Daniel 4 Cross References - MSB

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied. ² I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. ³ How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation. ⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. ⁵ I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me. ⁶ So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. ⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, and they could not interpret it for me. ⁸ But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream: ⁹ “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation. ¹⁰ In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great. ¹¹ The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth. ¹² Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed. ¹³ As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth. ¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of a beast till seven times pass him by. ¹⁷ This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’ ¹⁸ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” ¹⁹ For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,” replied Belteshazzar, “may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies! ²⁰ The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth, ²¹ whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested— ²² you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth. ²³ And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’ ²⁴ This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king: ²⁵ You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes. ²⁶ As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules. ²⁷ Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.” ²⁸ All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” ³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. ³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” ³³ At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. ³⁴ But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. ³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” ³⁶ At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

¹⁸ Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

¹⁷ Then the king sent this reply: To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates: Greetings.

⁷ The report they sent him read as follows: To King Darius: All peace.

¹² On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.

⁹ At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:

²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.

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

¹⁴ And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

²³ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

⁶ And when this sound rang out, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking his own language.

⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

¹⁹ So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.

¹⁶ Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me.

¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

¹ A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, ² to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,

³ “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today. ⁴ I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵ as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished. ⁶ About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ⁸ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light and were terrified, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me. ¹⁰ Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’ ¹¹ Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus. ¹² There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there, ¹³ came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him. ¹⁴ Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice. ¹⁵ You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on the name of the Lord.’

⁹ So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. ¹² In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied. ¹⁶ ‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you.

³⁴ Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

² “Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes harmony in the heights of heaven.

⁷ He rules forever by His power; His eyes watch the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

¹⁹ Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O God, You who have done great things. Who, O God, is like You? ²⁰ Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.

¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹ Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.

¹⁰ For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.

⁵ How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!

²⁴ How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

²⁷ They performed His miraculous signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions.

⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹ O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders—plans formed long ago—in perfect faithfulness.

²⁹ This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.

⁴⁴ In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

¹⁷ This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’

³⁴ But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. ³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

²⁶ I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to 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 will never end. ²⁷ He delivers and rescues; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

²⁷ Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’

³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

³³ O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁸ But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁴ and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.

¹¹ If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

⁶ In prosperity I said, “I will never be shaken.” ⁷ O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

⁷ You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome. ⁸ So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’

¹² “Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”

¹¹ Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.

² “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god. ³ Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you! ⁴ By your wisdom and understanding you have gained your wealth and amassed gold and silver for your treasuries. ⁵ By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has grown proud because of it.

¹⁷ Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.

³ Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’

¹² And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’

¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

² For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ For while people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

¹ After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,

¹³ When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, ¹⁴ then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

¹ In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.

²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these: ²⁹ As you lay on your bed, O king, your thoughts turned to the future, and the Revealer of Mysteries made known to you what will happen.

⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing, ⁶ his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

¹⁰ Hearing the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen entered the banquet hall. “O king, may you live forever!” she said. “Do not let your thoughts terrify you, or your face grow pale.

²⁸ Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”

⁷ And the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream. ⁸ In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

¹⁹ When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

¹² So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror! ¹³ You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate. ¹⁴ Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.

² So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

⁸ In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

⁹ But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish.

¹ In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him. ² So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

⁷ They answered a second time, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation.”

¹⁰ The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.

²⁷ Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.

⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith. ⁹ But they will not advance much further. For just like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone.

¹⁷ And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself. ¹⁸ And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will eat it not for one or two days, nor for five or ten or twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” ²¹ But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ ²² If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” ²³ The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.” ²⁴ So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. ²⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again. ²⁶ Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” ²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!” ³⁰ Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.

¹ Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.

¹¹ Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,

² “Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’

⁷ The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

¹¹ What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

⁹ “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation.

¹⁸ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king, ¹² did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”

¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.

