The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 571

6:7. All the princes of the kingdom, the magistrates, and governors, the senators, and judges, have consulted together, that an imperial decree, and an edict be published: That whosoever shall ask any pet.i.tion of any G.o.d, or man, for thirty days, but of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of the lions.

6:8. Now, therefore, O king, confirm the sentence, and sign the decree: that what is decreed by the Medes and Persians may not be altered, nor any man be allowed to transgress it.

6:9. So king Darius set forth the decree, and established it.

6:10. Now, when Daniel knew this, that is to say, that the law was made, he went into his house: and opening the windows in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem, he knelt down three times a day, and adored and gave thanks before his G.o.d, as he had been accustomed to do before.

6:11. Wherefore those men carefully watching him, found Daniel praying and making supplication to his G.o.d.

6:12. And they came and spoke to the king concerning the edict: O king, hast thou not decreed, that every man that should make a request to any of the G.o.ds, or men, for thirty days, but to thyself, O king, should be cast into the den of the lions? And the king answered them, saying: The word is true, according to the decree of the Medes and Persians, which it is not lawful to violate.

6:13. Then they answered, and said before the king: Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Juda, hath not regarded thy law, nor the decree that thou hast made: but three times a day he maketh his prayer.

6:14. Now when the king had heard these words, he was very much grieved, and in behalf of Daniel he set his heart to deliver him, and even till sunset he laboured to save him.

6:15. But those men perceiving the king's design, said to him: Know thou, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree which the king hath made, may be altered.

6:16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of the lions. And the king said to Daniel: Thy G.o.d, whom thou always servest, he will deliver thee.

6:17. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den: which the king sealed with his own ring, and with the ring of his n.o.bles, that nothing should be done against Daniel.

6:18. And the king went away to his house, and laid himself down without taking supper, and meat was not set before him, and even sleep departed from him.

6:19. Then the king rising very early in the morning, went in haste to the lions' den:

6:20. And coming near to the den, cried with a lamentable voice to Daniel, and said to him: Daniel, servant of the living G.o.d, hath thy G.o.d, whom thou servest always, been able, thinkest thou, to deliver thee from the lions?

6:21. And Daniel answering the king, said: O king, live for ever:

6:22. My G.o.d hath sent his angel, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him justice hath been found in me: yea, and before thee, O king, I have done no offence.

6:23. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and he commanded that Daniel should be taken out of the den: and Daniel was taken out of the den, and no hurt was found in him, because he believed in his G.o.d.

6:24. And by the king's commandment, those men were brought that had accused Daniel: and they were cast into the lions' den, they and their children, and their wives: and they did not reach the bottom of the den, before the lions caught them, and broke all their bones in pieces.

6:25. Then king Darius wrote to all people, tribes, and languages, dwelling in the whole earth: PEACE be multiplied unto you.

6:26. It is decreed by me, that in all my empire and my kingdom, all men dread and fear the G.o.d of Daniel. For he is the living and eternal G.o.d for ever: and his kingdom shall not be destroyed, and his power shall be for ever.

6:27. He is the deliverer, and saviour, doing signs and wonders in heaven, and in earth: who hath delivered Daniel out of the lions' den.

6:28. Now Daniel continued unto the reign of Darius, and the reign of Cyrus, the Persian.

Daniel Chapter 7

Daniel's vision of the four beasts, signifying four kingdoms: of G.o.d sitting on his throne: and of the opposite kingdoms of Christ and Antichrist.

7:1. In the first year of Baltasar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream: and the vision of his head was upon his bed: and writing the dream, he comprehended it in a few words: and relating the sum of it in short, he said:

7:2. I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea.

7:3. And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea.

Four great beasts... Viz., the Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. But some rather choose to understand the fourth beast of the successors of Alexander the Great, more especially of them that reigned in Asia and Syria.

7:4. The first was like a lioness, and had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till her wings were plucked off, and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her.

7:5. And behold another beast, like a bear, stood up on one side: and there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.

7:6. After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had upon it four wings, as of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and power was given to it.

7:7. After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding strong, it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with his feet: and it was unlike to the other beasts which I had seen before it, and had ten horns.

Ten horns... That is, ten kingdoms, (as Apoc. 17.12,) among which the empire of the fourth beast shall be parcelled. Or ten kings of the number of the successors of Alexander; as figures of such as shall be about the time of Antichrist.

7:8. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out of the midst of them: and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence thereof: and behold eyes like the eyes of a man were in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.

Another little horn... This is commonly understood of Antichrist. It may also be applied to that great persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes, as a figure of Antichrist.

7:9. I beheld till thrones were placed, and the ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire.

7:10. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened.

7:11. I beheld, because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke: and I saw that the beast was slain, and the body thereof was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt:

7:12. And that the power of the other beasts was taken away: and that times of life were appointed them for a time, and a time.

7:13. I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the ancient of days: and they presented him before him.

7:14. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.

7:15. My spirit trembled; I, Daniel, was affrighted at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me.

7:16. I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me:

7:17. These four great beasts, are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth.

7:18. But the saints of the most high G.o.d shall take the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.

7:19. After this I would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast, which was very different from all, and exceeding terrible: his teeth and claws were of iron: he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet:

7:20. And concerning the ten horns that he had on his head: and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell: and of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was greater than the rest.

7:21. I beheld, and lo, that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them,

7:22. Till the ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.

7:23. And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.