Daniel 14— Septuagint (LXX)

When King Astyages was gathered to his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom.

Greek (Th): Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀστυάγης προσετέθη πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας αὐτοῦ

Now Daniel was a companion of the king, and the most honored of all his friends.

Greek (Th): καὶ Δανιηλ ἦν συμβιωτὴς τοῦ βασιλέως

Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they provided for it twelve bushels of choice flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἦν εἴδωλον τοῖς Βαβυλωνίοις ᾧ ὄνομα Βηλ

The king revered Bel and went every day to worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God.

Greek (Th): καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐσέβετο αὐτόν

And the king said to him, 'Why do you not worship Bel?' Daniel answered, 'Because I do not revere idols made by human hands,

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς

but the living God, who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all that lives.'

Greek (Th): ἀλλὰ τὸν ζῶντα θεόν

The king said to him, 'Do you not consider Bel to be a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς

Then Daniel laughed and said, 'Do not be deceived, O king. This is merely clay on the inside and bronze on the outside. It has never eaten or drunk anything.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν Δανιηλ γελάσας

Then the king was furious and summoned the priests of Bel and said to them, 'If you do not tell me who is consuming these provisions, you will die.

Greek (Th): θυμωθεὶς δὲ ὁ βασιλεύς

But if you can prove that Bel is the one eating them, then Daniel will die, because he has blasphemed Bel.'

Greek (Th): ἐὰν δὲ δείξητε

Daniel said to the king, 'Let it be as you have said.' Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children.

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν Δανιηλ τῷ βασιλεῖ Γινέσθω κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου

So the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἦλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς μετὰ Δανιηλ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Βηλ

The priests of Bel said, 'Look — we are going outside. You yourself, O king, set out the food and mix the wine and shut the door and seal it with your signet ring.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπαν οἱ ἱερεῖς τοῦ Βηλ

'When you return in the morning, if you do not find that Bel has consumed everything, we will die.'

Greek (Th): ἐλθὼν δὲ πρωὶ εὑρήσεις

They were unconcerned, for under the table they had made a hidden entrance through which they regularly went in and consumed the provisions.

Greek (Th): καὶ κατεφρόνουν ὅτι ἐπεποίηκεισαν κρυπτὴν εἴσοδον

After they had gone out, the king set out the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes, and they scattered them throughout the entire temple

Greek (Th): ὡς δὲ ἐξῆλθον ἐκεῖνοι

in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door, sealed it with the king's signet, and departed.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἐξῆλθαν κλείσαντες τὴν θύραν

During the night the priests came as usual, with their wives and children, and they ate and drank everything.

Greek (Th): οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς ἦλθον τὴν νύκτα

Early in the morning the king rose and came to the temple, and Daniel was with him.

Greek (Th): ὤρθρισεν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ πρωΐ

The king said, 'Daniel, are the seals unbroken?' He answered, 'They are unbroken, O king.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν Δανιηλ σῶαί εἰσιν αἱ σφραγῖδες

And as soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table and shouted in a loud voice, 'You are great, O Bel! In you there is no deceit whatsoever!'

Greek (Th): ἅμα δὲ τῷ ἀνοῖξαι τὰς θύρας

But Daniel laughed, and he held the king back from entering and said, 'Look at the floor, and observe whose footprints these are.'

Greek (Th): Δανιηλ δὲ γελάσας κατέσχεν τὸν βασιλέα

And the king said, 'I see the footprints of men and women and children!'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς

Then the king was enraged, and he seized the priests along with their wives and children.

Greek (Th): θυμωθεὶς δὲ ὁ βασιλεύς

And they showed him the hidden doors through which they would enter and consume what was on the table.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἔδειξαν αὐτῷ τὰς κρυπτὰς θύρας

And the king put them to death, and he gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it along with its temple.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεύς

Now there was also a great dragon, which the Babylonians worshiped.

Greek (Th): Καὶ ἦν δράκων μέγας

The king said to Daniel, 'You cannot say that this one is not a living god. So worship him.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ Δανιηλ

Daniel said, 'I worship the Lord my God, for he is the living God.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν Δανιηλ

'But give me permission, O king, and I will slay the dragon without sword or club.' The king said, 'I give you permission.'

Greek (Th): σὺ δέ μοι δὸς ἐξουσίαν κύριε βασιλεῦ

Then Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, and he fed them to the dragon.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἔλαβεν Δανιηλ πίσσαν καὶ στέαρ καὶ τρίχας

And the dragon ate them and burst apart. Then Daniel said, 'See what you have been worshiping!'

Greek (Th): καὶ ἐφαγεν ὁ δράκων καὶ ἐρράγη

When the Babylonians heard about this, they were furious and conspired against the king, saying, 'The king has become a Jew!

Greek (Th): ὡς δὲ ἤκουσαν οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι ἠγανάκτησαν σφόδρα

He has destroyed Bel and killed the dragon and slaughtered the priests!'

Greek (Th): κατέσπασεν τὸν Βηλ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν τὸν δράκοντα

Coming to the king, they said, 'Hand Daniel over to us, or we will kill you and your household.'

Greek (Th): καὶ ἐλθόντες πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἶπαν

And the king saw that they were pressing him severely, and under compulsion he handed Daniel over to them.

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶδεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὅτι ἐπέκειντο αὐτῷ σφόδρα

They threw Daniel into the lions' den, and he was there for six days.

Greek (Th): οἱ δὲ ἔβαλον αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν λάκκον τῶν λεόντων

There were seven lions in the den, and every day they had been given two human bodies and two sheep. But now they were given nothing, so that they would devour Daniel.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἦσαν ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ ἑπτὰ λέοντες

Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had prepared a stew and broken bread into a bowl, and he was going into the field to bring it to the reapers.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἦν Αμβακουμ ὁ προφήτης ἐν τῇ Ιουδαίᾳ

But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, 'Take the meal that you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν ἄγγελος κυρίου τῷ Αμβακουμ

Habakkuk said, 'Lord, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν Αμβακουμ

Then the angel of the Lord seized him by the crown of his head and carried him by his hair, and with the rushing of the wind he set him down in Babylon, right above the den.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἐπελάβετο ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου τῆς κορυφῆς αὐτοῦ

Then Habakkuk cried out, 'Daniel! Daniel! Take the meal that God has sent you!'

Greek (Th) [note: some editions number to v.42]

And Daniel said, 'You have remembered me, O God! You have not forsaken those who love you.'

Greek (Th): καὶ εἶπεν Δανιηλ

Then Daniel rose and ate. And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἀναστὰς Δανιηλ ἔφαγεν

On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den and looked in — there was Daniel, sitting!

Greek (Th): ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἦλθεν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ

And the king cried out with a loud voice, 'You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!'

Greek (Th): καὶ ἐβόησεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ

Then he pulled Daniel out of the den, and threw in those who had attempted his destruction, and they were devoured instantly before his eyes.

Greek (Th): καὶ ἀνέσπασεν αὐτόν