⁶ And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.” ¹² Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison. ¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.” ¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ “I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.” ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸ when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. ¹⁹ After them, seven other cows—sickly, ugly, and thin—came up. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt! ²⁰ Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first. ²¹ When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke. ²² In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, growing on a single stalk. ²³ After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind. ²⁴ And the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones. I told this dream to the magicians, but no one could explain it to me.” ²⁵ At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams have the same meaning. ²⁷ Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine. ²⁸ It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, ³⁰ but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land. ³¹ The abundance in the land will not be remembered, since the famine that follows it will be so severe. ³² Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly. ³³ Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities. ³⁶ This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”

³⁸ So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”

¹³ And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.” ¹⁴ His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.” ¹⁵ When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”

⁸ Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

¹⁸ Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”

¹⁴ In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, for you will have no fear. Terror will be far removed, for it will not come near you.

³ Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you!

²⁰ In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

³ he said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it.” ⁴ Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” ⁵ The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble.

⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁵ I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.

⁸ But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:

¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king,

³⁵ I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree, ³⁶ yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

³³ Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled. ³⁴ He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

² You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.

³ Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds. ⁴ The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. ⁵ Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant waters. ⁶ All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. ⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant waters. ⁸ The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty. ⁹ I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’ ¹⁰ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, ¹¹ I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it. ¹² Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it. ¹³ All the birds of the air nested on its fallen trunk, and all the beasts of the field lived among its boughs. ¹⁴ This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’ ¹⁵ This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. ¹⁶ I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. ¹⁷ They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations. ¹⁸ Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”

²⁰ The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth, ²¹ whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested— ²² you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth. ²³ And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’ ²⁴ This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king: ²⁵ You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes. ²⁶ As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.

⁴ “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

¹ Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.

²¹ whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested— ²² you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

²³ And you, Capernaum, which is lifted up to heaven, will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.

⁶ So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him. ⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

²⁰ The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”

²³ I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

⁶ All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. ⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant waters.

³² Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

³² No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

² He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

⁷ In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared, and awesome above all who surround Him.

²⁰ Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command.

¹⁰ In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.

²³ And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’

¹ In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.

¹⁷ ‘These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.

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

¹³ Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”

⁵ You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.

³¹ When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.

²⁴ “Let us alone! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁴ “Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

¹⁴ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones

¹⁰ he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

⁶ Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.

⁹ “We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”

¹² Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it. ¹³ All the birds of the air nested on its fallen trunk, and all the beasts of the field lived among its boughs.

¹² Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed.

²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.

¹⁰ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

⁹ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

⁷ So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ⁸ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit, fine. But if not, you can cut it down next year.’”

³ Then he cried out in a loud voice like the roar of a lion. And when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their voices.

² And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit and every unclean and detestable bird.

⁷ For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. ⁸ If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, ⁹ at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.

¹⁴ I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵ Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations.

²⁵ You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes. ²⁶ As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules. ²⁷ Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”

¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

²⁵ You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. ³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” ³³ At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

²⁵ He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.

¹³ For the king of the North will raise another army, larger than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies.

⁷ And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.”

⁴ Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day in the mountains and in the tombs he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.

²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a man from the town who had been demon-possessed for a long time. This man had not worn clothing or lived in a house, but he stayed in the tombs. ²⁸ When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!” ²⁹ For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.

¹¹ They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment.

¹⁴ But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

¹⁶ But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

⁸ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

²⁵ (Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.

¹⁹ Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. ²⁰ And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that.

⁶ He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever. ⁸ I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites. ¹⁰ And the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin, ¹² this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it. ¹³ I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’” ¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁷ As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ¹⁸ And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

²² In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

¹⁶ The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

⁸ The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.

⁶ For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert, ⁷ but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

¹⁷ May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace. ¹⁸ May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump ⁸ to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people.

³ And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

⁵ By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.

²⁴ So I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will end the pride of the mighty, and their holy places will be profaned.

¹⁷ I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’”

²¹ He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

⁸ But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream: ⁹ “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation.

¹³ As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.

