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,

¹⁹and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.

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

²¹The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king.

²²The four horns that took the place of the broken horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.

²³Near the end of their kingdoms, when the rebels have reached the full measure of their sin, a ruthless king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.

²⁴His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause outrageous destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the powerful along with the holy people.

²⁵He will cause deceit to prosper through his cunning and by his influence, and in his own mind he will exalt himself. He will destroy many in a time of peace; he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken — not by human hands.

²⁶The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true. Now you are to seal up the vision because it refers to many days in the future.”

²⁷I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.