The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut.

So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king’s presence, saying to him, “I ¹  have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”

Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected?

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed ¹  toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders ²  to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ¹  into ²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

He called out loudly ¹  as follows: ²  ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches! Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit! Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches!

The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ¹  by my own mighty strength ²  and for my majestic honor?”

While these words were still on the king’s lips, ¹  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ²  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you!

I approached one of those standing nearby and asked him about the meaning ¹  of all this. So he spoke with me and revealed ²  to me the interpretation of the vision: ³ 

The Lord responded ¹  to his people, “Look! I am about to restore your grain ²  as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied. ³  I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord, ¹  who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been walking about on the earth, and now everything is at rest and quiet.”

Turning to me, the messenger then said, “Cry out that the Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much moved ¹  for Jerusalem and for Zion.

So I asked the angelic messenger ¹  who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns ²  that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ³ 

Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, ¹  to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. ² 

For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ¹  “The voice ²  of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ³  his paths straight.’” ⁴ 

As he was saying these things, a ruler came, bowed low before him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.”

Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while ¹  the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.

Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but ¹  they were not able to do so.” ² 

Let the Christ, ¹  the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ² 

They ¹  were all amazed and began to say ²  to one another, “What’s happening here? ³  For with authority and power ⁴  he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”