8:26. And the vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true: thou, therefore, seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days.
8:27. And I, Daniel, languished, and was sick for some days: and when I was risen up, I did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, and there was none that could interpret it.
Daniel Chapter 9
Daniel's confession and prayer: Gabriel informs him concerning the seventy weeks to the coming of Christ.
9:1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Assuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans:
9:2. The first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, the prophet, that seventy years should be accomplished of the desolation of Jerusalem.
9:3. And I set my face to the Lord, my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
9:4. And I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I made my confession, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments.
9:5. We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments.
9:6. We have not hearkened to thy servants, the prophets, that have spoken in thy name to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
9:7. To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off, in all the countries whither thou hast driven them, for their iniquities, by which they have sinned against thee.
9:8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers, that have sinned.
9:9. But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee:
9:10. And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, our God, to walk in his law, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets.
9:11. And all Israel have transgressed thy law, and have turned away from hearing thy voice, and the malediction, and the curse, which is written in the book of Moses, the servant of God, is fallen upon us, because we have sinned against him.
9:12. And he hath confirmed his words which he spoke against us, and against our princes that judged us, that he would bring in upon us a great evil, such as never was under all the heaven, according to that which hath been done in Jerusalem.
9:13. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: and we entreated not thy face, O Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and think on thy truth.
9:14. And the Lord hath watched upon the evil, and hath brought it upon us: the Lord, our God, is just in all his works which he hath done: for we have not hearkened to his voice.
9:15. And now, O Lord, our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt, with a strong hand, and hast made thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity,
9:16. O Lord, against all thy justice: let thy wrath and thy indignation be turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city, Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and thy people, are a reproach to all that are round about us.
9:17. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and shew thy face upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate, for thy own sake.
9:18. Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear: open thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies.
9:19. O Lord, hear: O Lord, be appeased: hearken, and do: delay not, for thy own sake, O my God: because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people.
9:20. Now while I was yet speaking, and praying, and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people of Israel, and presenting my supplications in the sight of my God, for the holy mountain of my God:
9:21. As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
The man Gabriel… The angel Gabriel in the shape of a man.
9:22. And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest understand.
9:23. From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore, do thou mark the word, and understand the vision.
Man of desires… that is, ardently praying for the Jews then in captivity.
9:24. Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the Saint of saints may be anointed.
Seventy weeks… Viz., of years, (or seventy times seven, that is, 490 years,) are shortened; that is, fixed and determined, so that the time shall be no longer.
9:25. Know thou, therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ, the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls, in straitness of times.
From the going forth of the word, etc… That is, from the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when by his commandment Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Esd. 2. From which time, according to the best chronology, there were just sixty-nine weeks of years, that is, 483 years to the baptism of Christ, when he first began to preach and execute the office of Messias.-Ibid. In straitness of times… angustia temporum: which may allude both to the difficulties and opposition they met with in building: and to the shortness of the time in which they finished the wall, viz., fifty-two days.
9:26. And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people, with their leader, that shall come, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation.
A people with their leader… The Romans under Titus.
9:27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.
In the half of the week… or, in the middle of the week, etc. Because Christ preached three years and a half: and then by his sacrifice upon the cross abolished all the sacrifices of the law.-Ibid. The abomination of desolation… Some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots. Others of the bringing in thither the ensigns and standard of the pagan Romans. Others, in fine, distinguish three different times of desolation: viz., that under Antiochus; that when the temple was destroyed by the Romans; and the last near the end of the world under Antichrist. To all which, as they suppose, this prophecy may have a relation.
Daniel Chapter 10
Daniel having humbled himself by fasting and penance seeth a vision, with which he is much terrified; but he is comforted by an angel.
10:1. In the third year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel, surnamed Baltassar, and a true word, and great strength: and he understood the word: for there is need of understanding in a vision.
10:2. In those days I, Daniel, mourned the days of three weeks.
10:3. I ate no desirable bread, and neither flesh, nor wine, entered into my mouth, neither was I anointed with ointment: till the days of three weeks were accomplished.
10:4. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, I was by the great river, which is the Tigris.
10:5. And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw: and behold a man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with the finest gold:
10:6. And his body was like the chrysolite, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as a burning lamp: and his arms, and all downward even to the feet, like in appearance to glittering brass: and the voice of his word like the voice of a multitude.
10:7. And I, Daniel alone, saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw it not: but an exceeding great terror fell upon them, and they fled away, and hid themselves.
10:8. And I, being left alone, saw this great vision: and there remained no strength in me, and the appearance of my countenance was changed in me, and I fainted away, and retained no strength.
