Page images
PDF
EPUB

and the Light dwelleth with him.

22 He difcovereth deep Things out of Darkness, and bringeth out to Light the Shadow of Death.

23 He encreaseth the Nations, and

deftroyerh them: he enlargeth the Nations, and ftraitneth them again.

I thank thee and praise 23 thee, O thou GOD of my Fathers, who haft given me Wifdom and Might, and haft made known unto me now what we defired of thee.

24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, and faid unto him, Destroy not the wife Men of Babylon: bring me in before the King, and I will fhew unto the King the Interpretation.

25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the King in Hafte, and faid thus unto him, I have found a Man of thé Captives of Judah, that will make known unto the King the Interpretation.

26 The King faid to Daniel, Art thou able to make known unto me the Dream which I have seen, and the Interpretation thereof?

27 Daniel answered in the Prefence of the King, and faid, The SECRET which the King hath demanded, cannot the wife Men, the Aftrologers, the Magicians, the Soothfayers fhew unto the King;

28 But there is a GOD in HEAVEN that revealeth SECRETS, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar, what fhall be in the LATER DAYS. Thy Dream, and the Vifions of thy Head upon thy Bed, are these;

29 As for thee, O King, thy Thoughts came into thy Mind, upon thy Bed, what fhould come to país hereafter: and he that REVEALETH SECRETS maketh KNOWN unto thee, what shall COME TO PASS.

30 But as for me, this Secret is not revealed to me, for any Wisdom that I have more than any Living, but for their Sakes that shall make known the Interpretation to the King, and that thou mightest know the Thoughts of thy Heart.

31 Thou, O King, faweft, and behold, a great Image: this great Image whofe Brightnefs was excellent, ftood before thee, and the Form thereof was TERRIBLE.

32 This Image's HEAD was of fine GOLD, his BREAST and his Arms of SILVER, his Belly and his THIGHS of BRASS.

33 His LEGS of IRON, his FEET part of IRON and part of CLAY.

34 Thou faweft till that a STONE was cut out without

[blocks in formation]

Hands, which SMOTE the IMAGE upon his FEET that were of Iron and Clay, and break them to Pieces.

b

35 Then was the IRON, the CLAY, the BRASS, the SILVER and the GOLD broken to Pieces together, and became like the CHAFF of the Summer-threshing Floors, and the Wind carried them away, that no Place was found for them and the STONE that fmote the Image became a great Mountain, and FILLED the whole EARTH.

[blocks in formation]

36 This is the Dream, and we will tell the Interpretation thereof before the King."

37 Thou, O King, art a King of Kings: for the GoD of HEAVEN hath given thee a Kingdom, Power, and Strength, and Glory.

38 And where foever the Children of Men dwell, the Beafts of the Field, and the Fowls of the Heaven hath he given into thine Hand, and hath made thee Ruler over them all, thou art this HEAD of GOLD.

39 And after thee fhall arife another KINGDOM inferiour to thee, and another THIRD Kingdom of BRASS, which fhall bear Rule over the Earth.

40 And the FOURTH Kingdom shall be STRONG as IRON: forafmuch as Iron breaketh in Pieces, and fubdueth all Things and as Iron that breaketh all thefe, fhall it break in Pieces and bruise.

41 And whereas thou faweft the FEET and TOES part of Potters CLAY, and part of IRON: the Kingdom fhall be divided, but there fhall be in it of the STRENGTH of the IRON, forafmuch as thou fawest the IRON MIXED with miry CLAY.

42 And as the TOES of the Feet were part of IRON, and part of CLAY; fo the Kingdom fhall be partly STRONG, and partly BROKEN.

43 And whereas thou faweft IRON mixed with miry CLAY, they fhall MINGLE themselves with the Seed of Men: but they fhall not CLEAVE one to another, even as Iron is not mixed with Clay.

44 And in the Days of thefe Kings fhall the Gop of

Heaven fet up a KINGDOM, which fhall never be DESTROYED: and the Kingdom fhall not be left to other People, but it fhall BREAK in PIECES, and consume all these Kingdoms, and it fhall STAND for EVER.

45 Forafmuch, as thou

* See Dan. vii. Revel. xiii.

fawest that the STONE was cut out of the Mountain without HANDS, and that it brake in Pieces the IRON, the BRASS, the CLAY, the SILVER, and the GOLD; the Great GOD hath made known to the King, what fhall come to PASS hereafter and the Dream is certain, and the Interpretation thereof fure.

46 Then the King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his Face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an Oblation and fweet Odours unto him.

47 The King anfwered unto Daniel, and faid, Of a Truth it is, that your GoD is a GoD of Gods, and a LORD of Kings, and a Revealer of Secrets, feeing thou couldst reveal this Secret.

48 Then the King made Daniel a great Man, and gave him many great Gifts, and made him Ruler over the whole Province of Babylon, and chief of the Governours over all the wife Men of Babylon.

49 Then Daniel requested of the King, and he fet Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the Affairs of the Province of Babylon: but Daniel fate in the Gate of the King.

It is generally agreed, that the Image feen by Nebuchadnezzar in his Dream, was the Reprefentation of the four great Monarchies; the golden Head representing the Chaldean Empire; the Breaft and Arms of Silver, the Medo-perfian; the Thighs of Brass, the Greek or Macedonian; the Legs of Iron, the Roman Empire.

