1
After the death of King Astyages, Cyrus of Persia took over his kingdom.
2
Daniel was one of King Cyrus' closest companions, and the king thought more highly of Daniel than of any other of his advisers.
3
The Babylonians had an idol named Bel. Each day the people had to provide Bel with an offering of twelve bushels of fine flour, forty sheep, and fifty gallons of wine.
1
4
King Cyrus believed that Bel was a god, and each day he used to go and worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God.
5
One day the king asked Daniel, "Why don't you worship Bel?" Daniel answered, "I do not worship idols made with human hands. I worship only the living God, who created heaven and earth and is the Lord of all human beings."
6
"And don't you believe that our god Bel is really alive?" asked the king. "Haven't you seen how much he eats and drinks every day?"
7
Daniel laughed and said, "Don't be fooled, Your Majesty. This god you call Bel is nothing more than clay covered with bronze; it has never eaten or drunk anything."
8
At this the king became angry and called in all seventy of the priests of Bel. He said to them, "I warn you that you will be put to death, unless you can show me that it is Bel who is eating these offerings. If you prove to me that it is Bel, then I will have Daniel put to death for claiming that Bel is not a god." Daniel agreed to this proposal.