10:9. And I heard the voice of his words: and when I heard I lay in a consternation upon my face, and my face was close to the ground.
10:10. And behold a hand touched me, and lifted me up upon my knees, and upon the joints of my hands.
10:11. And he said to me: Daniel, thou man of desires, understand the words that I speak to thee, and stand upright: for I am sent now to thee. And when he had said this word to me, I stood trembling.
10:12. And he said to me: Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, to afflict thyself in the sight of thy God, thy words have been heard: and I am come for thy words.
10:13. But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days: and behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there by the king of the Persians.
The prince, etc… That is, the angel guardian of Persia: who according to his office, seeking the spiritual good of the Persians was desirous that many of the Jews should remain among them.
10:14. But I am come to teach thee what things shall befall thy people in the latter days, for as yet the vision is for days.
10:15. And when he was speaking such words to me, I cast down my countenance to the ground, and held my peace.
10:16. And behold as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips: then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him that stood before me: O my lord, at the sight of thee my joints are loosed, and no strength hath remained in me.
10:17. And how can the servant of my lord speak with my lord? for no strength remaineth in me; moreover, my breath is stopped.
10:18. Therefore, he that looked like a man, touched me again, and strengthened me.
10:19. And he said: Fear not, O man of desires, peace be to thee: take courage, and be strong. And when he spoke to me, I grew strong, and I said: Speak, O my lord, for thou hast strengthened me.
10:20. And he said: Dost thou know wherefore I am come to thee? And now I will return, to fight against the prince of the Persians. When I went forth, there appeared the prince of the Greeks coming.
10:21. But I will tell thee what is set down in the scripture of truth: and none is my helper in all these things, but Michael your prince.
Michael your prince… The guardian general of the church of God.
Daniel Chapter 11
The angel declares to Daniel many things to come, with regard to the Persian and Grecian kings: more especially with regard to Antiochus as a figure of Antichrist.
11:1. And from the first year of Darius, the Mede, I stood up, that he might be strengthened, and confirmed.
11:2. And now I will shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
Three kings… Viz., Cambyses, Smerdes Magus, and Darius, the son ofHystaspes.-Ibid. The fourth… Xerxes.
11:3. But there shall rise up a strong king, and shall rule with great power: and he shall do what he pleaseth.
A strong king… Alexander.
11:4. And when he shall come to his height, his kingdom shall be broken, and it shall be divided towards the four winds of the heaven: but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be rent in pieces, even for strangers, besides these.
11:5. And the king of the south shall be strengthened, and one of his princes shall prevail over him, and he shall rule with great power: for his dominions shall be great.
The king of the south… Ptolemeus the son of Lagus, king of Egypt, which lies south of Jerusalem.-Ibid. One of his princes… that is, one of Alexander's princes, shall prevail over him: that is, shall be stronger than the king of Egypt. He speaks of Seleucus Nicator, king of Asia and Syria, whose successors are here called the kings of the north, because their dominions lay to the north in respect to Jerusalem.
11:6. And after the end of years they shall be in league together: and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make friendship, but she shall not obtain the strength of the arm, neither shall her seed stand: and she shall be given up, and her young men that brought her, and they that strengthened her in these times.
The daughter of the king of the south… Viz., Berenice, daughter of Ptolemeus Philadelphus, given in marriage to Antiochus Theos, grandson of Seleucus.
11:7. And a plant of the bud of her roots shall stand up: and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the province of the king of the north: and he shall abuse them, and shall prevail.
A plant, etc… Ptolemeus Evergetes, the son of Philadelphus.
11:8. And he shall also carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven things, and their precious vessels of gold and silver: he shall prevail aginst the king of the north.
The king of the north… Seleucus Callinicus.
11:9. And the king of the south shall enter into the kingdom, and shall return to his own land.
11:10. And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and he shall come with haste like a flood: and he shall return, and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his force.
His sons… Seleucus Ceraunius, and Antiochus the Great, the sons ofCallinicus.-Ibid. He shall come… Viz., Antiochus the Great.
11:11. And the king of the south being provoked, shall go forth, and shall fight against the king of the north, and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude, and a multitude shall be given into his hands.
The king of the south… Ptolemeus Philopator, son of Evergetes.
11:12. And he shall take a multitude, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many thousands: but he shall not prevail.
11:13. For the king of the north shall return, and shall prepare a multitude much greater than before: and in the end of times, and years, he shall come in haste with a great army, and much riches.
11:14. And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south, and the children of prevaricators of thy people shall lift up themselves to fulfil the vision, and they shall fall.
