Original subtitles

There is a man at the bottom of this

pit.

And the story of how he got here toppled

kings

and buried an empire.

There is [music] no fault in him. None.

Except

the law of his God. They turned prayer

into a crime. He opened the window

before the end. He saw thrones fall,

saw gold turn to dust,

saw the unseen.

Daniel,

greatly beloved man.

DANIEL, [screaming]

SERVANT OF THE LIVING GOD, HAS YOUR GOD

BEEN able to deliver you from the lions.

>> Oh king, live forever.

Before the fire came the silence. The

watchmen on the walls were the first to

see it. A dark line swallowing the

horizon.

The standards of Marduk against a gray

sky. The ground of Judah trembling

beneath 10,000 hooves.

And then

Jerusalem burned. Towers that had stood

for generations collapsed in a single

hour. Courtyards that had heard psalms

heard screams. The sacred gates split

beneath the battering rams. And the

temple, the place where the name had

dwelt, was invaded by soldiers who

carried out the consecrated vessels,

piling them onto carts like common

plunder.

On a distant rise, motionless amid the

climbing smoke, Nebuchadnezzar, king of

Babylon, watched it all from the back of

his black warhorse.

He did not celebrate. He did not rage.

He simply observed with the patience of

a farmer before a ripened field.

A general approached, seeking orders.

>> Oh king, live forever.

The city is yours, my lord. What do we

take?

the vessels of their temple

and the young,

those of noble blood, without blemish,

fair of face and quick of mind. Babylon

does not harvest only gold.

It harvests futures.

Among the rubble, soldiers cleared a

path and tore four adolescents from the

heart of the chaos. Chains on their

wrists, ash in their hair, the blaze of

the burning temple reflected in their

eyes.

Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, Aariah.

The column of captives [music] departed

before dawn, and the march crossed weeks

of desert. On one of those nights,

beneath cold [music] stars, despair

reached Azeriah.

>> He was left behind. Daniel,

>> our God stayed in the ruins.

>> And it was Daniel who answered him with

his eyes on the sky. [music]

>> He who made the stars does not stay

behind Aaria.

If we go to Babylon in chains,

perhaps it is because we would not go

any other way.

And there, in the middle of the desert,

the four knelt facing the direction they

[music] had come from. A guard saw them

from afar, frowned, said nothing.

At the end of the road, she appeared.

Babylon.

Walls so wide that chariots raced along

their tops. The Ishtar gate rising in

deep blue, covered in golden bulls and

dragons,

hanging gardens touching the clouds.

The four passed through the gates with

their heads held high, and the crowds,

the noise [music] and the gold of the

city closed in around them. In the

palace [music] courtyard, Ashbanaz,

chief of the king's officials, walked

the line of chosen [music] youths,

appraising eyes, chins, shoulders.

Before each one, he marked his tablet

[music] and pronounced a new name. Names

of the gods of Babylon laid upon the

captives along with the new garments of

the court.

>> Hannabea,

you are Shadrach by the command of Aku.

Mishiel,

who is what God is in Babylon. Aku, you

are Messa.

Daniel,

here you are. Balteshazak.

May Bell protect the king.

Aaria.

You will answer to Abedian.

Four names, four servants of Babylon.

>> When the last record was marked, Daniel

raised his voice.

You may change what men call me, my

lord,

but you cannot change who [music]

answers when I call.

3 years, Hebrew, that is what Babylon

takes to undo a man and remake him.

We shall see what is left of you."

That first night in the quarters of the

exiles, Daniel walked to the western

wall where there was a closed window. He

opened it. The night wind came in

carrying the distant murmur of the city

in celebration.

Daniel found his bearings by the stars,

turned toward Jerusalem, and knelt.

One by one, the other three knelt beside

him, and four voices rose softly in the

tongue of their fathers before the open

window.

The days of training began. the language

of the Calaldanss, the writing on the

tablets, the mathematics of the heavens,

and in the hall of the young trainees,

the tables [music]

bent beneath the weight of royal

delicacies,

succulent meats, white breads, perfumed

wine from the king's own table, food

that before arriving there had passed

across the altars, offered to the gods

of Babylon before priests [music] and

incense.

The youths of the other nations rushed

forward, hungry. The four stood

motionless.

Daniel sought out the official

responsible and asked in private not to

defile [music] himself with the king's

food and wine. The man went pale.

>> My neck is bound to your face, Hebrew.

If the king [music] finds you thinner

than the others, the first head to fall

is mine. Then do not risk your neck for

my faith.

Risk 10 days, vegetables and water,

nothing more. On the 10th day, [music]

examine us yourself.

Let your own eyes decide.

10 days,

not one more.

>> 10 days [music] passed. On the 10th, the

official walked the line of youths,

examining face after face. Those who had

eaten the royal delicacies were heavy

with wine, their eyes clouded from a

poorly slept night. Before the four, he

stopped. firm skin, clear eyes, the

posture of rested soldiers. He shook his

head slowly and ordered [music] that

from that day on no one was to touch the

diet of those Hebrews.

Three years passed over [music] the

Euphrates. And in those three years, the

four grew in all knowledge and wisdom,

surpassing every young man in the

empire.

But to Daniel was given something more,

a rare gift and a dangerous one. The

understanding [music] of visions and

dreams.

The day of the final examination arrived

before the throne. The royal hall rose

in gold from floor to ceiling. Columns

like petrified cedars, incense climbing

in blue pillars.

Nebuchadnezzar personally interrogated

the youths [music] of every nation

question after question.

The answers of the four came precise

[music] as arrows and a murmur ran

through the court.

Then the king's eyes settled on Daniel.

Beltish Hazak.

They say you are the best of them.

Then answer me.

What holds an empire up?

>> Your counselors would say, "Armies,

walls, and gold, O king." But walls

fall, armies die, and gold changes

hands. An empire [music] stands for the

time it has been granted. Not one day

more.

Granted by whom?

>> By the one who counts, O king.

Give them offices. This one stays near

me.

Men who speak this way to kings are

either prophets or dangerous.

Daniel and his friends were raised in

the court, [music] dressed in the linen

of counselors, installed in the shadow

of the most powerful throne on earth.

The seasons turned over Babylon. The

empire ran its course. Tribute arriving

from a 100 nations. Canals opened. Walls

expanded.

And in the royal chambers at the end of

another day of conquests, Nebuchadnezzar

fell asleep beneath [music] the glow of

golden lamps.

