Bel et Draco (Theodotionis versio)

Bel and the Dragon according to Theodotion

And King Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus the Persian took over his kingdom. And Daniel was a companion of the king and more honored than all his friends. And there was an idol for the Babylonians whose name was Bel, and for him were spent each day twelve artabae of fine flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine. And the king worshipped him, and went every day to prostrate himself before him, but Daniel worshipped his own God. And the king said to him, "Why do you not worship Bel?" And he said, "Because I do not revere idols made by hand, but the living God, who created the heaven and the earth and has lordship over all flesh." And the king said to him, "Does it not seem to you that Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks each day?" And Daniel said, laughing, "Do not be deceived, O king; for this one is clay inside and bronze outside, and he has never eaten." And the king, angered, called his priests and said to them, "If you do not tell me who is consuming this expenditure, you will die; but if you show that Bel is consuming it, Daniel will die, because he has blasphemed against Bel." And Daniel said to the king, "Let it be according to your word." And there were seventy priests of Bel, besides women and children.

me was Bel, and they worshipped it. And the king said to Daniel, "Why do you not worship Bel?" And Daniel said, "Because I do not worship idols made by hands, but the living God who created the heaven and the earth." And the king said, "Does not Bel seem to you to be a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?" And Daniel laughed and said, "Do not be deceived, O king; this Bel is clay within and bronze without, and he has never eaten nor drunk anything." Then the king became angry and called his priests and said to them, "If you do not show me who it is that eats the provisions, you will die." And the priests said, "We will show you." And there were seventy priests, besides the women and children.

The king went with Daniel into the house of Bel. And the priests of Bel said, "Behold, we go out; do you, O king, set out the food and mix the wine and place it, and lock the door and seal it with your signet ring. And coming in the morning, if you do not find everything eaten by Bel, we will die, or Daniel who lies against us." But they were contemptuous, because they had made a hidden entrance under the table, and through it they went in continually and consumed them. And it happened that when they had gone out, the king set out the food for Bel; and Daniel ordered his servants, and they brought ashes, and sifted them over the whole temple in the presence of the king alone; and going out, they closed the door and sealed it with the king's signet ring, and departed. And the priests came by night according to their custom, and their wives and children, and they ate everything and drank it up. And the king rose early in the morning, and Daniel with him. And he said, "Are the seals intact, Daniel?" And he said, "They are intact, O king." And it happened that when they opened the doors, the king, looking at the table, cried out with a loud voice, "Great are you, Bel, and there is no deceit in you at all." And Daniel laughed, and held the king back from entering inside, and said, "Look now at the floor and see whose footprints these are." And the king said, "I see the footprints of men and women and children.

Then the king became angry, seized the priests and their wives and children, and they showed him the hidden doors through which they entered and consumed the things on the table. And the king killed them, and gave Bel over to Daniel; and Daniel destroyed him and his temple. And there was a great serpent, and the Babylonians worshipped it.

And the king said to Daniel, "You cannot say that this is not a living god; worship him." And Daniel said, "I will worship the Lord my God, for He is a living god. But you, O king, give me authority, and I will kill the serpent without a sword or a staff." And the king said, "I give it to you." And Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, and put them into the mouth of the serpent; and having eaten, the serpent burst open. And he said, "Behold your objects of worship." And when the Babylonians heard, they were indignant and gathered against the king and said, "The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel and killed the serpent and slaughtered the priests." And they came to the king and said, "Hand over Daniel to us; otherwise, we will kill you and your household." And the king saw that they pressed him greatly, and being compelled, he handed Daniel over to them. And they cast him into the lions' den, and he was there for six days. Now there were seven lions in the den, and each day two bodies and two sheep were given to them; but then nothing was given to them, so that they might devour Daniel. And the prophet Habakkum was in Judea, and he had cooked a stew and crumbled bread into a bowl, and was going to the field to bring it to the reapers. And an angel of the Lord said to Habakkum, "Bring the lunch that you have to Babylon, to Daniel in the lions' den." And Habakkum said, "Lord, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not know the den.

And the angel of the Lord seized him by the crown of his head, and lifting him by the hair of his head, set him down in Babylon above the den, in the rushing sound. And King Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus the Persian took over his kingdom. And Daniel was a companion of the king and more honored than all his friends. And there was an idol for the Babylonians whose name was Bel, and twelve artabae of fine flour, forty sheep, and six metretae of wine were spent on him each day.

And the king worshipped it, and went every day to bow down before it, but Daniel worshipped his God. And the king said to him, “Why do you not worship Bel?” And he said, “Because I do not revere idols made by hand, but the living God, who created the heaven and the earth and has lordship over all flesh.” And the king said to him, “Does it not seem to you that Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?” And Daniel said, laughing, “Do not be deceived, O king; for this is clay within, and bronze without, and has never eaten.” And the king, angered, summoned his priests and said to them, “If you do not tell me who is consuming this provision, you will die; but if you show that Bel consumes it, Daniel will die, because he has blasphemed against Bel.” And Daniel said to the king, “Let it be according to your word.” And there were seventy priests of Bel, besides women and children.

