Through the Bible – Day 341

₁One evening, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his highest officials, and he drank wine with them. ₂He got drunk and ordered his servants to bring in the gold and silver cups his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar wanted the cups, so that he and all his wives and officials could drink from them.

_3-4When the gold cups were brought in, everyone at the banquet drank from them and praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

₅Suddenly a human hand was seen writing on the plaster wall of the palace. The hand was just behind the lampstand, and the king could see it writing. ₆He was so frightened that his face turned pale, his knees started shaking, and his legs became weak.

₇The king called in his advisers, who claimed they could talk with the spirits of the dead and understand the meanings found in the stars. He told them, “The man who can read this writing and tell me what it means will become the third most powerful man in my kingdom. He will wear robes of royal purple and a gold chain around his neck.”

₈All of King Belshazzar's highest officials came in, but not one of them could read the writing or tell what it meant, ₉and they were completely puzzled. Now the king was more afraid than ever before, and his face turned white as a ghost.

₁₀When the queen heard the king and his officials talking, she came in and said:

₁₃When Daniel was brought in, the king said:

₁₇Daniel answered:

₂₉Belshazzar gave a command for Daniel to be made the third most powerful man in his kingdom and to be given a purple robe and a gold chain.

₃₀That same night, the king was killed. ₃₁Then Darius the Mede, who was sixty-two years old, took over his kingdom.

₁Darius divided his kingdom into a hundred and twenty states and placed a governor in charge of each one. ₂In order to make sure that his government was run properly, Darius put three other officials in charge of the governors. One of these officials was Daniel. ₃And he did his work so much better than the other governors and officials that the king decided to let him govern the whole kingdom.

₄The other men tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel did his work for the king. But they could not accuse him of anything wrong, because he was honest and faithful and did everything he was supposed to do. ₅Finally, they said to one another, “We will never be able to bring any charge against Daniel, unless it has to do with his religion.”

₆They all went to the king and said:

₉So King Darius made the law and had it written down.

₁₀Daniel heard about the law, but when he returned home, he went upstairs and prayed in front of the window that faced Jerusalem. In the same way that he had always done, he knelt down in prayer three times a day, giving thanks to God.

₁₁The men who had spoken to the king watched Daniel and saw him praying to his God for help. ₁₂They went back to the king and said, “Didn't you make a law that forbids anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next thirty days? And doesn't the law say that everyone who disobeys it will be thrown into a pit of lions?”

“Yes, that's the law I made,” the king agreed. “And just like all written laws of the Medes and Persians, it cannot be changed.”

₁₃The men then told the king, “That Jew named Daniel, who was brought here as a captive, refuses to obey you or the law that you ordered to be written. And he still prays to his god three times a day.” ₁₄The king was really upset to hear about this, and for the rest of the day he tried to think how he could save Daniel.

₁₅At sunset the men returned and said, “Your Majesty, remember that no written law of the Medes and Persians can be changed, not even by the king.”

₁₆So Darius ordered Daniel to be brought out and thrown into a pit of lions. But he said to Daniel, “You have been faithful to your God, and I pray that he will rescue you.”

₁₇A stone was rolled over the pit, and it was sealed. Then Darius and his officials stamped the seal to show that no one should let Daniel out. ₁₈All night long the king could not sleep. He did not eat anything, and he would not let anyone come in to entertain him.

₁₉At daybreak the king got up and ran to the pit. ₂₀He was anxious and shouted, “Daniel, you were faithful and served your God. Was he able to save you from the lions?”

₂₁Daniel answered, “Your Majesty, I hope you live for ever! ₂₂My God knew that I was innocent, and he sent an angel to keep the lions from eating me. Your Majesty, I have never done anything to hurt you.”

₂₃The king was relieved to hear Daniel's voice, and he gave orders for him to be taken out of the pit. Daniel's faith in his God had kept him from being harmed. ₂₄And the king ordered the men who had brought charges against Daniel to be thrown into the pit, together with their wives and children. But before they even reached the bottom, the lions ripped them to pieces.

₂₅King Darius then sent this message to all people of every nation and race in the world:

₂₈All went well for Daniel while Darius was king, and even when Cyrus the Persian ruled.

₁From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James.

To all who are chosen and loved by God the Father and are kept safe by Jesus Christ.

₂I pray that God will greatly bless you with kindness, peace, and love!

₃My dear friends, I really wanted to write to you about God's saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people. ₄Some godless people have sneaked in among us and are saying, “God treats us much better than we deserve, and so it is all right to be immoral.” They even deny that we must obey Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord. But long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed.

₅Don't forget what happened to those people that the Lord rescued from Egypt. Some of them did not have faith, and he later destroyed them. ₆You also know about the angels who didn't do their work and left their proper places. God chained them with everlasting chains and is now keeping them in dark pits until the great day of judgment. ₇We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and did all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire.

₈The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies. They reject all authority and insult angels. ₉Even Michael, the chief angel, didn't dare to insult the devil, when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses. All Michael said was, “The Lord will punish you!”

₁₀But these people insult powers they don't know anything about. They are like senseless animals that end up getting destroyed, because they live only by their feelings. ₁₁Now they are in for real trouble. They have followed Cain's example and have made the same mistake that Balaam did by caring only for money. They have also rebelled against God, just as Korah did. Because of all this, they will be destroyed.

₁₂These people are filthy minded, and by their shameful and selfish actions they spoil the meals you eat together. They are like clouds blown along by the wind, but never bringing any rain. They are like leafless trees, uprooted and dead, and unable to produce fruit. ₁₃Their shameful deeds show up like foam on wild ocean waves. They are like wandering stars for ever doomed to the darkest pits of hell.

₁₄Enoch was the seventh person after Adam, and he was talking about these people when he said:

₁₆These people grumble and complain and live by their own selfish desires. They boast about themselves and flatter others to get what they want.