11:15. And the king of the north shall come, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take the best fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up to resist, and they shall not have strength.
11:16. And he shall come upon him, and do according to his pleasure, and there shall be none to stand against his face: and he shall stand in the glorious land, and it shall be consumed by his hand.
He shall come upon him… Viz., Antiochus shall come upon the king of the south.-Ibid. The glorious land… Judea.
11:17. And he shall set his face to come to possess all his kingdom, and he shall make upright conditions with him: and he shall give him a daughter of women, to overthrow it: and she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him.
All his kingdom… Viz., all the kingdom of Ptolemeus Epiphanes, son of Philopator.-Ibid. A daughter of women… That is, a most beautiful woman, viz., his daughter Cleopatra.-Ibid. To overthrow it… Viz., the kingdom of Epiphanes: but his policy shall not succeed; for Cleopatra shall take more to heart the interest of her husband, than that of her father.
11:18. And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: and he shall cause the prince of his reproach to cease, and his reproach shall be turned upon him.
The prince of his reproach… Seipio the Roman general, called the prince of his reproach, because he overthrew Antiochus, and obliged him to submit to very dishonourable terms, before he would cease from the war.
11:19. And he shall turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he shall stumble, and fall, ans shall not be found.
11:20. And there shall stand up in his place one most vile, and unworthy of kingly honour: and in a few days he shall be destroyed, not in rage nor in battle.
One most vile… Seleucus Philopator, who sent Heliodorus to plunder the temple: and was shortly after slain by the same Heliodorus.
11:21. And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud.
One despised… Viz., Antiochus Epiphanes, who at first was despised and not received for king. What is here said of this prince, is accommodated by St. Jerome and others to Antichrist; of whom this Antiochus was a figure.
11:22. And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken: yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Of the fighter… That is, of them that shall oppose him, and shall fight against him.-Ibid. The prince of the covenant… or, of the league. The chief of them that conspired against him: or the king of Egypt his most powerful adversary.
11:23. And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people.
11:24. And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time.
11:25. And his strength, and his heart, shall be stirred up aginst the king of the south, with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him.
The king… Ptolemeus Philometor.
11:26. And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain.
11:27. And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time.
11:28. And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart shall be aginst the holy covenant, and he shall succeed, and shall return into his own land.
11:29. At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the south, but the latter time shall not be like the former.
11:30. And the galleys and the Romans shall come upon him, and he shall be struck, and shall return, and shall have indignation against the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed: and he shall return, and shall devise against them that have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.
The galleys and the Romans… Popilius, and the other Roman ambassadors, who came in galleys, and obliged him to depart from Egypt.
11:31. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice: and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation.
They shall place there the abomination, etc… The idol of JupiterOlympius, which Antiochus ordered to be set up in the sanctuary of thetemple: which is here called the sanctuary of strength, from theAlmighty that was worshipped there.
11:32. And such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble: but the people that know their God shall prevail and succeed.
11:33. And they that are learned among the people shall teach many: and they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by spoil for many days.
11:34. And when they shall have fallen, they shall be relieved with a small help: and many shall be joined to them deceitfully.
11:35. And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white, even to the appointed time: because yet there shall be another time.
11:36. And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished. For the determination is made.
11:37. And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things.
11:38. But he shall worship the god Maozim, in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price.
The god Maozim… That is, the god of forces or strong holds.
11:39. And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall increase glory, and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis.
And he shall increase glory, etc… He shall bestow honours, riches and lands, upon them that shall worship his god.
11:40. And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through.
11:41. And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon.
11:42. And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
11:43. And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Lybia, and Ethiopia.
11:44. And tidings out of the east, and out of the north, shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many.
11:45. And he shall fix his tabernacle, Apadno, between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him.
Apadno… Some take it for the proper name of a place: others, from theHebrew, translate it his palace.
Daniel Chapter 12
Michael shall stand up for the people of God: with other things relating to Antichrist, and the end of the world.
12:1. But at that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people: and a time shall come, such as never was from the time that nations began, even until that time. And at that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book.
12:2. And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake: some unto life everlasting, and others unto reproach, to see it always.
12:3. But they that are learned, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity.
Learned… Viz., in the law of God and true wisdom, which consists in knowing and loving God.
12:4. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time appointed: many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold.
12:5. And I, Daniel, looked, and behold as it were two others stood: one on this side upon the bank of the river, and another on that side, on the other bank of the river.
12:6. And I said to the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river: How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
12:7. And I heard the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, when he had lifted up his right hand, and his left hand to heaven, and had sworn by him that liveth for ever, that it should be unto a time, and times, and half a time. And when the scattering of the band of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these things shall be finished.
