I, Daniel, was exhausted ¹  and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.

So they kept on repeating, ¹  “What is the meaning of what he says, ²  ‘In a little while’? ³  We do not understand ⁴  what he is talking about.” ⁵ 

It is the same for you. If you do not speak clearly with your tongue, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.

– since the eyes of your ¹  heart have been enlightened ²  – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, ³  what is the wealth of his glorious ⁴  inheritance in the saints,

I pray ¹  that the faith you share with us may deepen your understanding of every blessing ²  that belongs to you ³  in Christ. ⁴ 

Above all, understand this: ¹  In the last days blatant scoffers ²  will come, being propelled by their own evil urges ³ 

Your thinking is perverse! ¹  Should the potter be regarded as clay? ²  Should the thing made say ³  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret ¹  dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. ²  Now summon ³  Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”

So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person ¹  in whom the Lord has put skill ²  and ability ³  to know how ⁴  to do all the work for the service ⁵  of the sanctuary are to do the work ⁶  according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah – all of whom were Levites ¹  – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing.

The godly ¹  perish, but no one cares. ²  Honest people disappear, ³  when no one ⁴  minds ⁵  that the godly ⁶  disappear ⁷  because of ⁸  evil. ⁹ 

So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Otherwise, if you are praising God with your spirit, how can someone without the gift ¹  say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

“And you, Solomon my son, obey ¹  the God of your father and serve him with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit, ²  for the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one’s thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him, ³  but if you abandon him, he will reject you permanently.

No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire – yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ¹ 

young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ¹  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ²  and having keen insight, ³  and who were capable ⁴  of entering the king’s royal service ⁵  – and to teach them the literature and language ⁶  of the Babylonians. ⁷ 

There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ¹  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ²  of the gods. ³  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ⁴ 

He said to me, “Daniel, you are of great value. ¹  Understand the words that I am about to ²  speak to you. So stand up, ³  for I have now been sent to you.” When he said this ⁴  to me, I stood up shaking.

(Now the servant did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David knew what was going on.) ¹