In the middle of the night, his eyes

moved beneath their lids. His breathing

quickened, his hands seized the linen

sheets, and the king woke with a scream

trapped in his throat. sitting upright

in bed, drenched in sweat, his heart

pounding like a war drum, trying to

grasp something dissolving inside his

own mind, slipping away like sand

between his fingers.

The dream was gone. The terror was not.

The torches of the royal corridors were

lit before sunrise.

Servants ran through the marble halls.

Messengers rode out to the four corners

of the city, pounding on the doors of

the magicians, the enchanters, the

sorcerers, and the astrologers.

And when the sun rose over Babylon, the

throne room was already full. The wisest

men of the empire gathered in haste,

their robes still crooked on their

shoulders.

Nebuchadnezzar was not seated.

I have dreamed a dream,

and my spirit will not rest until I know

what it means.

Oh king, live forever.

Tell the dream to your servants and we

shall give [music] the interpretation.

No, this is my command. You will tell me

the dream and its interpretation.

Do this and you shall have gifts,

rewards, and great honor.

But if you do not,

you will be torn apart.

and your houses made heaps of rubble.

>> The wise men looked at one another pale.

There was no man on earth who could do

what the king demanded.

>> My lord, there is no man on earth who

can do what the king demands.

No king, however great, has ever asked

such a thing of any magician.

What you ask, only the gods could

reveal. And the gods do not dwell with

men.

So you have read the stars for me, sold

me words, and you have never known

anything.

Arion,

put them to death. All the wise men of

Babylon.

All of them.

Oh king, live forever. As is your will,

so shall it be done.

The sentence ran through the city like

fire through dry straw. Soldiers marched

from door to door, dragging out

astrologers and enchanters.

And because Daniel and his companions

were counted among the wise men of the

kingdom, the sword came looking for

them, too. It was Aryoch himself who

arrived at the house of the Hebrews, 10

soldiers at his back. Daniel opened the

door before they could knock. And facing

the spears, he asked serenely,

"Why is the king's decree so harsh,

Commander?

And why such haste?

The king dreamed and the dream left him.

He demands the dream itself and its

meaning. The wise men could not give it.

So now they die. All of them.

Take me to him.

Ask the king to grant [music] me time

and I will give him the interpretation.

>> You, the greatest [music] magi of Kadia,

have just died for failing at this.

>> They consulted the stars, commander.

I will consult the one who made them.

I will speak to the king.

One night, Hebrew, the sun rises, and so

rises decree.

>> The time was granted. One night, and

that night, in the quarters of the four,

not a single lamp went out. One night to

do what no man could do.

The king dreamed

and forgot the dream.

He demands both. The dream and its

meaning.

One night

he gave us one night to do what no man

can do.

Then let us waste no more of this night

speaking of men.

The God of our fathers hears us.

Let us speak to him.

>> The four knelt before the open window,

and they prayed, not as those who

recite, but as those who cling. On their

knees, they cried out to the God of

heaven, pleading for mercy [music]

concerning the mystery, not only for

their own lives, but for all the

condemned [music] of Babylon.

The hours passed. The torches of the

city died one by one, and the four

voices sank until they were a whisper in

the small hours. And that night, heaven

answered. Kneeling before the window,

Daniel slowly lifted his face, and

within his eyes, reflected in his

dilated pupils, an entire sky of stars

kindled over the darkness, turning

slowly as if the whole night could fit

inside them.

The lamp flame stretched upward,

motionless. The distant murmur of the

city died. Daniel received a vision. The

hidden mystery was unveiled, not by

human merit, but by divine revelation.

When the stars faded from his eyes,

Daniel ate prostrate with his face to

the ground, his face wet with tears. He

rose slowly [gasps] and before the open

window

he prayed,

>> "Blessed be your name, God of my

fathers,

from everlasting to everlasting.

For wisdom and power belong to you. It

is you who changes the times and the

seasons, who raises kings to their

thrones and casts them down to the dust.

You reveal the deep and hidden things.

You know what dwells in darkness,

for the light dwells with you. I thank

you, God of my fathers,

for you heard the voice of four exiles

in a foreign land.

The king's dream,

you have revealed it to your servant.

Behind him, Hananiah, Mishael, and

Azeriah woke one by one, and seeing

Daniel's face, they understood without a

single word being spoken.

At break of day,

>> do not put the wise men of Babylon to

death. Take me to the king."

The commander led him in haste through

the corridors and announced him in a

loud voice, gathering the credit for

himself.

I have found a man among the sages of

Judah

who will reveal the interpretation

to the king.

Nebuchadnezzar rose from the throne, his

eyes hollow with sleeplessness, [music]

fixed on the young Hebrew, crossing the

marble with steady steps.

Beltazar,

>> can you tell me the dream I dreamed and

its interpretation?

>> The mystery the king demands. No save,

enchanter, magician or diver can reveal.

>> But there is a God in heaven who reveals

mysteries.

He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar

what is to come.

This secret was not revealed to me for

wisdom of mine,

but so the king may know the thoughts of

his own heart.

You were lying in your bed, O king, and

you looked, and behold, a great statue

stood before you. It was an immense

statue, dazzling in splendor and

terrifying in appearance. Its head was

made of pure gold. Its chest and arms

were of silver. Its belly and thighs

were of bronze, its legs were of iron,

and its feet partly iron and partly

clay.

Without realizing it, the king descended

a step from his throne, his lips

slightly parted, every word restoring

the [music] memory that the knight had

stolen from him. You watched as a stone

was cut out without the help of hands.

It struck the statue on its feet of iron

and clay

and shattered them to pieces. Then the

iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver,

and the gold were broken together like

choff on the summer threatening flows.

The wind carried them away, and no trace

of them was found.

But the stone that struck the statue

became a great mountain and filled the

whole earth.

>> Complete silence fell over the hall.

Daniel held the king's gaze.

This is the dream and this is its

interpretation.

You, oh king, are king of kings. For the

God of heaven has given you the kingdom,

the power, the strength, and the glory.

You are the head of gold. After you

shall arise another kingdom inferior to

yours. Then a third kingdom of bronze,

which shall rule over all the earth. And

the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as

iron, for iron breaks and crushes

everything. But in the days of those

kings, the God of heaven will [music]

raise up a kingdom that shall never be

destroyed.

It shall crush all these kingdoms,

and it shall stand forever."

Daniel [music] lowered his voice, and

every word fell upon the hall like a

stone sinking into deep water.

The great God has made [music] known to

the king what is to come. The dream is

certain, and its interpretation is

faithful.

