Daniel — Bel and the Dragon
Footprints in the Ashes, and a Dragon Burst Apart
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Bel and Dragon 1:1From the prophecy of Habakkuk, son of Joshua, of the tribe of Levi.
Bel and Dragon 1:2There was a certain priest named Daniel, son of Abal, a companion of the king of Babylon.
Bel and Dragon 1:3There was an idol, Bel, whom the Babylonians revered. Each day twelve artabas of fine flour, four sheep, and six metretas of oil were expended for him.
Bel and Dragon 1:4The king revered him and went each day to bow before him, but Daniel prayed to the Lord.
Bel and Dragon 1:5The king said to Daniel, “Why do you not bow before Bel?” Daniel said to the king, “I revere no one except the Lord God, who created heaven and earth and has lordship over all flesh.”
Bel and Dragon 1:6The king said to him, “Is this one, then, not a god? Do you not see how much is spent on him every day?”
Bel and Dragon 1:7Daniel said to him, “Certainly not! Let no one deceive you. This one is clay on the inside and bronze on the outside. I swear to you by the Lord, the God of gods, that this one has never eaten anything.”
Bel and Dragon 1:8The king became angry, called those in charge of the temple, and said to them, “Show who eats what is prepared for Bel. Otherwise, either you will die or Daniel, who claims that these things are not eaten by him.” They said, “Bel himself is the one who eats them.”
Bel and Dragon 1:9Daniel said to the king, “Let it be so. If I do not demonstrate that Bel is not the one who eats these things, I and all my people will die.” Bel had seventy priests, apart from their wives and children.
Bel and Dragon 1:10They brought the king into the idol-temple.
Bel and Dragon 1:11The food was set out before the king and Daniel. Mixed wine was brought in and placed before Bel. Daniel said, “You yourself see that these things are laid out, O king. So seal the locks of the temple yourself when it has been closed.”
Bel and Dragon 1:13The proposal pleased the king.
Bel and Dragon 1:14Daniel ordered his people to put everyone out of the temple and sprinkle the whole temple with ashes, without anyone outside his own group knowing. Then he ordered the temple to be sealed with the king’s ring and the rings of certain distinguished priests. It was done that way.
Bel and Dragon 1:15–17The next day they came to the place. Meanwhile, Bel’s priests had entered through secret doors, eaten everything laid before Bel, and drunk all the wine. Daniel said, “Men who are priests, inspect your seals to see whether they remain. And you, O king, examine whether anything has turned out contrary to what you expected.” They found the seal as it had been, and removed the seal.
Bel and Dragon 1:18They opened the doors and saw that everything set out had been consumed and the tables were empty. The king rejoiced and said to Daniel, “Bel is great, and there is no deceit in him.”
Bel and Dragon 1:19Daniel laughed heartily and said to the king, “Come, see the priests’ deceit.” Daniel said, “O king, whose footprints are these?”
Bel and Dragon 1:20The king said, “Those of men, women, and children.”
Bel and Dragon 1:21He went to the house where the priests were staying and found Bel’s food and the wine. Daniel showed the king the secret doors through which the priests would enter and consume what was laid before Bel.
Bel and Dragon 1:22The king brought them out of Bel’s temple and handed them over to Daniel. He gave Daniel the expenditure allocated to Bel, and destroyed Bel.
Bel and Dragon 1:23There was a dragon in the same place, and the Babylonians revered it.
Bel and Dragon 1:24The king said to Daniel, “Will you say that this one is bronze too? Look, it lives, eats, and drinks. Bow before it.”
Bel and Dragon 1:25Daniel said, “O king, give me authority, and I will kill the dragon without iron or a rod.”
Bel and Dragon 1:26The king consented and said to him, “It is granted to you.”
Bel and Dragon 1:27Daniel took thirty minas of pitch, together with fat and hair, boiled them together, made a cake, and threw it into the dragon’s mouth. It ate and burst apart. He showed it to the king, saying, “Are these not the things you revere, O king?”
Bel and Dragon 1:28All the people from the country gathered against Daniel and said, “The king has become a Jew! He has destroyed Bel and killed the dragon.”
Bel and Dragon 1:30The king saw that the crowd of the country had gathered against him. He called his companions and said, “I hand Daniel over to destruction.”
Bel and Dragon 1:31–32There was a pit in which seven lions were kept. Those who plotted against the king were handed over to them, and each day two bodies of people condemned to death were supplied to them. The crowds threw Daniel into that pit so that he would be devoured and would not even receive burial. Daniel was in the pit for six days.
Bel and Dragon 1:33On the sixth day, Habakkuk had bread crumbled in a trough with stew, and a jar of mixed wine. He was going into the field to the reapers.
Bel and Dragon 1:34An angel of the Lord spoke to Habakkuk, saying, “Thus says the Lord God to you: ‘Take the meal you have to Daniel in the lions’ pit in Babylon.’”
Bel and Dragon 1:35Habakkuk said, “Lord God, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not know where the pit is.”
Bel and Dragon 1:36The angel of the Lord took Habakkuk by the hair of his head and set him above the pit in Babylon.
Bel and Dragon 1:37Habakkuk said to Daniel, “Get up and eat the meal that the Lord God has sent you.”
Bel and Dragon 1:38Daniel said, “For the Lord God has remembered me, He who does not abandon those who love Him.”
Bel and Dragon 1:39Daniel ate. The angel of the Lord returned Habakkuk to the place from which he had taken him on that same day. And the Lord God remembered Daniel.
Bel and Dragon 1:40After these things the king went out mourning Daniel. He bent down into the pit and saw him sitting there.
Bel and Dragon 1:41The king cried aloud and said, “The Lord God is great, and there is no other besides Him.”
Bel and Dragon 1:42The king brought Daniel out of the pit. Before Daniel’s eyes he threw into the pit those responsible for his destruction, and they were devoured.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.