12:8. And I heard, and understood not. And I said: O my lord, what shall be after these things?
12:9. And he said: Go, Daniel, because the words are shut up, and sealed until the appointed time.
12:10. Many shall be chosen, and made white, and shall be tried as fire: and the wicked shall deal wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the learned shall understand.
12:11. And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred ninety days.
12:12. Blessed is he that waitesth, and cometh unto a thousand three hundred thirty-five days.
12:13. But go thou thy ways until the time appointed: and thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot unto the end of the days.
Daniel Chapter 13
The history of Susanna and the two elders.
This history of Susanna, in all the ancient Greek and Latin Bibles, was placed in the beginning of the book of Daniel: till St. Jerome, in his translation, detached it from thence; because he did not find it in the Hebrew: which is also the case of the history of Bel and the Dragon. But both the one and the other are received by the Catholic Church: and were from the very beginning a part of the Christian Bible.
13:1. Now there was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim:
13:2. And he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very beautiful woman, and one that feared God.
13:3. For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses.
13:4. Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honourable of them all.
13:5. And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: That iniquity came out from Babylon, from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people.
13:6. These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that hand any matters of judgment came to them.
13:7. And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband's orchard.
13:8. And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her:
13:9. And they perverted their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments.
13:10. So they were both wounded with the love of her, yet they did not make known their grief one to the other.
13:11. For they were ashamed to declare to one another their lust, being desirous to have to do with her:
13:12. And they watched carefully every day to see her. And one said to the other:
13:13. Let us now go home, for it is dinner time. So going out, they departed one from another.
13:14. And turning back again, they came both to the same place: and asking one another the cause, they acknowledged their lust: and then they agreed together upon a time, when they might find her alone.
13:15. And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard: for it was hot weather.
13:16. And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves, and were beholding her.
13:17. So she said to the maids: Bring me oil, and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me.
13:18. And they did as she bade them: and they shut the doors of the orchard, and went out by a back door to fetch what she had commanded them, and they knew not that the elders were hid within.
13:19. Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said:
13:20. Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us, and lie with us.
13:21. But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids from thee.
13:22. Susanna sighed, and said: I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands.
13:23. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.
13:24. With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the elders also cried out against her.
13:25. And one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it.
13:26. So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door, to see what was the matter.
13:27. But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed: for never had there been any such word said of Susanna. And on the next day,
13:28. When the people were come to Joakim, her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death.
13:29. And they said before the people: Send to Susanna, daughter of Helcias, the wife of Joakim. And presently they sent.
13:30. And she came with her parents, and children and all her kindred.
13:31. Now Susanna was exceeding delicate, and beautiful to behold.
13:32. But those wicked men commanded that her face should be uncovered, (for she was covered) that so at least they might be satisfied with her beauty.
13:33. Therefore her friends, and all her acquaintance wept.
13:34. But the two elders rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head.
13:35. And she weeping, looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord.
13:36. And the elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, and sent away the maids from her.
13:37. Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her.
13:38. But we that were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together.
13:39. And him indeed we could not take, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors, he leaped out:
13:40. But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing we are witnesses.
13:41. The multitude believed them, as being the elders, and the judges of the people, and they condemned her to death.
13:42. Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass,
13:43. Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me.
13:44. And the Lord heard her voice.
13:45. And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel:
13:46. And he cried out with a loud voice: I am clear from the blood of this woman.
13:47. Then all the people turning themselves towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken?
13:48. But he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned a daughter of Israel?
13:49. Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her.
13:50. So all the people turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: Come, and sit thou down among us, and shew it us: seeing God hath given thee the honour of old age.
13:51. And Daniel said to the people: Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them.
13:52. So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them, and said to him: O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out, which thou hast committed before:
13:53. In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill.
13:54. Now then if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together: He said: Under a mastic tree.
13:55. And Daniel said: Well hast thou lied against thy own head: for behold the angel of God having received the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two.
13:56. And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart:
13:57. Thus did you do to the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness.
13:58. Now, therefore, tell me, under what tree didst thou take them conversing together. And he answered: Under a holm tree.
13:59. And Daniel said to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you.
13:60. With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him.
13:61. And they rose up against the two elders, (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth) and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbour,
13:62. To fulfil the law of Moses: and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
13:63. But Helcias, and his wife, praised God, for their daughter, Susanna, with Joakim, her husband, and all her kindred, because there was no dishonesty found in her.
13:64. And Daniel became great in the sight of the people from that day, and thence forward.