>> For a long moment, nothing moved. Then

before a thousand courters, the most

powerful man in the world came down the

steps of his throne and fell prostrate

face to the ground before an exile

[music] from Judah. A gasp ran through

the court. Guards glanced at one

another, not knowing what to do.

Now I understand,

your God stands above all other gods. He

rules over kings and reveals what no man

can perceive. Only because of him were

you able to uncover this mystery.

The king rose. He ordered gifts brought,

garments, honors. [music] He made Daniel

governor of the whole province of

Babylon and chief [music] over all the

wise men of the kingdom. And at Daniel's

request, Shadrach, Mach, [music] and

Abednego were set over the affairs of

the province, while Daniel remained at

court beside the king. For the first

time, the name of the God of Israel was

spoken with reverence inside the walls

of Babylon.

But in the months that followed, in the

halls and terraces of the palace, the

king kept returning to that dream, not

in fear as on the first night, but in

another way.

In his audiences, his eyes lingered on

the tribute of gold piled before the

throne. On the terraces, they measured

the city from horizon to horizon.

And one afternoon before his assembled

craftsmen, Nebuchadnezzar spread a great

drawing across the table.

The statue [music] of the dream had a

head of gold, and the gold was me.

Silver, bronze, iron, and clay [music]

would come after me.

>> This one will be different

from the head.

to the feet.

>> My lord,

>> an image of that size entire in gold,

60 cubits high

on the plane of Dura

where the whole empire can see it.

If the heavens have decreed that other

kingdoms [music] will come after mine,

then my decree is this.

There will be no after.

In the weeks that followed, the glow of

the foundaries never went out, even at

night. Rivers of molten gold ran down

into the molds. Scaffolding rose on the

plane of Dura like a forest of timber

and rope. And against the dawn sky,

little by little, a colossal shadow

began to rise.

The statue was finished on a windless

morning, 60 cubits high against the pale

sky of the plain of Dura. Solid gold

from head to feet, blazing under the

rising sun like a second dawn.

At its base, ants, thousands of workers

dismantling the last scaffolds, priests

lighting brazers, soldiers forming

corridors that stretched to the horizon.

[groaning and screaming]

And down every road of the empire

they came.

sat traps, prefects, governors,

counselors, treasurers, judges, and

magistrates.

From every province, every tongue, every

conquered people, chariots and caravans

converging on the plane for days until

the sea of people stretched from one

horizon to the other, all of them before

the golden colossus.

Then on a raised platform, the king's

herald unrolled the decree.

>> Peoples, nations, and men of every

language.

This is the command given to you [music]

the moment you hear the sound of the

trumpet, the flute, the harp, the lyra,

and every kind of music. And you shall

BOW AND WORSHIP THE GOLDEN image that

King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And

whoever REFUSES TO BOW DOWN and worship

shall immediately be THROWN INTO THE

BLAZING FIERY FURNACE.

>> In the distance behind [music] the

statue, it was already roaring. A

furnace cut into the hillside fed day

and night, its red mouth breathing heat

that made the air tremble.

Silence fell over the plane and the

music began.

Horns tore the air. Flutes, harps, and

liars joined in a wave of sound that

rolled over the multitude. And like a

single body, the empire bent.

Governors of a hundred provinces,

generals, and priests. [music]

Thousands upon thousands of knees

touching the ground at once, foreheads

in the dust, a human ocean prostrate

before the gold.

Above the sea of bowedbacks,

three men remained standing. Shadrach,

Meach, Abednego,

standing side by side, their mantles

stirred by the hot wind of the furnace.

Their eyes lifted beyond the statue to

the sky behind it. It did not take long.

Among the prostrate, heads rose

discreetly,

and before the music had ended, certain

men of Calaldia were already hurrying

toward the royal platform. Men who for

years had watched the Hebrews rise at

court, waiting for exactly such a day.

Oh king, live forever.

You decreed that every man who hears the

music must fall down and worship and

that whoever does not worship shall be

cast into the furnace. [singing]

>> There are certain Jews, my king, men you

entrusted with the affairs of the

province of Babylon.

Shadrach,

Meshach,

Abedn.

These men, O king, have paid no regard

to you.

They do not serve your gods,

nor have they worshiped the image you

set up.

>> Nebuchadnezzar's [music]

face hardened. The three were brought

before him between [music] spears, and

the king studied them for a long time.

The same young men he himself had

elevated.

The companions of the man who had

revealed his dream. Is it true,

Shadrach, Meshach Abedilia, that you do

not serve my gods, nor worship the image

I set up?

I give you one [music] more chance. When

you hear the music, fall down and

worship me well.

>> But if you will not worship, you will be

thrown at once into the blazing furnace.

and what God will be able to rescue you

from my hands.

>> Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to

answer you in this matter. If our God

whom we serve wilts to deliver us, he is

able to deliver us from the blazing

furnace and from your hands, O king. But

if he does not know this, O king, we

will still not serve your gods, nor

worship the golden image you have set

up.

For an instant, [music] the entire plane

seemed to hold its breath. Then

Nebuchadnezzar's face transfigured.

Fury rose into his features like blood

into a wound, and the order exploded

from the throne.

HEAT THE FURNACE SEVEN TIMES HOTTER.

Seven times MORE THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN

HEATED.

Workers hurled bitamin pitch and timber

into the red [music] mouth. The roar of

the fire grew into continuous thunder

and its glare stained the whole evening

orange.

The heat pushed the crowd back in waves.

Shields rose before faces 50 paces away.

Perfect. You already know what [music]

to do.

The strongest men of the army came

forward. Ropes bit into the wrists of

the three who did not resist. They were

bound fully clothed in their tunics,

mantels, [music]

and turbans, and dragged up the ramp

toward the mouth of the inferno.

The fire received them. The soldiers

[music] carrying them reached the edge,

swung the bodies, and hurled them in,

and in that same instant, the flame

leapt outward like a living tongue and

swallowed them.

The king's men fell without a cry,

consumed right there at the edge by the

flames that were meant [music] to be

nothing but their weapon.

Shadrach, Meach, and Abednego fell into

the heart of the fire. The entire

multitude went silent. Only the roar of

the furnace spoke, devouring everything.

Nebuchadnezzar sat down to watch the

end. eyes fixed on the burning mouth,

chin resting on his hand, waiting to see

what fire does to the flesh of those who

defy kings.

And then

he saw,

were there not three men bound, cast

into the midst of the fire?

True, O king. Three men bound.

Then look,

I see four men unbound,

walking in the midst of the fire,

unharmed.

And the appearance of the fourth

is like a son of the gods.

