Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed down with his face to the ground ¹  and paid homage to Daniel. He gave orders to offer sacrifice and incense to him.

But Daniel replied to the king, “Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its ¹  interpretation.

Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ¹  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

So these men concluded, ¹  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ²  in connection with the law of his God.”

Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ¹  to the den. The king sealed ²  it with his signet ring and with those ³  of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel.

He rescues and delivers and performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power ¹  of the lions!”

In the first ¹  year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had ²  a dream filled with visions ³  while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. ⁴ 

Daniel explained: ¹  “I was watching in my vision during the night as ²  the four winds of the sky ³  were stirring up the great sea. ⁴ 

“This is the conclusion of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and the color drained from my face. ¹  But I kept the matter to myself.” ² 

Then Daniel went in to see ¹  Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came ²  and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me ³  to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” ⁴ 

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.”

The king replied to Daniel, “Certainly your God is a God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery!”

Then the king elevated Daniel to high position and bestowed on him many marvelous gifts. He granted him authority over the entire province of Babylon and made him the main prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, ¹  and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well,

Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; ¹  his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, ²  if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

Over them would be three supervisors, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable ¹  to them, so that the king’s interests might not incur damage.

Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ¹  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ²  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ³  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ⁴ 

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ¹  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ² 

When the king heard this, ¹  he was very upset and began thinking about ²  how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon ³  he was struggling to find a way to rescue him.