The Book of Daniel

Lord...

...I have waited for you to lead us out of Babylon,

for I was just a boy when I came here.

The generation which offended you has passed away,

and now their children's children yearn to see a home

they have never known.

You have spoken through your prophet, Jeremiah,

"When 70 years are completed for Babylon,

"I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise

and bring you back to this land."

My heart grows with excitement

that now that time has come.

An old man who comes unbidden is often a fool.

And less often come as assassins.

Perhaps a foolish assassin.

Forgive us, my king.

Do you know whom you address?

He is the king of Babylon,

ruler of the four quarters of the earth,

Kurus, in the old Persian tongue.

He has seized by might-of-arms

the birthright which would otherwise have been denied him.

He is Cyrus the Great.

Leave us.

Who are you, old man?

I am Daniel of the tribe of Benjamin,

made captive nearly 70 years ago by Nebuchadnezzar.

My king, I have heard of this man.

He served Darius well after he captured the city in your name.

It is said he spent a night in the lions' den.

The beasts would not touch him.

Is this true?

It is.

I know who you are now. Tell me why you're here.

I seek to tell you a story,

a tale of four kings:

one great, one foolish, one who has been deceived,

and one who is destined to be regarded as wise

through all the ages of the world to come.

Stories from your imagination?

No, king, for I will speak only the truth,

and if you would not wish to hear it,

you must bid me speak nothing.

Come.

You will give us entertainment while we eat.

Please.

My king, we're expected in Babylon this evening.

The palace will be there in the morning.

As you wish.

I cannot, oh king.

My king, the Hebrews eat and drink only their own food

which is prepared according to their rituals.

To do otherwise, even from the hand of the king,

is to defile themselves.

You promised me a tale, four, in fact.

I delayed my journey to listen.

I will hear them now.

So be it, my lord.

The first king I will speak of is Nebuchadnezzar,

King of Babylon.

When I was just a boy,

he threw down the Assyrian empire,

my people's ancient nemesis,

but the destruction of Israel's enemies brought us no relief

because in the 3rd year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign,

he turned his gaze upon Jerusalem and besieged it,

and the Lord delivered the king of Judea into his hand

along with all of his officers, nobles, and administrators.

When the exiles arrived in Babylon,

Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch,

to select some of the Israelites

from the royal family and nobility,

young men without any physical defect

and showing aptitude for every kind of learning,

one of whom was myself.

O Lord...

Jerusalem has sinned greatly.

Like a widow is she.

Once great among the nations,

a queen among the people, has become a slave

and her children captive before the foe.

My eyes overflow with tears,

for you, Lord, are righteous,

yet we rebelled against your command.

Comfort me, O Lord.

Comfort me and my brothers, and restore our spirit.

I miss Jerusalem.

As do I.

I feel that we shall never see her again.

Have faith, my brothers.

I have only begun my studies,

but here...

the prophet, Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah,

has written that we shall serve the king of Babylon

for 70 years--

Seventy years is a long time.

As punishment for our sins.

And even if we were to survive it,

we would be very old.

Very old, indeed.

You are summoned for your meal.

Why would they only take 10,000 of us

and leave the rest of our people behind?

Yes, look at who they've taken.

The scholars, the princes, our military leaders,

and our families.

It's the Babylonian way of conquest.

You take away the leaders,

and the rest can easily be governed.

They've changed our names, hoping we'll forget our God;

and our clothes so we'll look like them.

They've changed everything about us.

We need to make each other a promise,

never to become like them.

My brothers, such a promise is worthless,

for we are but men.

What we need to promise is to always love our God

and be obedient to him,

and in so doing, what we become on the outside will not matter.

Set it here.

Set it here.

Lord Steward, please allow me to as k.

What is this meat?

Where is it from, and how was it slaughtered?

The cattle are from the king's herd.

They are fattened along the river

and strangled before the altars of Marduk

before their flesh is carried to the kitchens.

The swine are from the king's pens.

They are fed on choice food,

and it is rumored the king's executioner laces their feet

with the entrails of his victims,

so that the king's chosen may feast and grow strong

on the flesh of his enemies.

It is considered the greatest of delicacies.

To some perhaps, but not to us.

We are forbidden to eat it,

for the Almighty has commanded us,

"The pig is unclean.

You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses."

Nor can we eat anything sacrificed to gods

other than our own.

But the king cannot- he will not change the customs of his hall

to fit your wishes.

You must know this.

And we will not ask him to.

But you must eat.

I have been charged with your well-being.

If you are seen to be wasting away,

I'm afraid of what my lord, the king, will do.

He will have my head.

And we would not wish it so.

Therefore, put your servants to the test.

For 10 days give us nothing but vegetables to eat

and mater to drink.

Then compare our appearance

to that of the other young men who eat the royal food.

- Ten days? - Ten days.

And if after that your appearance is found wanting?

Then we will do as you wish.

Your request was polite.

I'm rather surprised it was honored.

I have no doubt the Lord favorably disposed his heart

to hear our request.

By the end of 10 days,

my companions and I looked healthier and better-nourished

than the young men who ate the royal food,

and so the chief eunuch allowed us to continue

refusing the wine and choice fare,

and we remained un-defiled.

The period of our instruction went by quickly.

During those many years we were living in a foreign land,

speaking a foreign language,

and living under a foreign king.

Despite this, our hearts belonged only to God,

and at the end of that time my companions and I

were presented before Nebuchadnezzar himself.

were presented before Nebuchadnezzar himself.

The king's executioner, Arioch, will be in the chamber.

If you are found unworthy,

you will be executed on the spot,

and so will I.

Lord, king, I present you the princes of Judah,

preserved by the right hand of your mercy

and tutored by the left hand of your wisdom.

They are come before you now for judgment as to their training.

They are Belteshazzar, Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego.

Who am I?

You are Nebuchadnezzar,

son and heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon.

You have destroyed Nineveh the Mighty,

seat of Assyria,

and taken from her hand the scepter of nations.

You are the commander of commanders and king of kings,

from the rising of the sun unto its setting in the western sea,

and beneath heaven there is none more powerful than thee.

You, come forth.

Why should I allow you,

sons of my former enemies, to serve in my court?