>> Inside the white heart of the furnace,

between the columns of flame, four

figures walked. Three of them with their

undone ropes fallen at their feet, their

mantels intact, their faces lifted, and

the fourth beside them walking with them

in the midst of the fire.

Nebuchadnezzar came down from the

platform. He crossed alone the empty

space the heat imposed. Approaching the

burning mouth as close as a man could

approach. His arm raised against the

glare.

>> Shadrach

Misha Aana,

servants of the most high God, come out

and come here.

and they came out. Three men crossing

the mouth of the furnace at a calm pace,

descending the stone ramp while the fire

roared [music] at their backs.

Satraps, prefects, and counselors

crowded [music] around them,

incredulous, touching their mantles. The

fire had had no power over their bodies,

not a hair singed, their tunics intact.

Blessed be THE GOD OF SHADRACH, MESSA,

AND ABANYON. He sent his angel and

delivered his servants who trusted in

him. They defied the word of the king

and yielded their bodies. [music]

They disobeyed the king's command

and surrendered their bodies, refusing

to serve or worship any god other than

their own god.

Therefore, I decree,

any people, nation, or tongue that

speaks a word against their God shall be

torn apart, and their houses made heaps

[music] of rubble.

For there is no other god who can save

this way. The three [music] were

promoted to still higher positions in

the province of Babylon. The multitudes

scattered down the roads of the empire,

carrying the story with them. And behind

it, on the emptying plane, the statue of

gold remained, immense, untouched, and

>> [music]

>> ignored, the furnace dying slowly at its

feet.

The king returned to the city in

silence. And that night on the palace

terrace, he lingered alone, watching the

distant plain, where the glow of the

furnace still pulsed faintly against the

dark. He had seen the gold despised.

He had seen the fire obey another lord.

And within him that which had bowed

before Daniel years earlier wrestled

night after night against that which had

ordered the Colossus cast.

The seasons passed over Babylon. The

empire grew still greater. Canals,

walls, gardens the nations called a

wonder. And the king prospered at ease

in his palace flourishing on his throne.

until on a night like any other, lying

on his bed beneath the golden lamps,

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed again. This time

there was no statue. There were no

metals. There was a tree. In the dream

there was a tree in the middle of the

earth, and its height was great. It grew

before the king's eyes, the trunk

thickening like a tower, the branches

stretching over entire kingdoms, the

crown rising until it touched the sky.

It could be seen from the ends of the

earth.

Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit

abundant. [music] Beneath it, the beasts

of the field found shade. In its

branches, the birds of the sky made

their home. and from it all flesh was

fed.

Then the sky opened.

A watcher descended, a holy one wrapped

in light, and his voice crossed the

dream like a decree.

fell the tree. Lop off its branches,

shake off its leaves, scatter its fruit.

Let the animals flee from beneath it,

and the birds from its branches.

But leave the stump and its roots in the

ground, bound with chains of iron and

bronze amidst the grass of the field.

Let it be drenched with the dew of

heaven, and let its lot be with the

beasts.

Let his human heart be changed, and let

him be given the heart of a beast,

and let seven times pass over him, so

that the living may know that the Most

High has dominion over the kingdoms of

men, and gives them to whomever he

wills."

>> Nebuchadnezzar woke with the decree

still echoing inside his skull. This

time, the dream did not flee. It

remained whole, vivid, pressing on his

chest like a gravestone.

The king summoned the magicians and

astrologers, [music]

told them everything, and none could

interpret it until at last he sent for

the one he always [music] turned to

last, because that man's answers were

the ones the king least wanted to hear.

Daniel entered the royal [music]

chambers. He was no longer the youth of

the exile. Adulthood had settled onto

his shoulders, [music] and the first

gray strands touched his temples. The

king told the dream, and as he spoke,

Daniel's [music] expression changed.

When the last word fell, he remained

silent, his face drained [music] of

color, his eyes fixed on nothing for the

space of an hour.

Beltishaza,

do not let the dream trouble you, nor

its interpretation, my lord.

May the dream be for those who hate you,

and its meanest thing for your enemies.

The tree you saw, which grew strong,

whose height reached [music] the

heavens, is you, O king. Your greatness

has grown and reaches the sky, and your

dominion to the ends of the earth.

But the watcher who came down, saying,

"Cut down the tree.

This is the sentence of the most high

upon my lord the king. You will be

driven from among men. Your dwelling

will be with the beasts of the field.

You shall be given grass to eat like

oxen and to be drenched with the dw of

heaven. and seven periods of time shall

pass over you until you know that the

Most High rules the kingdoms of men

and gives them to whomever he wills.

Oh king, accept my counsel. Put an end

to your sins through [music]

righteousness and to your iniquities

through mercy toward the poor.

Perhaps perhaps your tranquility may be

prolonged. Nebuchadnezzar turned his

face to the window to the city

stretching below and did not answer. 12

months passed. The decree did not fall.

The harvests came. The tribute arrived.

The walls grew. And the warning buried

itself beneath layers of untroubled

days.

At the end of the 12 months, on a golden

afternoon, the king was walking on the

terrace of the royal palace. Before him,

all of Babylon, the hanging gardens

spilling green down the walls, the

Euphrates cutting through the city like

a vein of silver, the ziggurats, the

blue gates, the teeming of a 100,000

lives below.

Behold the city I have raised. A kingdom

forged by my own strength.

Every wall, every tower, every wonder

stands as a monument to my greatness, a

legacy worthy [music] of my name. To you

it is spoken, King Nebuchadnezzar. The

kingdom has passed from you. You will be

driven from among men. Seven times will

pass over you until you know that the

Most High rules the kingdoms of men.

>> That same hour it was fulfilled.

The wine cup slipped from his hand and

shattered on the mosaic. The king

staggered, clutching his temples, and

behind his eyes something went out.

He looked at his own hands and could not

name them. He looked at the city and did

not recognize it. A sound rose in his

throat, the beginning of a word that

came apart on the way and emerged as a

horse groan

animal.

Guards came running. The king recoiled

from them like a cornered beast, his

eyes emptied of everything that had been

human.

And when they tried to seize him, he

fought with a strength that did not seem

a man's. [groaning and screaming]

In the corridors of the palace, servants

pressed themselves against the walls,

watching pass in convulsions between six

soldiers, [screaming]

the Lord of the world.

Howling,

they took him out through the rear gates

in the dead of night to the royal fields

beyond the walls.

The counselors sealed the records. The

king's name ceased to be spoken in the

halls and over the fields. The times

passed.