The king went with Daniel into the house of Bel. And the priests of Bel said, “Behold, we go out; you, O king, set out the food and mix the wine and place it, and lock the door and seal it with your ring. And coming in the morning, if you do not find everything eaten by Bel, we will die, or Daniel who speaks falsely against us.” But they were contemptuous, because they had made a hidden entrance under the table, and through it they went in continually and consumed them. And it happened that when those men had gone out, the king set out the food for Bel; and Daniel ordered his servants, and they brought ashes, and they sifted them over the whole temple in the presence of the king alone; and going out, they closed the door and sealed it with the king’s ring, and departed. And the priests came by night according to their custom, with their wives and children, and they ate and drank everything. And the king rose early in the morning, and Daniel with him. And he said, “Are the seals intact, Daniel?” And he said, “They are intact, O king.” And it happened that as soon as they opened the doors, the king, looking at the table, cried out with a loud voice, “Great are you, Bel, and there is no deceit in you, not even one.” And Daniel laughed, and held the king back from entering inside, and said, “Behold the floor, and see whose footprints these are.” And the king said, “I see the footprints of men and of women and children.

Then the king, enraged, seized the priests and their wives and children, and they showed him the hidden doors through which they used to enter and consume what was on the table. And the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel; and he destroyed him and his temple. And there was a great serpent, and the Babylonians worshipped it.

And the king said to Daniel, "You cannot say that this is not a living god; worship him." And Daniel said, "I will worship my Lord God, for He is a living god. But you, O king, give me authority, and I will kill the dragon without a sword or a staff." And the king said, "I give it to you." And Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, and put them into the mouth of the dragon; and having eaten, the dragon burst. And he said, "Behold your objects of worship." And when the Babylonians heard, they were indignant and gathered against the king and said, "The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel and killed the dragon and slaughtered the priests." And they came to the king and said, "Hand over Daniel to us; otherwise, we will kill you and your household." And the king saw that they pressed him hard, and being compelled, he handed Daniel over to them. And they threw him into the lions' den, and he was there for six days. Now there were seven lions in the den, and each day two bodies and two sheep were given to them; but then nothing was given to them, so that they might devour Daniel. And the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea, and he had cooked a stew and crumbled bread into a bowl, and was going to the field to bring it to the reapers. And an angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Bring the lunch that you have to Babylon, to Daniel in the lions' den." And Habakkuk said, "Lord, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not know the den.

And the angel of the Lord seized him by the crown of his head, and lifting him by the hair of his head, set him down in Babylon above the pit, in the rushing sound. And King Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus the Persian took over his kingdom. And Daniel was a companion of the king and more honored than all his friends. And there was an idol for the Babylonians whose name was Bel, and for him were spent each day twelve artabae of fine flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine.

And the king worshipped it, and went every day to bow down to it, but Daniel worshipped his God. And the king said to him, “Why do you not bow down to Bel?” And he said, “Because I do not worship idols made by hands, but the living God, who created the heaven and the earth and has lordship over all flesh.” And the king said to him, “Does it not seem to you that Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?” And Daniel said, laughing, “Do not be deceived, O king; for this is clay within, and bronze without, and has never eaten anything.” And the king, angered, called his priests and said to them, “If you do not tell me who is consuming this expenditure, you will die; but if you show that Bel is consuming it, Daniel will die, because he has blasphemed against Bel.” And Daniel said to the king, “Let it be according to your word.” And there were seventy priests of Bel, besides women and children.

The king with Daniel into the house of Bel. And the priests of Bel said, “Behold, we go out; you, O king, set out the food and mix the wine and place it, and lock the door and seal it with your ring. And coming in the morning, if you do not find everything eaten by Bel, we will die, or Daniel who lies against us.” But they despised, because they had made under the table a hidden entrance, and through it they went in continually and consumed them. And it happened that when those had gone out, the king set out the food for Bel; and Daniel ordered his servants and they brought ashes, and they strewed the whole temple before the king alone; and going out they closed the door and sealed with the king’s ring, and departed. And the priests came by night according to their custom, and their wives and their children, and they ate everything and drank it up. And the king rose early in the morning, and Daniel with him. And he said, “Are the seals intact, Daniel?” And he said, “They are intact, O king.” And it happened that when the doors were opened, the king, looking upon the table, cried out with a loud voice, “Great are you, Bel, and there is no deceit in you nor any.” And Daniel laughed, and held the king back from entering inside, and said, “Behold now the floor and know whose these footprints are.” And the king said, “I see the footprints of men and women and children.

Then the king, enraged, seized the priests, their wives, and their children, and they showed him the hidden doors through which they used to enter and consume what was on the table. And the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel; and Daniel destroyed him and his temple. Now there was a great serpent, and the Babylonians worshipped it. And the king said to Daniel, “You cannot say that this is not a living god; worship it.” And Daniel said, “I will worship my Lord God, for He is a living god; but you, O king, give me authority, and I will kill the serpent without a sword or a staff.” And the king said, “I give it to you.” And Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, boiled them together, made cakes, and put them into the serpent’s mouth; and having eaten, the serpent burst open. And he said, “Behold your objects of worship.” And when the Babylonians heard, they were indignant and gathered against the king, and said, “The king has become a Jew; he has pulled down Bel and killed the serpent and slaughtered the priests.” And they came to the king and said, “Hand over Daniel to us; otherwise, we will kill you and your household.” And the king saw that they pressed him hard, and being compelled, he handed Daniel over to them. And they threw him into the lions’ den, and he was there for six days. Now there were seven lions in the den, and they were given daily two bodies and two sheep; but at that time nothing was given to them, so that they might devour Daniel.

And Habacum the prophet was in Ioudaia, and he himself cooked a stew and crumbled bread into a bowl, and he was going to the plain to bring it to the harvesters. And an angel of the Lord said to Habacum, "Bring the meal that you have to Babylon to Daniel in the lions' den." And Habacum said, "Lord, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not know the den." And the angel of the Lord took hold of the crown of his head, and lifting him by the hair of his head, placed him in Babylon above the den, with the rushing sound of the