7. Azariah. And the prince of the eunuchs gave them other names. To Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. 8. which the king inquired than all the scribes and (Chap. I; 1-4, 17-20.) And God gave these four youths knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all vis9. ions and dreams. And at the end of the days, when the king had commanded him to bring them before him, then the prince 10. of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king conversed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore 11. they stood as servants before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding concerning of them he found them ten times better magicians that were in all his realms. 12. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel spake and said: Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever! for wisdom and might are his. And he changeth times and seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding. He re13. vealeth deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in darkness, and light dwelleth with him. I thank thee and praise thee, O 14. thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known to me now what we desired of thee. '(Chap. II; 20-23.) 1. II. Belshazzer's Feast. BELSHAZZAR, the king, gave a great feast to his thousand 2. lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple at Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives 3. and attendants, might drink therein. Then they bought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God at Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his 4. wives and attendants, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the chandelier upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the hand that wrote. 6. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosened, and his knees smote one against the other. The king cried aloud to 7. bring in the magicians, the Chaldæans, and the astrologers. And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold about his 8. neck, and shall rule as the third in the kingdom. Then all the king's wise men came in; but they could not read the writing, 9. nor make known to the king its signification. Then was King Belshazzar in great consternation, and his countenance was 10. changed, and his lords were amazed. Then the queen, on account of this affair of the king and his lords, came into the banquet-house; and the queen spake and said, O king, live forever! Let not thy thoughts terrify thee, nor let thy countenance 11. be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, made him chief of the scribes, the magicians, the Chaldæans, and the 12. astrologers, thy father, O king! Forasmuch as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams, and to explain hard sentences, and solve difficult questions were found in him, in Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar; now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. 13. Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said to Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, of the captives of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought out of 14. Judæa? I have heard concerning thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent 15. wisdom are found in thee. And now, the wise men and the magicians have been brought in before me, that they might read this writing, and make known to me its signification; but 16. they could not show the signification of the thing. But I have heard of thee that thou canst give interpretations, and solve difficult questions. Now if thou canst read the writing and make known to me its signification, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as the third in the kingdom. 17. Then answered Daniel and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another: yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the signi18. fication. O king, the Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, 19. thy father, a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor, And by reason of the majesty which he gave him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him; whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; whom he would he 20. set up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit hardened in pride, he was thrust down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21. And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart became like the beasts, and his dwelling was with wild beasts; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that Most High God ruled in the kingdoms of men, and set up over them whomsoever he would. 22. And thou, his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted thyself up against 23. the LORD of heaven; and the vessels of his house have been brought before thee, and thou, and the lords, thy wives, and thy attendants have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand is thy breath, and whose are all thy ways, thou hast not honored 24. Then was sent from him the hand, and this writing was written. 25. And this is the writing which was written: Mené, Mené, 26. Tekél, Upharsin. Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Di vided. And this is the interpretation of it. Numbered: God 27. hath numbered thy kingdom, and made an end of it. Weighed: 28. Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Divided: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. 29. Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be third ruler in the kingdom. 30. In the same night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chal31. dæans, slain; and Darius the Mede took the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. (Chap. V.) 1. THE proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: 2. That one may learn wisdom and instruction, And receive words of understanding; 3. That one may gain the instruction of prudence, Justice, equity, and uprightness; 4. Which will give caution to the simple, To the young man wisdom and discretion; 5. Let the wise man hear, and he will increase his knowledge, And the man of understanding will gain wise counsels; 6. So as to understand a proverb and a deep maxim, 7. 8. The words of the wise and their dark sayings. *The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Hear, O my son! the instruction of thy father, 9. For they shall be a graceful wreath for thy head, The Proverbs were composed by successive generations of didactic poets for the express purpose of teaching the ways of wisdom and righteousness to the young of their people. The first religious and moral wants of children may, therefore, best be supplied from the rich sources of the Proverbs which present to the young the golden apples of moral maxims in a silver setting of religious truth. An asterisk indicates that the sentence before which it is placed, should be committed to memory; the short superscriptions of the chapters are intended to assist the teacher in forming the proper questions. 145 10. My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not! 11. If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, Let us lurk secretly for him who is innocent in vain; 12. Let us swallow them up alive, like the underworld, Yea, in full health, as those that go down into the pit ; 13. We shall find all kinds of precious substance, We shall fill our houses with spoil; 14. Thou shalt cast thy lot among us We will all have one purse; 15. My son, walk thou not in their way, Refrain thy foot from their path! 16. For their feet run to evil, And make haste to shed blood. 17. For as the net is spread in vain Before the eyes of any bird, 18. So they lie in wait for their own blood; 1. CHAPTER II. The exhortation of Wisdom WISDOM crieth out in the highway; In the market-place she uttereth her voice; 2. At the head of the noisy streets she crieth aloud; At the entrances of the gates, throughout the city, she proclaimeth her words [saying:] 3. "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love vanity? How long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge? 4. Turn ye at my repoof! 5. Behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make known my words to you ! "Because I have stretched out my hand, and no one hath regarded,— 6. Because ye have rejected all my counsel, And have slighted my rebuke, 7. I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh; 8. When your fear cometh upon you like a storm, And destruction overtaketh you like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you. |