In the first moons, there were still

remnants of a man in him. He would sit

upright now and then, staring at his own

hands with a furrowed brow like someone

trying to recall [music] a dream.

Shreds of the royal tunic still hung

from his body filthy. But he ate grass,

tearing it from the ground with his

teeth on all fours among the cattle. And

when the rains came, he sought no

shelter. He stood motionless beneath the

water, face lifted, the dew of heaven

drenching him night after night.

The seasons turned. His hair grew,

falling in heavy cords that mud and time

[music] braided together until they

became like eagle's feathers covering

his back. His nails thickened, curved,

hardened like the talons of a bird. His

body cured by sun and rain, bent

forward, its muscles remade for walking

on all fours. The palms of his hands

calloused like hooves.

Shepherds guiding their flocks across

the royal fields changed their path when

they spotted him from afar. a hunched

creature grazing among the oxen, covered

in hair, lifting its head to scent the

wind whenever anyone came near.

At night, beneath the moon, the creature

would sometimes stop grazing.

It would sit in the middle of the field

and remain motionless a long time. Its

haircovered face turned toward the lit

walls of Babylon in the distance,

toward the towers, toward the terrace.

A low sound came from it, something

between a loing and a lament, and the

dew came down, and the times passed.

1 2

3

4

5

6 7. And then on a dawn like any other,

at the end of the appointed [music]

days, the creature lifted its eyes to

the sky, not as an animal lifts its

eyes, as a man. And there, kneeling in

the wet grass, with the first sun

touching the talons and the feathers

[music] of what remained of him,

Nebuchadnezzar understood.

Understanding returned to him as the

tide returns to the shore. And the first

thing that man did with his restored

reason was open [music] his mouth

and give praise.

>> [panting]

>> I I bless the most high. I praise and

glorify the one who lives forever. For

his dominion is an everlasting dominion.

His kingdom endures from generation

[music] to generation. All who dwell on

the earth are as nothing before him. No

one can stay his hand or say to him,

"What have you done?" His counselors

found him there in the middle of the

field. They washed him, cut his hair and

his nails, dressed him in purple. His

reason was restored to him, and with it

his majesty and his splendor,

and he was reestablished in his kingdom,

greater than before.

And the king who had built Babylon

ordered written in his own hand a letter

to all the peoples, nations, and

languages of the earth.

To all peoples, nations, and languages

of [music] the earth.

I, Nebuchadnezzar,

praise, exol, and glorify the king of

heaven. For all his works are truth, and

his ways are justice.

and those who walk in pride,

he is able to humble.

Time, however, did not stop in Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar grew old and went down to

the dust like all men.

And his name was kept in the chronicles.

Lesser kings passed across the throne

like shadows, and the years rolled over

the blue walls.

[singing]

>> [singing]

>> until the crown came to rest on the head

of Belshazar of the great king's blood,

a man who had inherited from the great

king the throne, the palace, and the

gold.

It is night in Babylon and the palace

blazes with light.

[laughter]

Oh

[music]

[music]

my god.

A thousand torches burn in the halls.

King Belshazar holds a feast for a

thousand of his lords.

And before the thousand he drinks.

Music echoes through the stone columns.

Wine cascades into the cups. Women and

concubines among the nobles. Pagan

priests chant to the gods of the city.

And over everything hangs the smell of

meat, incense, and excess. An entire

empire celebrating itself

[laughter]

with the enemy camped outside its walls.

Because out there in the darkness beyond

the ramparts, the armies of Media and

Persia have surrounded the city for

days. And in here,

Belshazar raises his cup and laughs at

them.

Walls so wide that chariots race along

them. Provisions for 20 years. The

Euphrates running through our own city.

Let the Persians camp out there until

THEIR GRANDCHILDREN DIE OF OLD AGE.

THE hall explodes within. And then at

the height of the wine, Belshazar's eyes

fall on the vessels of gold, arrayed in

an al cove of the hall. Ancient trophies

brought from a city conquered long

before his time.

A slow smile crosses the king's face.

Bring them to me, my lord. Those are the

vessels from the temple of the god of

the Jews. Your father kept them

untouched.

My father kept many things.

Bring the vessels of gold and silver

that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple

in Jerusalem that the king, his nobles,

his wives, and his [music] concims may

drink from them.

>> And the consecrated vessels are brought.

Chalicees that once touched the altar of

the living God pass from hand to hand

amid Babylon.

Babylonian wine fills the holy gold.

[laughter]

Raise your cups.

Honor the gods who made Babylon mighty.

Gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and

stone. This night belongs to them.

>> A thousand cups rise. The hall roars the

toast. And the sound dies.

It does not fade. It dies all at once

like a candle snuffed out. The music

stops on a final crooked cord.

And in the air before the lampstand on

the plaster of the palace wall, fingers

appear. The fingers of a man's hand. No

body, no arm, no face.

Carving the wall in strokes of fire,

letter after letter. With the sound of

stone being chiseled,

the sacred chalice slips from

Belshazar's hand and against the marble.

The king's face changes color. His

thoughts terrify him. The joints of his

hips give way and his knees knock

against [music] each other right there

before a thousand petrified guests.

BRING THE ENCHANTLERS, THE SHADANS,

[screaming]

THE DIVERS. Whoever reads this writing

and tells me its meaning will be clothed

in purple, wear a gold chain on his

neck, AND BE THIRD IN THE KINGDOM.

One by one, the wise men approach the

letters of [music] fire. One by one,

they retreat.

None can read the writing, and

Belshazar's [music]

dread grows before them all, his face

ever more livid, while his lords glance

at one another in silence.

It is then that she enters the hall. The

queen mother, aged, erect, white hair

beneath her diadem, crossing the ruined

banquet with [music] the authority of

one who has seen three kings reign. Oh

king,

live forever.

Do not let your thoughts trouble you,

nor your face grow pale.

There is a man in your kingdom who has

the spirit of the holy gods.

In the days of your father,

light and understanding and wisdom were

found in him. King Nebuchadnezzar your

father made him chief of the magicians

and divers. An excellent spirit was

found in him to interpret a dreams

[music] and unravel knots. Let Daniel be

called and he will give the

interpretation.

>> And Daniel is brought before the king.

He crosses the devastated hall at a slow

pace. An old man now, his hair white,

his face carved by 70 years of exile.

He passes the sacred chalicees spilled

across the marble without lowering his

eyes to them. He stops before [music]

the throne

and the letters of fire pulse on the

wall at his back. [music]

Are you that Daniel of the exiles of

Judah whom the king my father brought

here? I have heard the spirit of the

gods is in you. If you read this writing

and tell me its meaning, you will be

clothed in purple, wear a gold chain,

and be third in the kingdom.