And that the Toes of this Image, being a Mixture of Iron and Clay, is the Representation of the ten Kingdoms that arose upon the Ruins of the Roman Empire, who all fubjected their Authority to the Controul of the Papal Supremacy; and that the Stone cut out of the Mountain without Hands, which fmote the Image upon his Feet, is the Reprefentation of the Meffiahs Kingdom, which fhould break in Pieces and confume all these Kingdoms and which fhould ftand for ever.

The fame Thing is revealed to Daniel under the Emblem of four favage Beafts. See Dan, vii, and Rev. xiii, and xvii,

CHA P. III.

Į Nebuchadnezzar dedicateth a golden Image in Dura. 8 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are accused for not worshipping the Image. 13 They being threatned make a good Con

fellion.

feffion. 19 God delivereth them out of the Furnace. 26 Nebuchadnezzar feeing the Miracle, bleffeth God.

Ver. 1

[ocr errors]

EBUCHADNEZZAR the King made an Image of Gold, whofe Height was threescore Cubits, and the Breadth thereof fix Cubits: he fet it up in the Plain of Dura, in the Province of Babylon.

с

z Then Nebuchadnezzar fent to gather together the Princes, and all the Rulers of the Provinces, to come to the Dedication of the IMAGE he had fet up.

3 And they stood before the Image.

4 Then an Herauld cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O People, Nations, and Languages.

5 That at what Time ye hear all kinds of Mufick, ye fall down and worship the golden Image that Nebuchadnezzar the King hath fet up.

[ocr errors]

• Revel. xiii. 1 And I ftood upon the Sand of the Sea, and faw a Beaft rife up out of the Sea, having SEVEN HEADS, and TEN HORNS, and upon his Horns ten CROWNS, and upon his Heads the Name of BLASPHEMY.

12 And he exérciferh all the Fower of the FIRST BEAST before him, and caufeth the Earth, and them that dwell therein to WORSHIP the FIRST

BEAST, whofe deadly Wound was healed.

the Earth, that they fhould make an

14 Saying to them that dwell on

IMAGE to the Beaft which had the
Wound by the Sword, and did

live.

is And he had Power to give Life unto the Image of the Beaft, that the IMAGE of the Beaft fhould both fpeak, and caufe that as many as

would not WORSHIP the IMAGE of the Beaft, fhould be killed.

6 And whofo falleth not down and worshippeth, fhall the fame Hour be caft into the midft of a burning FIERY FURNACE.

.. 7 Therefore all the People, the Nations and the Langua ges fell down and WORSHIPPED the GOLDEN IMAGE.

8 Wherefore at that Time certain Chaldeans came near and accufed the Jews, faying to the Kiug,

12 There are certain Jews whom thou haft fet over the Affairs of the Province of Babylon: thefe Men, O King, have not regarded thee, they SERVE not thy Gods, not WORSHIP the golden IMAGE which thou haft fet up.

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his Rage and Fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Mefhach, and Abed-nego: then they brought thefe Men before the King.

14 Nebuchadnezzar fpake and faid unto them, Is it true, do not ye ferve my Gods, nor worship the golden Image which I have fet up?

15 Now if ye fall down and worship the Image which I

L

have made, well: but if ye wORSHIP NOT, ye fhall be caft the fame Hour into the midst of a burning fiery Furnace; and who is that GOD, that shall deliver you out of my Hands:

16 They answered and faid to the King, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not CAREFUL to anfwer thee in this Matter.

17 If it be fo, our GoD whom we SERVE, is ABLE to DELIVER US from the burning fiery Furnace, and he will DELIVER US Out of thine Hand, O King.

18 But IF NOT, be it known unto thee, O King, that we WILL NOT SERVE thy Gods, nor WORSHIP the golden IMAGE which thou haft fet up.

19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of Fury, and the Form of his Vifage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abeg-nego: therefore, he fpake and commanded, that they fhould heat the Furnace one SEVEN TIMES more than it was wont to be heat.

20 And he commanded the most mighty Men that were in his Army, to bind, and cast them into the burning fiery Furnace.

21 Then thefe Men were bound in their Coats, their Hofen, and their Hats, and their other Garments, and were caft into the midst of the burning fiery Furnace.

22 Therefore because the King's Commandment was urgent, and the Furnace exceeding hot, the Flame of the Fire SLEW thofe Men that took THEM up.

2 And these three Men, Shadrach, Mefhach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midft of the burning fiery Furnace.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the King was ASTONIED, and rofe up in hafte, and fpake, and faid unto his Councellors, Did not we caft three Men BOUND into the midst of the Fire? They anfwered and faid unto the King, True, O King.

25 d He answered and faid, Lo, I SEE FOUR MEN LOOSE, WALKING in the midst of the FIRE, and they have no HURT; and the FORM of the FOURTH is like the SON OF GOD.

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar

a Ifa. xliii. 1 But now thus faith cob, and he that formed thee, O Ifthe LORD that created thee, O Jarael, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy Name,

thou art mine.

2 When thou paffeft through the Waters, I will be with thee, and through the Rivers they fhalt not overflow thee: when thou WALKEST

through the FIRE, thou shalt not be

« PreviousContinue »