Daniel 1 1 After King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian succeeded to his kingdom. 阿斯提雅革归到他祖先那里以后,波斯人居鲁士便继承了他的王位。 2 2 Daniel was the king's favorite and was held in higher esteem than any of the friends of the king. 达尼尔与王住在一起,且受王尊敬,远在他所有的同僚之上。 3 3 The Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they provided for it six barrels of fine flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine. 巴比伦有一个偶像名叫贝耳,每天为这偶像耗费十二袋细面,四十只绵羊和六桶酒。 4 The king worshiped it and went every day to adore it; but Daniel adored only his God. 君王也恭敬这偶像,每天都去礼拜;但是达尼尔却崇拜自己的天主。 5 When the king asked him, "Why do you not adore Bel?" Daniel replied, "Because I worship not idols made with hands, but only the living God who made heaven and earth and has dominion over all mankind." 君王曾对他说:"为什么你不崇拜贝耳?"达尼尔回答说:"我不敬拜人手制造的偶像,我只敬拜创造天地,主宰全人类的生活的天主。" 6 Then the king continued, "You do not think Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?" 君王对他说:"你不以为贝耳是生活的神吗?你不见贝耳每天吃喝那么多吗?" 7 Daniel began to laugh. "Do not be deceived, O king," he said; "it is only clay inside and bronze outside; it has never taken any food or drink." 达尼尔笑着说:"大王,不要受欺骗!它里面是泥土,外面是黄铜,决不会吃,也不会喝。" 8 Enraged, the king called his priests and said to them, "Unless you tell me who it is that consumes these provisions, you shall die. 君王大怒,命人将贝耳的司祭召来,对他们说:"你们若不告诉我是谁吃了这些供物,你们就该死; 9 But if you can show that Bel consumes them, Daniel shall die for blaspheming Bel." Daniel said to the king, "Let it be as you say!" 如果你们能证明是贝耳吃了,达尼尔就该死,因为他亵渎了贝耳。" 达尼尔对君王说:"就照你的话做罢!" 10 There were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. When the king went with Daniel into the 贝耳的司祭共有七十人,此外还有他们的妻子和儿女。 于是君王同达尼尔进了贝耳的庙宇。 11 the priests of Bel said, "See, we are going to leave. Do you, O king, set out the food and prepare the wine; then shut the door and seal it with your ring. 贝耳的司祭们说:"看,我们都出去!大王!你摆上食物,供上调好的酒,然后关上庙门,门上盖上你的御印; 12 If you do not find that Bel has eaten it all when you return in the morning, we are to die; otherwise Daniel shall die for his lies against us." 明天早上你来时,如果发现不是贝耳吃了这一切食物,我们情愿受死;否则,那诬告我们的达尼尔就该死。" 13 They were not perturbed, because under the table they had made a secret entrance through which they always came in to consume the food. 他们自以为得意,因为他们在供桌下面早开了一个暗门,天天从那里进来,吃光桌上的供物。 14 After they departed the king set the food before Bel, while Daniel ordered his servants to bring some ashes, which they scattered through the whole temple; the king alone was present. Then they went outside, sealed the closed door with the king's ring, and departed. 司祭们出去以后,就在贝耳面前摆上食物。 达尼尔命自己的仆役拿灰来,只当着君王面前,将灰撒遍整个庙宇,然后出去,将门关好,盖上君王的御印,就走了。 15 The priests entered that night as usual, with their wives and children, and they ate and drank everything. 到了夜间,司祭们照常各自带着妻子和孩子进来,吃尽喝尽了一切。 16 Early the next morning, the king came with Daniel. 大清早,君王起来,达尼尔便陪伴着他一同前来; 17 "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" he asked. And Daniel answered, "They are unbroken, O king." 君王问他说:"达尼尔!印封还完好吗?"达尼尔答说:"大王!印封还完好。" 18 As soon as he had opened the door, the king looked at the table and cried aloud, "Great you are, O Bel; there is no trickery in you." 及至开了门,君王一看见供桌,即刻大声喊叫说:"贝耳!你是伟大的!你毫无虚假!" 19 But Daniel laughed and kept the king from entering. "Look at the floor," he said; "whose footprints are these?" 达尼尔笑了,并请君王留步,不要进去,说:"请看砌石的地面上;仔细察看这些脚印是谁的脚印?" 20 "I see the footprints of men, women, and children!" said the king. 君王说:"我看是男人、女人和孩子的脚印。" 21 The angry king arrested the priests, their wives, and their children. They showed him the secret door by which they used to enter to consume what was on the table. 