Keep your treasures, [music] your

majesty. Bestow your honors on someone

else.

Even so, [music] I will reveal the

meaning of these words and tell the king

exactly what has been declared.

Oh king, the most high God gave your

father Nebuchadnefer the kingdom,

greatness, glory, and majesty. But when

his heart grew proud and his spirit

hardened, he was brought down from his

throne. He was driven from men, [music]

his heart made like a beast until he

knew the Most High rules the kingdoms of

men. And you, Belchar, you knew all

this. Yet you did not humble your heart.

You rose against the Lord of heaven. You

brought the vessels of his house to your

table. You and your nobles drank wine

from them. And you praise gods of

silver, gold, wood, and stone that

neither see nor hear nor know.

But the God in whose hand is your very

breath, and to whom belong all your

ways,

him you did not glorify." Then the old

man turned to the burning wall, and he

read, and with every word the letters of

fire pulsed [music] brighter.

Then that hand was sent from him and

this writing was inscribed and this is

the writing [music] that was inscribed.

Manet men teel and pass.

Man, God has numbered your kingdom and

brought it [music] to an end.

Teek, you have been weighed on the

scales and found wanting.

Perez,

>> your kingdom will be taken from your

hands and given to those who now rise

against Babylon.

The sentence fell upon the hall like a

hammer on bronze. No one moved.

Belshazar Ashen still kept his own word

with trembling hands. Daniel was dressed

in purple, the chain of gold placed

around his neck, and a herald proclaimed

him third in the kingdom.

>> Daniel is made third ruler in the

kingdom.

>> Titles cast [music] upon an old man who

had not asked for them in a kingdom that

no longer existed.

Because at that very hour outside in the

[music] darkness the Euphrates was

sinking.

Up river the engineers of Cyrus had

opened the dikes diverting the waters

into an ancient lake. And along the bed

of the river that crosses the city, the

channel the Babylonians called their

impenetrable vein. Persian soldiers

advanced in silence. Water to their

knees passing beneath the walls. The

chariots raced along the inner gates by

the river, forgotten open on the night

of the feast, offered no resistance at

all.

That same night, Belshazar, king of the

Calaldanss, was slain,

and Darius the me received the kingdom.

By morning, the standards of Persia and

Media flew over the blue gates of

Ishtar. The city that had devoured

nations woke devoured. No blaze, [music]

no siege, no glory, simply

new.

In the palace halls, servants silently

gathered the cups of the feast. And on

the plastered [music]

wall where the letters of fire had

burned, there remained only a dark scar

in the stone.

And through the corridors of a power

changing hands among Persian officers

cataloging the treasures of a dead

empire walked an old man in purple who

had already outlived them all and whom

the new king informed of everything that

had happened that night would soon

summon.

Darius received the kingdom at 62 years

of age. And unlike the conquerors who

erase everything that came before, the

me began by listening. He heard from the

scribes the story of the forgotten

dream. He heard from the elders the

story of the furnace. He heard from

those who had been at the feast the

story of the hand that wrote on the wall

and of the old man who read it when no

one else could. and he sent for him over

the empire. Darius appointed

120 satraps to be throughout the kingdom

and over them three presidents to whom

the satraps would give account so that

the king would suffer no loss. And

Daniel was one of the three.

The months passed and the old man of

Judah distinguished himself among the

presidents and the satraps because in

him there was an excellent spirit. The

accounts that passed through his hands

balanced. The cases he judged did not

return. The provinces under his eye did

not rob the king. And Darius observing

this began to consider setting him over

the whole kingdom.

In the corridors of power, the king's

thought ran ahead of the decree, and

envy awoke. The other presidents and the

satraps gathered in closed rooms, bent

over Daniel's records, [music] seeking

grounds against him concerning the

kingdom.

They combed through accounts, questioned

servants, followed his steps, but they

could find no grounds and no fault

[sighs]

because he was faithful.

And in him was found no error and no

corruption.

His service to the king is beyond

reproach. If we are to [music] bring him

down, it must be through the god he

refuses to betray.

He prays three times a day before that

open window. The whole palace knows

>> praying is no crime.

>> Not yet.

Days later, the presidents and satraps

went together to the king in rehearsed

tumult.

>> Oh king Darius, live forever.

All the presidents of the kingdom,

[music] the prefects and satars, the

counselors and governors have agreed to

establish a royal edict that any man who

for 30 days makes petition to any god or

man except to you, O king,

shall be cast into the den of lions.

Now, O king, establish the edict and

sign [music] the writing so that it

cannot be changed by the law of the

Madias and Persians which cannot be

revoked.

>> 30 days in which the whole empire would

turn to him, the new king, the foreign

king.

He signed.

The edict ran through the 120 [music]

provinces under seals of wax, and it

reached the ears of Daniel.

He knew the writing was signed, knew

what it was, and for whom it had been

made, and he went into [music] his

house. He went up to his room where the

windows open toward Jerusalem, as they

had stood open since the first night of

the exile, nearly 70 years before.

and he did what he always did.

Three times that day, the old man went

down [music] on his knees before the

open window and prayed and gave thanks

before his God, as he had always done

before, without hiding, without putting

out the lamp, without closing a window

that had never in 70 years been closed.

From a neighboring rooftop in the

shadows, eyes watched him. At the second

prayer, the eyes were many. At the

third, the men came down and went

straight to the palace.

>> Oh king, did you not sign an edict that

any man who petitions any god or man but

you for 30 days be cast into the den of

lions?

This word is certain

according to the law of the Mes and

Persians which cannot be revoked.

But Daniel, that man of the exiles of

Judah, whom you raised up, pays no

regard to you, O king, [music] nor to

the edict you signed.

Three times a day,

he makes his prayer.

Das's face changed. And in that instant,

before the [music] restrained smiles of

the conspirators, the king understood

everything. The rehearsed tumult, the

flattery, the 30 days.

The edict had never been for him. It had

been for one man alone.

He was deeply grieved and in his heart

he set himself to deliver Daniel until

sundown he labored. He summoned jurists,

turned the law of the Mes and the

Persians clause by clause searched for a

loophole, an exception, a delay, and the

conspirators in force returned to his

presence [music] to close the final

door.

Your Majesty, the law of our empire

stands above every man. Once your royal

seal has been placed upon a decree,

not even the throne may overturn it.

>> The sun touched the horizon, and the

king gave the order that his own hand

had signed.

It is so.

Bring me Daniel.

