1 When King Astyages was gathered to his fathers, Cyrus of Persia received his kingdom.
2 Daniel was a confidant of the king and was honored above all his friends.
3 Now the Babylonians had an idol whose name was Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour, forty sheep, and six vessels of wine.
4 The king adored it and went every day to worship it; but Daniel worshiped his own God. So the king asked him, “Why do you not worship Bel?”
5 Daniel answered, “Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but only the living God who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh.”
6 The king said to him, “Do you not think Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?”
7 Daniel smiled and said, “Do not be deceived, O king, for it is but clay inside and bronze outside, and it has never eaten or drunk anything.”
8 Very angry, the king summoned his priests and said to them, “If you do not tell me who it is that consumes these provisions, you shall die.
9 But if you can prove Bel consumes them, then Daniel shall die, because he blasphemed against Bel.” So Daniel said to the king, “Let it be according to your word.”
10 Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children, and the king went with Daniel into the temple.
11 Then the priests of Bel said, “Look, we will step outside. You, O king, set out the food and prepare the wine, then shut the door and seal it with your signet.
12 If you do not find Bel has eaten it all when you come tomorrow, we will suffer death —or else Daniel shall die, who speaks lies against us.”
13 They were unconcerned, for under the table they had made a secret entrance through which they always came in to consume the provisions.
14 So when they had all gone, the king set out the food for Bel. And Daniel ordered his servants to bring in ashes, which they sprinkled throughout all the temple in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door, sealed it with the king's signet, and departed.
15 During the night the priests came with their wives and children, as they usually did, and ate and drank everything.
16 The king rose early the next morning, and Daniel with him.
17 Then the king said, “Are the seals intact, Daniel?” Daniel answered, “They are intact, O king.”
18 As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table and cried out in a loud voice, “Great are you, O Bel, and with you there is no deceit at all.”
19 Then Daniel laughed and restrained the king from going in. He said, “Look at the floor, and notice whose footprints these are.”
20 The king replied, “I see the footprints of men, women, and children.”
21 With great anger, the king seized the priests and their wives and children, and they showed him the hidden doors where they came in and consumed such things as were upon the table.
22 Therefore the king put them to death and handed Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.
23 There was also a large serpent the people of Babylon worshiped.
24 So the king said to Daniel, “Will you also say this is made of bronze? Look, he lives, he eats, and he drinks—you cannot say he is no living god. Therefore worship him.”
25 Daniel replied, “I will worship the Lord my God; for He is the living God.
26 But with your permission, O king, I shall slay this serpent without sword or staff.” The king said, “I will give my permission.”
27 Then Daniel took pitch, tar, and hair; these he boiled together and made cakes, and put them in the mouth of the serpent. The serpent ate them and burst open. Then Daniel said, “Behold the things you have been worshiping.”
28 Now when the people of Babylon heard what had been done, they were indignant and conspired against the king, saying, “The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, slain the serpent, and put the priests to death.”
29 Going to the king, they said, “Deliver Daniel to us, or else we will destroy you and your house.”
30 Now when the king saw they were pressing him hard, he handed Daniel over to them under compulsion.
31 They threw Daniel into the lions’ den, where he was left for six days.
32 Now there were seven lions in the den, and they had to give them two carcasses every day and two sheep. But these things were not given to them now, so they might devour Daniel.
33 Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had made a stew and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going to the fields to take it to the reapers.
34 But the angel of the Lord said unto Habakkuk, “Go, carry the dinner you have into Babylon to Daniel, who is in the lions’ den.”
35 Habakkuk said, “O Lord, I have never seen Babylon, nor do I know the den.”
36 Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and carried him by the hair of his head, and with the speed of the wind set him in Babylon over the den.
37 Habakkuk cried out, saying, “O Daniel, Daniel, take the meal God has sent you.”
38 Daniel said, “You have remembered me, O God, and You have not forsaken those who love You.”
39 So Daniel arose and ate; and the angel of the Lord immediately set Habakkuk down in his own place once more.
40 After this, on the seventh day the king went to the lions’ den to mourn for Daniel, and he came to the pit and looked inside and there sat Daniel.
41 The king cried out with a loud voice, “Great are You, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other besides You.”
42 Then he drew him out of the den, and cast in those who had plotted Daniel's destruction; and they were devoured in a moment before his face.