³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” ³³ At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

¹⁸ As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor. ¹⁹ Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him. ²¹ He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.

²¹ In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

²⁸ He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

²¹ I solemnly charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality.

⁸ And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

² and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people. ³ Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the boy.”

³ Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

²⁶ The king responded to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in the dream, as well as its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires. ²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:

⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, and they could not interpret it for me.

⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.

¹⁵ Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this inscription and interpret it for me, but they could not give its interpretation.

⁷ Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.

³⁵ Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

⁴ He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now. ⁵ I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

¹⁸ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’”

³² Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

¹⁵ “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

¹⁷ “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”

⁸ After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed facedown in reverence

¹⁵ So David said to Abner, “You are a man, aren’t you? And who in Israel is your equal? Why then did you not protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him?

³¹ Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Today the LORD has avenged you of all who rose up against you!” ³² The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and to all who rise up against you to harm you.”

⁷ Now as Obadiah went on his way, Elijah suddenly met him. When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”

¹⁹ My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.

⁷ Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

²⁶ The king responded to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in the dream, as well as its interpretation?”

⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. ⁵ I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.

²⁴ This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:

¹² did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”

¹⁵ I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit, and the visions in my mind alarmed me.

²⁷ I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

¹⁶ And suddenly one with the likeness of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I am overcome with anguish, and I have no strength. ¹⁷ How can I, your servant, speak with you, my lord? Now I have no strength, nor is any breath left in me.”

¹⁰ The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

³ Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.

¹⁶ I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.

¹⁰ In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great. ¹¹ The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth. ¹² Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed.

¹² And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁹ But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.

⁵ Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.

⁴ For Your loving devotion extends beyond the heavens, and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

⁶ So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him. ⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him. ⁸ As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.

³⁷ You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. ³⁸ Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

¹⁸ As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor. ¹⁹ Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him. ²¹ He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes. ²² But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

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

⁵ For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

¹³ As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth. ¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of a beast till seven times pass him by.

²¹ He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.

¹² “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. ¹³ One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵ the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” ¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁹ This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”

¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low. ¹² Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.

⁷ I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

⁴⁰ He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

⁶ He established them forever and ever; He issued a decree that will never pass away.

²⁴ The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand. ²⁵ I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.” ²⁶ This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations. ²⁷ The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?

⁹ The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth.

¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’ ¹¹ I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

³ Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. ⁴ They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. ⁵ They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves, ⁶ so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. ⁷ They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles. ⁸ A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.

⁷ but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

¹⁸ May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.

²⁰ They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.

⁵ By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.

²¹ He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes. ²² But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription. ²⁵ Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. ²⁶ And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ²⁷ TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. ²⁸ PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” ²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

³ This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. ⁴ Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him.

³⁷ You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.

¹⁵ But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

³⁴ But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

²¹ The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

³³ Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities. ³⁶ This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.” ³⁷ This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his officials.

²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity during his days, but I will bring it upon his house in the days of his son.”

³¹ Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more. ³² Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble. ² The LORD will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to surrender him to the will of his foes. ³ The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.

⁴⁶ I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.

⁶ By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.

¹³ He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

⁵ Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD? ⁶ Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke? ⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

¹⁰ and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. ¹¹ The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. ¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

⁷ He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

²¹ But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. ²² None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live.

²⁷ But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ³⁰ Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. ³¹ Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!

¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.

⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

² before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you. ³ Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.

⁸ Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.

⁴¹ But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

²² Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to God. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart.

² He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. ³ One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” ⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

²⁵ As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

²⁰ First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone throughout the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

¹¹ Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

¹³ For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²⁸ He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

⁸ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

⁸ Above all, love one another deeply, because love will cover over a multitude of sins.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

²⁴ What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

⁶ But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

³ So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

²⁰ who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

¹⁵ Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.

²¹ Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.

¹⁰ His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

² And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar. ⁴ “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. ⁶ And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

¹² Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all. ¹³ Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks, and we praise Your glorious name. ¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

⁵ The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. ⁶ But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?

⁴ And for a full 180 days he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness.