They brought Daniel. The old man crossed

the courtyard between guards. Serene.

And at the edge of the den, a throat of

stone opened in the earth, from which

rose the smell of beasts and the low

sound of enormous bodies moving in the

dark.

Das drew near to him, and the king's

voice came out broken.

>> Your God

whom you serve continually,

may he deliver you. and he was cast in.

A stone was brought and laid over the

mouth of the den. The king sealed it

with his own ring and with the rings of

his lords so that nothing concerning

Daniel might be changed.

And inside the darkness closed complete.

At the bottom of the den, the old man

rose slowly to his feet. Around him in

the blackness, the breathing of the

beasts. Lo, many circling [music]

closer, eyes kindled in the dark, pair

after pair of embers. Daniel kn.

And up above in the palace, [music]

the king walked the opposite road from

Belshazar.

He sent away the music, refused the

table set before him, put out the lights

of the halls. The Lord of 120 provinces

spent the night awake, pacing from one

[music] side of his chamber to the

other, and sleep fled from him. While in

the sleeping city, a sealed den kept its

silence, and no sound of death rose from

it.

At the first light of dawn, Das rose and

went in haste to the lion's den. He

waited for no servants, no honor guard.

Drawing near, he cried out in an

anguished voice,

>> "DANIEL,

FAITHFUL servant of the most high,

>> tell me, has the God you have trusted

remained with you through this night?"

>> Oh king,

live forever.

>> The Lord watched over me and kept every

lion from causing harm.

I stand here unharmed because I was

found blameless before him. and I have

remained faithful in all my service to

you." Then the king rejoiced

exceedingly. The stone was torn from the

mouth of the den, ropes went down, and

Daniel was lifted out, and no injury was

found on him because he had trusted in

his God.

In the morning light before the king and

the assembled lords, the old man rose

from the edge of the den without a

scratch, his mantle intact, and the

lions roaring at last, hungry below.

Darius's next order came out as cold as

the law that had deceived him. The men

who had accused Daniel [music] were

brought and thrown into the den. They

did not reach its floor before the lions

caught them in the air.

Then King Darius wrote to the peoples,

nations, and languages of all the earth.

To every nation and every people under

my authority, "May peace and prosperity

[music] be with you. By royal decree,

let every corner of my empire honor the

God who rescued Daniel. For his power

[music] stands above every earthly

throne. For he is the living God, and he

endures forever. His kingdom shall not

be destroyed. He saves and delivers and

works signs and wonders in heaven and on

earth. He who delivered Daniel from the

power of the lions. And Daniel prospered

in the reign of Darius and in the reign

of Cyrus the Persian. But the old man's

nights no longer belonged to the

kingdoms of men. Because for years since

the days of Belshazzer, Daniel's sleep

[music] had been opening onto another

world.

Visions rose to his bed like tides.

And on one of those nights, long before

the den, he had seen something he had

written down with trembling hands on a

scroll he kept with him, and which now

in his old age he unrolled again by the

light of the lamp.

By the light of the lamp, the old man's

eyes travel across his own handwriting,

and memory carries him back. The first

year of Belshazzer, a night of wind over

Babylon.

Daniel sleeps in his bed, and in the

dream,

he is standing before a black ocean

under a starless sky.

The four winds of heaven descend upon

the waters all at once, lashing them

from every direction.

And the great sea churns into mountains

of foam and darkness,

and from the sea beasts come up.

The first breaks the water like a lion,

but from its flanks open the wings of an

eagle. Before

Daniel's eyes, the wings are torn away.

The creature is lifted from the earth,

set on two feet like a man, and the

heart of a man is given to it.

The second emerges heavy like a bear,

raised up on one side, three ribs

clenched between its teeth, and a

command hangs over it.

Arise and devour much flesh.

The third leaps from the waters like a

leopard. Four birds wings on its back.

Four heads turn toward the four corners

of the earth.

And dominion is given to it.

But then the sea opens one last time.

And the fourth beast rises,

different from all the ones before.

Terrible, dreadful, exceedingly strong.

It resembles no creature of the earth.

Great iron teeth gleam in its mouth, and

it devours, breaks in pieces, and what

remains it tramples.

10 horns crown its head. And as Daniel

watches them, a small horn rises among

them, uprooting three of the first by

the root. And in the small horn there

are eyes like the eyes of a man, and a

mouth speaking great things against

heaven.

>> Then the whole vision changes. The sea

vanishes. The darkness recedes and

before [music] Daniel thrones are set in

place.

A blaze fills the horizon of the vision.

A throne that is flames of fire on

wheels that are burning fire. And from

it a river is born.

A river of fire that flows and pours out

from before the throne. crossing

eternity. And upon the throne, no form

of a man, a presence of purest white

[music] light, like snow lit from

within, crowned in radiance pure as wool

of light. The ancient of [music] days

seated.

Thousands upon thousands serve him

10,000 times. 10,000 stand before him.

Endless fields of points of light,

armies of fire receding past the

horizon.

The court is seated and the books are

opened.

Daniel looks and [music] far below,

small before the celestial court, the

mouth of the horn still speaks its great

words.

Then the fourth beast [music] is slain

and its body destroyed and given over to

the burning fire.

And in the vision of the night, Daniel

sees descending with the clouds of

heaven, one like a son of man, a figure

wrapped in cloud and radiance with no

face that human eyes can reach. He comes

to the ancient of days and is brought

before him. And to him are given

dominion and honor and a kingdom that

all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him. His dominion is an

everlasting dominion which shall not

pass away and his kingdom shall never be

destroyed.

Daniel woke that long ago night with his

heart racing and his thoughts troubled

him and his countenance changed.

He kept it all in the scroll. Every

beast, every throne, every word,

and the scroll stayed with him from then

on through the fall of one empire and

the rise of another. Now in his old age,

under the reign of Cyrus, he rolls it up

slowly before the lamp.

There were other visions after that one.

The two-horned ram shattered by the goat

that crossed the earth without touching

the ground.

the horn that grew up to the host of

heaven. The evenings and mornings

numbered,

each one left him ill for days,

exhausted, appalled, and none of them

fully understood.

>> But it was an older parchment that

changed everything. On a night of study

in the first year of Das, Daniel

unrolled across his table the scrolls of

the prophet Jeremiah,

letters written before the fall of

Jerusalem.

The lamp trembled over the ancient

script, and the old man's eyes ran along

the lines until they stopped.

70 years he read it again.

He counted the reigns on his fingers.

Jehoakim, Nebuchadnezzar, the kings who

had passed, Belshazar, Das.