13:65. And king Astyages was gathered to his fathers; and Cyrus, the Persian, received his kingdom.
Daniel Chapter 14
The history of Bel, and of the great serpent worshipped by theBabylonians.
14:1. And Daniel was the king's guest, and was honoured above all his friends.
The king's guest… It seems most probable, that the king here spoken of was Evilmerodach, the son and successor of Nabuchodonosor, and a great favourer of the Jews.
14:2. Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel: and there was spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine.
14:3. The king also worshipped him, and went every day to adore him: but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to him: Why dost thou not adore Bel?
14:4. And he answered, and said to him: Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, that created heaven and earth, and hath power over all flesh.
14:5. And the king said to him: Doth not Bel seem to thee to be a living god? Seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day?
14:6. Then Daniel smiled, and said: O king, be not deceived: for this is but clay within, and brass without, neither hath he eaten at any time.
14:7. And the king being angry, called for his priests, and said to them: If you tell me not who it is that eateth up these expenses, you shall die.
14:8. But if you can shew that Bel eateth these things, Daniel shall die, because he hath blasphemed against Bel. And Daniel said to the king: Be it done according to thy word.
14:9. Now the priests of Bel were seventy, beside their wives, and little ones, and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.
14:10. And the priests of Bel said: Behold, we go out: and do thou, O king, set on the meats, and make ready the wine, and shut the door fast, and seal it with thy own ring:
14:11. And when thou comest in the morning, if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death, or else Daniel, that hath lied against us.
14:12. And they little regarded it, because they had made under the table a secret entrance, and they always came in by it, and consumed those things.
14:13. So it came to pass after they were gone out, the king set the meats before Bel: and Daniel commanded his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them all over the temple before the king: and going forth, they shut the door, and having sealed it with the king's ring, they departed.
14:14. But the priests went in by night, according to their custom, with their wives, and their children: and they eat and drank up all.
14:15. And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel with him.
14:16. And the king said: Are the seals whole, Daniel? And he answered: They are whole, O king.
14:17. And as soon as he had opened the door, the king looked upon the table, and cried out with a loud voice: Great art thou, O Bel, and there is not any deceit with thee.
14:18. And Daniel laughed: and he held the king, that he should not go in: and he said: Behold the pavement, mark whose footsteps these are.
14:19. And the king said: I see the footsteps of men, and women, and children. And the king was angry.
14:20. Then he took the priests, and their wives, and their children: and they shewed him the private doors by which they came in, and consumed the things that were on the table.
14:21. The king, therefore, put them to death, and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed him and his temple.
14:22. And there was a great dragon in that place, and the Babylonians worshipped him.
14:23. And the king said to Daniel: Behold, thou canst not say now, that this is not a living god: adore him, therefore.
14:24. And Daniel said: I adore the Lord, my God: for he is the living God: but that is no living god.
14:25. But give me leave, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club. And the king said, I give thee leave.
14:26. Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and boiled them together: and he made lumps, and put them into the dragon's mouth, and the dragon burst asunder. And he said: Behold him whom you worship.
14:27. And when the Babylonians had heard this, they took great indignation: and being gathered together against the king, they said: The king is become a Jew. He hath destroyed Bel, he hath killed the dragon, and he hath put the priests to death.
14:28. And they came to the king, and said: Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thy house.
14:29. And the king saw that they pressed upon him violently: and being constrained by necessity: he delivered Daniel to them.
14:30. And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was there six days.
The den of lions… Daniel was twice cast into the den of lions; one under Darius the Mede, because he had transgressed the king's edict, by praying three times a day: and another time under Evilmerodach by a sedition of the people. This time he remained six days in the lions' den; the other time only one night.
14:31. And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but then they were not given unto them, that they might devour Daniel.
14:32. Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and was going into the field, to carry it to the reapers.
Habacuc… The same, as some think whose prophecy is found among the lesser prophets but others believe him to be different.
14:33. And the angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the dinner which thou hast into Babylon, to Daniel, who is in the lions' den.
14:34. And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den.
14:35. And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon, over the den, in the force of his spirit.
14:36. And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee.
14:37. And Daniel said, Thou hast remembered me, O God, and thou hast not forsaken them that love thee.
14:38. And Daniel arose, and eat. And the angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place.
14:39. And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel: and he came to the den, and looked in, and behold Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions.
14:40. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great art thou, O Lord, the God of Daniel. And he drew him out of the lions' den.
14:41. But those that had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him.
14:42. Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for he is the Saviour, working signs, and wonders in the earth: who hath delivered Daniel out of the lions' den.