The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 569

3:87. O ye holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

3:88. O Ananias, Azarias, Misael, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. For he hath delivered us from h.e.l.l, ad saved us out of the hand of death, and delivered us out of the midst of the burning flame, and saved us out of the midst of the fire.

3:89. O give thanks to the Lord, because he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever and ever.

3:90. O all ye religious, bless the Lord, the G.o.d of G.o.ds: praise him, and give him thanks, because his mercy endureth for ever and ever.

3:91. Then Nabuchodonosor, the king, was astonished, and rose up in haste, and said to his n.o.bles: Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, and said: True, O king.

3:92. He answered, and said: Behold, I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them, and the form of the fourth is like the son of G.o.d.

3:93. Then Nabuchodonosor came to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and said: Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, ye servants of the most high G.o.d, go ye forth, and come. And immediately Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, went out from the midst of the fire.

3:94. And the n.o.bles, and the magistrates, and the judges, and the great men of the king, being gathered together, considered these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, and that not a hair of their head had been singed, nor their garments altered, nor the smell of the fire had pa.s.sed on them.

3:95. Then Nabuchodonosor breaking forth, said: Blessed be the G.o.d of them, to wit, of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that believed in him: and they changed the king's word, and delivered up their bodies, that they might not serve nor adore any G.o.d except their own G.o.d.

3:96. By me, therefore, this decree is made: That every people, tribe, and tongue, which shall speak blasphemy against the G.o.d of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, shall be destroyed, and their houses laid waste: for there is no other G.o.d that can save in this manner.

3:97. Then the king promoted Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, in the province of Babylon.

3:98. Nabuchodonosor, the king, to all peoples, nations, and tongues, that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you.

Nabuchodonosor, etc... These last three verses are a kind of preface to the following chapter, which is written in the style of an epistle from the king.

3:99. The most high G.o.d hath wrought signs and wonders towards me. It hath seemed good to me, therefore, to publish

3:100. His signs, because they are great: and his wonders, because they are mighty: and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his power to all generations.

Daniel Chapter 4

Nabuchodonosor's dream, by which the judgments of G.o.d are denounced against him for his pride, is interpreted by Daniel, and verified by the event.

4:1. I, Nabuchodonosor, was at rest in my house, and flouris.h.i.+ng in my palace:

4:2. I saw a dream that affrighted me: and my thoughts in my bed, and the visions of my head, troubled me.

4:3. Then I set forth a decree, that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought in before me, and that they should shew me the interpretation of the dream.

4:4. Then came in the diviners, the wise men, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and I told the dream before them: but they did not shew me the interpretation thereof.

4:5. Till their colleague, Daniel, came in before me, whose name is Balta.s.sar, according to the name of my G.o.d, who hath in him the spirit of the holy G.o.ds: and I told the dream before him.

Balta.s.sar, according to the name of my G.o.d... He says this, because the name of Balta.s.sar, or Belteshazzar, is derived from the name of Bel, the chief G.o.d of the Babylonians.

4:6. Balta.s.sar, prince of the diviners, because I know that thou hast in thee the spirit of the holy G.o.ds, and that no secret is impossible to thee, tell me the visions of my dreams that I have seen, and the interpretation of them?

4:7. This was the vision of my head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was exceeding great.

4:8. The tree was great and strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth.

4:9. Its leaves were most beautiful, and its fruit exceeding much: and in it was food for all: under it dwelt cattle and beasts, and in the branches thereof the fowls of the air had their abode: and all flesh did eat of it.

4:10. I saw in the vision of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher, and a holy one came down from heaven.

A watcher... A vigilant angel, perhaps the guardian of Israel.

4:11. He cried aloud, and said thus: Cut down the tree, and chop off the branches thereof: shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruits: let the beasts fly away that are under it, and the birds from its branches.

4:12. Nevertheless, leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and let it be tied with a band of iron and of bra.s.s, among the gra.s.s, that is without, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let its protion be with the wild beasts in the gra.s.s of the earth.

4:13. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given him: and let seven times pa.s.s over him.

Let his heart be changed, etc... It does not appear by scripture that Nabuchodonosor was changed from human shape; much less that he was changed into an ox; but only that he lost his reason, and became mad; and in this condition remained abroad in the company of beasts, eating gra.s.s like an ox, till his hair grew in such manner as to resemble the feathers of eagles, and his nails to be like birds' claws.

4:14. This is the decree by the sentence of the watchers, and the word and demand of the holy ones: till the living know, that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men: and he will give it to whomsoever it shall please him, and he will appoint the basest man over it.

4:15. I, king Nabuchodonosor, saw this dream: thou, therefore, O Balta.s.sar, tell me quickly the interpretation: for all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to declare the meaning of it to me: but thou art able, because the spirit of the holy G.o.ds is in thee.

4:16. Then Daniel, whose name was Balta.s.sar, began silently to think within himself for about one hour: and his thought troubled him. But the king answering, said: Balta.s.sar, let not the dream and the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Balta.s.sar answered, and said: My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thy enemies.

4:17. The tree which thou sawest, which was high and strong, whose height reached to the skies, and the sight thereof into all the earth:

4:18. And the branches thereof were most beautiful, and its fruit exceeding much, and in it was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and the birds of the air had their abode in its branches.

4:19. It is thou, O king, who art grown great, and become mighty: for thy greatness hath grown, and hath reached to heaven, and thy power unto the ends of the earth.

4:20. And whereas the king saw a watcher, and a holy one come down from heaven, and say: Cut down the tree, and destroy it, but leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, and let it be bound with iron and bra.s.s, among the gra.s.s without, and let it be sprinkled with the dew of heaven, and let his feeding be with the wild beasts, till seven times pa.s.s over him.

4:21. This is the interpretation of the sentence of the most High, which is come upon my lord, the king.

4:22. They shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with cattle, and with wild beasts, and thou shalt eat gra.s.s, as an ox, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven: and seven times shall pa.s.s over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

4:23. But whereas he commanded, that the stump of the roots thereof, that is, of the tree, should be left: thy kingdom shall remain to thee, after thou shalt have known that power is from heaven.

4:24. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to thee, and redeem thou thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor: perhaps he will forgive thy offences.

4:25. All these things came upon king Nabuchodonosor.

4:26. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the palace of Babylon.

4:27. And the king answered, and said: Is not this the great Babylon, which I have built, to be the seat of the kingdom, by the strength of my power, and in the glory of my excellence?

4:28. And while the word was yet in the king's mouth, a voice came down from heaven: To thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, it is said: Thy kingdom shall pa.s.s from thee.

4:29. And they shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with cattle and wild beasts: thou shalt eat gra.s.s like an ox, and seven times shall pa.s.s over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

4:30. The same hour the word was fulfilled upon Nabuchodonosor, and he was driven away from among men, and did eat gra.s.s, like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven: till his hairs grew like the feathers of eagles, and his nails like birds' claws.