He counted his own years of exile. The

boy in chains on the desert road, the

old man before the table.

The desolation of Jerusalem had a term

and the term was coming to its

fulfillment.

Daniel stepped back from the table. He

tore his robes of a president of the

kingdom, dressed in sackcloth, covered

his white hair with ashes, and he turned

his face to the Lord in prayer,

supplications, and fasting on his knees

before the open window.

The old man confessed not only his own

sins, the guilt of entire generations.

Our Lord,

great and awesome God,

who keeps covenant and mercy with

[music] those who love you.

To you, Lord, belongs righteousness.

To us belongs the shame of our faces.

We have sinned.

We have done wrong.

We have rebelled and turned away from

your commandments. We did not listen to

your servants, the prophets.

Lord, hear my prayer.

Show your mercy.

Look upon your people

and fulfill your promise.

Not [music] because we deserve your

favor, my God,

but because your mercy is without end.

Remember your people and let your name

be honored."

And while the word was still in his

mouth, before the amen, before the next

[music] breath, the light of the lamp

drowned in a greater brightness. The

room filled with a radiance that came

from no flame. And before the kneeling

old man touching him at the time of the

evening offering

stood a messenger in the form of a man

clothed in brightness.

Gabriel, he who stands before the

throne. And the first word from heaven

was not a decree.

Daniel,

I have come now to give you

understanding.

At the very beginning of your pleading,

the word went out,

and I have come to tell it to you,

for you are greatly loved."

>> The old man lifted his tear streaked

face. the boy of the exile, the

interpreter of kings, the survivor of

the den. And for one moment there was no

[music] vision, no prophecy, no empire.

Only a man of 80 years hearing from

heaven that he was loved.

Then Gabriel spoke, and every word

crossed centuries.

70 weeks are decreed for your people and

for your holy city, to finish

transgression,

to put an end to sin,

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in everlasting righteousness.

The appointed time will fulfill every

vision and every promise.

than the one set apart by God will be

revealed.

Know this and understand it.

From the going out of the word to

restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the

anointed one, the prince, there shall be

7 weeks and 62 weeks.

The streets and the walls shall be

rebuilt.

but in troubled times.

And after the 62 weeks, the anointed one

shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

And the people of a prince who is to

come shall destroy the city and the

sanctuary.

And until the end there shall be war,

and desolations are determined. Daniel

recorded everything, the weeks, the

times, the anointed one who would die,

knowing that his own eyes would never

see the fulfillment.

And the brightness withdrew from the

room like the tide, leaving the old man

alone with the lamp, the scroll, and a

new weight.

The years ran toward their end. In the

third year of Cyrus, king of Persia,

Daniel entered into mourning for three

full weeks. He ate no pleasant food.

Neither meat nor wine touched his mouth,

nor did oil anoint his skin.

And on the 24th day of the first month,

as he stood on the bank of the great

river Tigris, with certain men in his

company, the old man lifted his eyes,

and time stopped.

Above the waters of the river, there was

a man clothed in linen, his waist girded

with fine gold of eupaz.

His body was like barrel, his face like

continuous lightning, his eyes like

torches of fire, his arms and his feet

like polished bronze gleaming in the

sun. And his voice when it came was like

the voice of a multitude.

The men who were with Daniel did not see

the vision, but a great terror fell upon

them, and they fled, hiding themselves

among the rocks,

and Daniel was left [music] alone. His

strength abandoned him, his vigor turned

to helplessness, and he fell with his

face [music] to the ground, breathless

before the glory burning above the

river.

Then a hand touched him and lifted him

trembling onto his knees and the palms

of his hands.

>> Daniel greatly loved.

Understand the words I speak to you.

Stand up.

I have been sent to you.

Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first

day you set your heart to understand and

to humble yourself before your God, your

words have been heard, and it is because

of them that I have come.

But the prince of the kingdom of Faria

stood against me 21 days

until Michael

came to help me. And the veil was

lifted. Behind thrones and armies,

behind decrees and the fall of empires,

there was war. A war no chronicler had

recorded, waged above the nations while

the nations slept.

Princes of light and powers of darkness

contending above the nations for the

course of the ages.

Now I return to fight the prince of

Azia. And when I go out, the prince of

Greece will come. But I will tell you

what is written in the book of truth.

And then the messenger opened [music]

before the old man what was written in

the book of truth. Kings of Persia who

would rise one after another, a mighty

king [music] coming from the west like a

storm.

and his empire broken into four to the

four winds.

Kings of the north and kings of the

south in wars without end. Alliances

made and betrayed.

A desecrator who would seat himself

where he should not and cause the

sacrifice to cease.

and the people who know their God

standing firm.

The voice crossed century after century

until it touched the very edge of time.

And at that time Michael shall arise,

the great prince who stands for the

children of your people, and there shall

be a time of distress such as never was

since there was a nation.

But at that time your people shall be

delivered. Everyone who is found written

in the book, and many of those who sleep

in the dust of the earth shall rise,

some to eternal life, and others to

shame and eternal horror. The wise shall

shine like the brightness of the

firmament, and those who lead many to

righteousness, like the stars, forever

and ever. Daniel trembled, tears running

down his white beard,

>> "My Lord,

the end of these things."

>> And the answer came gently as a friend

takes his leave.

>> "Go your way, Daniel.

These words are closed and sealed until

the time of the end. Many will be

refined and made white and tested, and

the wise will understand.

But you go your way until the end.

For you shall rest, and you shall rise

to your inheritance at the end of the

days.

The brightness withdrew over the waters

of the Tigris. The wind returned to the

reeds, and on the bank of the great

river there remained only an old man

standing alone. With the afternoon sun

on his face,

Daniel went home. In his simple room by

the light of evening, he rolled up the

last parchment, tied the cord, and

pressed the wax seal with his own ring.

He laid the scroll [music] beside the

others. 70 years of visions kept for

eyes not yet born.

Then he walked to the window.

Outside Babylon stretched beneath the

setting sun. The walls he had watched

devour nations. The blue gates fading.

The standards of yet another empire

flying over towers that a different

empire had raised. The boy in chains had

passed through those gates 70 years

before.

The old man gazed at them now, having

outlived every king who had ever sat

within them. Daniel knelt before the

open window, facing Jerusalem as on the

first night. The golden light of the

day's end came down over his white hair,

and his lips moved one last time.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

O Lord.

And your dominion shall have no end.

The sun touched the horizon, and on the

table in the halflight, the wax seal

guarded the words, "Closed

until the time of the end.