于是君王大怒,令人逮捕了司祭和他们的妻子儿女,这时他们才给君王指出他们是由暗门进来,吃尽供桌上的食物。 22 He put them to death, and handed Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple. 君王遂将他们杀掉,将贝耳交由达尼尔处理;达尼尔便推翻了贝耳和他的庙宇。 23 There was a great dragon which the Babylonians worshiped. 24 "Look!" said the king to Daniel, "you cannot deny that this is a living god, so adore it." 君王对达尼尔说:"现在你却不能说这不是生活的神了罢,那么你就应该崇拜它。" 25 But Daniel answered, "I adore the Lord, my God, for he is the living God. 26 Give me permission, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club." "I give you permission," the king said. 这条龙不是永生的神。大王!请给我全权!我不用刀,也不用棍,就可杀死这条龙。" 君王说:"我给你全权!" 27 Then Daniel took some pitch, fat, and hair; these he boiled together and made into cakes. He put them into the mouth of the dragon, and when the dragon ate them, he burst asunder. "This," he said, "is what you worshiped." 达尼尔取了沥青、脂油和头发,搀和在一起煎熬,作成丸子送到龙口里;龙吃下以后,就爆裂了。于是达尼尔说:"请看,你们所敬拜的神!" 28 When the Babylonians heard this, they were angry and turned against the king. "The king has become a Jew," they said; "he has destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and put the priests to death." 巴比伦人听了这事以后,非常愤怒,遂团结起来攻击君王,说:"君王竟变成了一个犹太人,他推倒了贝耳,击杀了大龙,屠杀了司祭。" 29 They went to the king and demanded: "Hand Daniel over to us, or we will kill you and your family." 他们来见君王说:"请把达尼尔交给我们;否则,我们要杀死你和你全家的人。" 30 When he saw himself threatened with violence, the king was forced to hand Daniel over to them. 君王见众人迫他太甚,不得已只好将达尼尔交给他们。 31 They threw Daniel into a lions' den, where he remained six days. 他们便将达尼尔拋入狮子圈内,达尼尔在那里有六天之久。 圈里有七只狮子,每天给它们两个尸体,两只绵羊,但那时却没有给它们,好叫它们吞食达尼尔。 当时在犹大有个先知哈巴谷,他做好了肉汤,把饼切好放在罐里,正要往田间去,送给收割庄稼的人。 34 when an angel of the Lord told him, "Take the lunch you have to Daniel in the lions' den at Babylon." 那时上主的天使便对哈巴谷说:"把你预备下的午饭,带到巴比伦去,送给在狮子圈里的达尼尔罢!" 35 But Habakkuk answered, "Babylon, sir, I have never seen, and I do not know the den!" 哈巴谷说:"我主!我从未见过巴比伦,也不知道狮子圈在什么地方。" 36 The angel of the Lord seized him by the crown of his head and carried him by the hair; with the speed of the wind, he set him down in 上主的天使便抓紧他的头顶,握住他的头发,将他提起,瞬息之间,把他放在巴比伦的狮子圈口。 37 "Daniel, Daniel," cried Habakkuk, "take the lunch God has sent you." 哈巴谷呼喊说:"达尼尔,达尼尔!请吃天主给你送来的午饭罢!" 38 "You have remembered me, O God," said Daniel; "you have not forsaken those who love you." 达尼尔说:"天主!你想起了我,你没有拋弃爱慕你的人。" 39 While Daniel began to eat, the angel of the Lord at once brought Habakkuk back to his own place. 于是达尼尔起来吃了;天主的天使立刻又把哈巴谷送回到原来的地方。 40 On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. As he came to the den and looked in, there was Daniel, sitting there! 41 The king cried aloud, "You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!" 君王遂大声呼喊说:"上主,达尼尔的天主!你是伟大的,除你以外没有别的神。" 42 Daniel he took out, but those who had tried to destroy him he threw into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before his eyes. 于是君王将达尼尔拉上来,将那些想陷害他的人拋进狮子圈里,顷刻之间,他们在君王面前,便被狮子吞噬了。 43 "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. " He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions." 君王遂宣布说:"全地的君民都应敬畏达尼尔的天主,因为他施救,在地上行了神迹奇事,从狮子圈里拯救了达尼尔。" Footnotes(注解) 1 14, 1: King Astyages: the last of the Median kings, defeated by Cyrus in 550 B.C. This story preserves the fiction of a successive Median and Persian rule of 2 [2] 14, 2: This verse in the Septuagint Greek text reads: "There was once a priest, Daniel by name, the son of Abal, A favorite of the king of Babylon." This may represent an earlier form of the story, before it was attached to the Book of Daniel. 3 [3] 14, 3: Bel: see the note on 4, 5. |