²⁰ A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

⁸ They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.

¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

⁵ the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works. ⁶ They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness. ⁷ They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness. ⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion. ⁹ The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made. ¹⁰ All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints will bless You. ¹¹ They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, ¹² to make known to men Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

⁸ “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says. ⁹ “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰ As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria, ¹¹ and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?” ¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’” ¹⁵ Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!

²⁴ Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests. ²⁵ I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

¹⁸ As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor. ¹⁹ Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.

¹⁵ The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly. ¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

⁴ Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright—but the righteous will live by faith— ⁵ and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.

¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

³¹ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility, being subject to one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

¹⁹ The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.

⁵ And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

¹⁰ In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

²¹ Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.

²⁴ By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁵ Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there. ²⁶ And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations.

⁹ The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”

²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

²³ When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.

³⁴ But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. ⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

²⁸ PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

²⁸ Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

³ As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” ⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” replied the Lord.

²² And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” ²³ Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

³ For while people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁷ And I heard the altar reply: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”

¹⁰ “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh answered. “May it be as you say,” Moses replied, “so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

¹⁴ Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.

²⁹ Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

²⁴ He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”

¹⁸ He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists. ¹⁹ He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established. ²⁰ He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders. ²¹ He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

⁵ They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves, ⁶ so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. ⁷ They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.

¹⁵ By me kings reign, and rulers enact just laws; ¹⁶ By me princes rule, and all nobles who govern justly.

²⁰ And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

³ I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.

¹⁴ He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth. ¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of a beast till seven times pass him by. ¹⁷ This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

¹⁴ It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

² For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

²¹ saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

¹⁷ I will thank the LORD for His righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

² I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

¹⁶ The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations perish from His land.

¹⁴ Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

¹ A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations. ² Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

¹ A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

²⁴ I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.

¹ Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. ² Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— ³ He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,

⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.

³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

¹ A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

¹ A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

¹ A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! ² O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

¹⁰ The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah!

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹⁵ Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea.

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. ²⁰ Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. ²¹ Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²² Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. ²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

³⁸ Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

³ How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.

²⁶ As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.

²⁶ I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to 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 will never end.

² saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice. ³ For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. ⁴ At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’

⁷ And I will make the lame into a remnant, and the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.

³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

¹⁶ He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

⁶ And he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay!

¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

⁴ God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?

¹² If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’ ¹³ God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

¹³ But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.

¹² Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. ¹³ Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?

¹⁴ If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath, ¹⁵ all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

¹⁹ who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands. ²⁰ They die in an instant, in the middle of the night. The people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand. ²¹ For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step. ²² There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide. ²³ For God need not examine a man further or have him approach for judgment. ²⁴ He shatters the mighty without inquiry and sets up others in their place.

²⁹ But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,

² “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His? ¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

² “I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him. ⁹ For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. ¹⁰ The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples. ¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.

¹⁴ From His dwelling place He gazes on all who inhabit the earth.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,

³ Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.

⁶ The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.

³⁰ There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.

⁹ My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁵ Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust. ¹⁶ Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. ²³ He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless. ²⁴ No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

¹³ Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

⁹ Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? ¹⁰ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’” ¹¹ Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “How dare you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands?

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

²⁸ They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” replied the Lord.

¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”

¹⁹ One of you will say to me, “Why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”

³³ O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways! ³⁴ “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” ³⁵ “Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?” ³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

¹⁶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

²² Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

¹¹ In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

³⁰ Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

¹² And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. ¹³ And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.

⁴ The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

¹⁷ For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.

³ Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.

¹¹ So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. ¹² And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.

¹⁹ His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.

⁴ For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is trustworthy. ⁵ The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His loving devotion.

⁴ The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.

⁷⁵ I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. ¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.

¹⁶ But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

⁵⁶ Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride,

⁶³ so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”

³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” ³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

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

²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him. ²¹ He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes. ²² But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

⁶ But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility, being subject to one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

³ and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!

¹ After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God! ² For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”