Dec 7th

The head of that image was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

“This was the dream; now we will say its interpretation before the king.

You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory;

and wherever the sons of men inhabit, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has made you rule with power over them all. You are the head of gold.

But after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule with power over all the earth.

Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.

Now in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron; it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.

And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.

And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay; they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not cling to one another, even as iron does not combine with clay.

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will cause a kingdom to rise up which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever.

Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future; so the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel and said for them to present to him an offering and fragrant incense.

The king answered Daniel and said, “Truly your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery.”

Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him rule with power over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel sought of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s court.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they were standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then the herald loudly called out: “To you it is said, O peoples, nations, and men of every tongue,

that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.

But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”

Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came near and brought charges against the Jews.

They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live forever!

You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image.

But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, do not pay attention to you; they do not serve your gods and do not worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and wrath said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you are not serving my gods and do not worship the golden image that I have set up?

Now if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, then you shall fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can save you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter.

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will save us out of your hand, O king.

But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and the image of his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He answered and said to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

And he said to certain mighty men of valor who were in his military host to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.

Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.

For this reason, because the king’s word was urgent and the furnace had been heated to an extraordinary degree, the flame of the fire killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and hurriedly stood up; he answered and said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast tied up into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “Certainly, O king.”

He answered and said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he answered and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.

Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no power over the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and saved His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s word, and gave up their bodies so as not to serve and not to worship any god except their own God.

Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”

Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to succeed in the province of Babylon.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,

and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest you, having been carried away by the error of unprincipled men, fall from your own steadfastness,

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—

and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.

And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth;

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.

On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes.