American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
I counsel thee, Keep the king's command, and that in regard of the oath of God.
Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
For the king's word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment:
for to every {Or, matter}purpose there is a time and judgment; because the {Or, evil}misery of man is great upon him:
for he knoweth not that which shall be; {Or, for even when it cometh to pass, who shall declare it unto him?}for who can tell him how it shall be?
There is no man that hath power over the {Or, wind}spirit to retain the {Or, wind}spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge {Or, in battle}in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.
Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
for {Or, it}he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for {Or, it}he beareth not the sword in vain: for {Or, it}he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience' sake.
For this cause ye pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God's service, attending continually upon this very thing.
Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.
And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles;
youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king.
Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
And the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths that are of your own age? so would ye endanger my head with the king.
Then said Daniel to {Hebrew: Hammelzar.}the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us {Or, herbs}pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the youths that eat of the king's dainties; and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
So he hearkened unto them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king's dainties.
So {Hebrew: Hammelzar.}the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.
Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
And at the end of the days which the king had {Hebrew: said.}appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.
And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm.
My son, fear thou Jehovah and the king;And company not with them that are given to change:
For their calamity shall rise suddenly;And the destruction {Or, of their years}from them both, who knoweth it?
But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said unto them, Is it of purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, {Or, we are not careful}we have no need to answer thee in this matter.
{Or, behold, our God &c. Or, If our God whom we serve be able to deliver us, he will deliver us from…and out of thy hand, O King}If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and Jehovah said to thee, Thou shalt be shepherd of my people Israel, and thou shalt be {Or, leader}prince over Israel.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Jehovah: and they anointed David king over Israel.
And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be Jehovah's people; between the king also and the people.
And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, {Hebrew: gave the hand under Solomon.}submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.
Be subject to every {Greek: creation.}ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme;
or unto governors, as sent {Greek: through.}by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
as free, and not {Greek: having.}using your freedom for a cloak of {Or, malice 1 Corinthians 14:20.}wickedness, but as bondservants of God.
And it was told king Solomon, Joab is fled unto the Tent of Jehovah, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
And Benaiah came to the Tent of Jehovah, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.
And Jehovah will return his blood upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew it not, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
So shall their blood return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Jehovah.
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither.
For on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, know thou for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath.
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.
And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again.
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not adjure thee by Jehovah, and protest unto thee, saying, Know for certain, that on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The saying that I have heard is good.
Why then hast thou not kept the oath of Jehovah, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?
The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore Jehovah shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head.
But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Jehovah for ever.
So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell upon him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;
and he sent and beheaded John in the prison.
Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no {Or, authority}power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.
And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king.
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, {Or, over his chariots, and over his horses}for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;
and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his {Or, eunuchs}officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest {The Septuagint Version has, herds.}young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.
Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can {Or, turn him back}hinder him?Who will say unto him, What doest thou?
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?
For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
for {Or, it}he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for {Or, it}he beareth not the sword in vain: for {Or, it}he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:
for he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great {Hebrew: salvation.}victory for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice; wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?
And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death.
And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds;
but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is {Hebrew: a son of death.}worthy to die:
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things.
Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said unto David, Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my peace, {Or, for our affliction is not to be compared with the king's damage}although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's damage.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of {Another reading is, his.}my counsel from a far country; yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.
And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows;
men {Or, expiring}fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on {Greek: inhabited earth.}the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine from 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 thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king {Or, in Aramaic.}in the Syrian language, {Chapter 2:4-7, 28 is in Aramaic.}O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, {Or, The word is gone forth from me}The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof.
They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would {Aramaic: buy the time.}gain time, because ye see {Or, the word is gone forth from me: that if &c.}the thing is gone from me.
But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but one law for you; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter, forasmuch as no king, {Or, be he never so great and powerful, hath &c.}lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.
And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
See now that I, even I, am he,And there is no god with me:I kill, and I make alive;I wound, and I heal;And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
My times are in thy hand:Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
Jehovah, make me to know mine end,And the measure of my days, what it is;Let me know how frail I am.
Seeing his days are determined,The number of his months is with thee,And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron shall number them by their hosts.
And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
And what man is there that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not used the fruit thereof? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit thereof.
And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as his heart.
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.