Original subtitles

Previously on the Bible...

The Jewish nation has been forged in faith by great heroes.

Israel!

Israel! Israel!

Abraham proved he was fit to father a nation.

Moses earned his people's freedom from slavery.

Lord!

David delivered the city of Jerusalem.

But then... the Israelites' faith wavered.

Kings became tyrants.

Corruption grew.

Now the connection between God and his people

is at breaking point.

You worship foreign idols,

you defile your God!

To the gates!

Everything the Israelites have fought for

is under threat.

Jerusalem's survival depends on a weak new leader.

The city is doomed if King Zedekiah doesn't return to God.

Fire!

Your majesty.

Jerusalem's 21st King - Zedekiah,

is caught between the region's superpowers.

He is conspiring with Egypt,

but owes allegiance to Babylon.

News of his betrayal has reached

the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar! Nebuchadnezzar!

We move! Jerusalem!

Jerusalem!

You know what it means, Jerusalem?

City of Peace!

Jerusalem!

Since the time of David,

prophets like Jeremiah have guided their kings.

They are Israel's direct link with God.

But Jeremiah's warnings have gone unheeded.

Now he delivers a final message to Zedekiah.

Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar...

Or die.

Faithless people.

No!

Prophet, what is that?

This is you...

If you are wise,

place yourself under the yoke of Babylon -

accept the Lord's retribution,

and know that he is being lenient with you.

These are God's words.

Submit to King Nebuchadnezzar.

Bow your head.

You dare tell your king to bow down?

How dare you question a prophet of God?

It is you who offends...

it's you who must change!

- Remove him. - Traitor!

God is bringing disaster from Babylon.

Jerusalem!

To the gates!

The Babylonians!

Quick, get inside!

- My son! - Father!

My son!

You are too late!

You are too late!

Father!

My son!

Stay!

- Father! - Stay there.

Is the city sealed?

Yes, my king.

No one escapes.

It begins.

After 18 months, the trapped Israelites start to starve.

The desperate resort to cannibalism.

Get off...

Get off!

Archers ready!

Take aim.

Fire!

Put the fire out!

"I am with you"

...so saith the Lord.

Prophet.

Will you not speak for us in our hour of need?

Nothing has changed.

All Jerusalem will burn.

You wrote

"Repent, repent,

"And all will be well, God will save us."

Look out there!

You're too late.

- Now! - Now!

And again! Push!

Hold the gates!

Push!

Strike hard!

Stand together!

Strike hard and victory will be ours...

And whatever's left of Jerusalem...

...help yourselves!

Not my child.

As Jerusalem is destroyed,

Zedekiah and his sons escape through a secret passageway.

Now you must be brave for me.

Can you do that?

Don't worry, we'll be safe.

Quickly. This way.

His people are not so lucky.

Jerusalem is ours...

Jerusalem is ours!

Punish them for trying to resist me...

Make them pay!

To the temple!

Take everything...

Then burn this temple to the ground.

The temple! The temple's on fire!

Everything we fought for is lost.

Since the time of Abraham,

the Jewish people have struggled for this promised land.

Now the hopes and dreams of generations

are destroyed.

Among those fleeing for their lives--

a young nobleman called Daniel.

This way, Daniel.

Help us, Lord!

It's locked!

Daniel, get behind me.

Wait!

They look valuable.

Take them alive.

Azariah...

No!

Daniel... Daniel!

Azariah!

No, we're people of God.

Stay together.

Azariah.

Find Zedekiah.

Find his family.

Yes, sir.

There's a price for betrayal.

Don't worry, my boys. We're safe now.

Zedekiah!

Come, come here.

Please...

Leave them please...

Dear God!

Dear God, no! Leave them, please.

King Zedekiah!

No! Please... Please, no.

Please! Dear God.

Dear God, spare them, please!

A pity!

The last thing you'll ever see.

Bring him.

The Jewish people are forced into exile.

A 500 mile journey east to Babylon.

Move! Move!

Zedekiah is the last of King David's descendants to reign.

Move it!

The Israelite monarchy ends here.

Jeremiah is one of the few to escape.

He heads to Egypt never to return.

The people have lost their prophet,

their city,

and their king.

You there! On your feet!

All right, lift!

Come on!

Come on!

The Jewish nation needs a different kind of leader

to survive in Babylon.

A man like Daniel.

Daniel has visionary powers

and is forced to work in Nebuchadnezzar's court.

Has no one anything to tell me?

Can you not even describe my dream?

Silence is no answer!

You're supposed to be 'wise men',

'sorcerers', 'seers'...

So what do you see?

Sire...

Forgive me.

No one here can read your mind...

Then what use are any of you?

But my God can.

He has shown me your dream.

Then you will be able to tell it to me,

every detail.

You saw a giant statue of a man.

Its head made of gold.

Then a giant stone struck the statue,

smashing it to pieces...

I know that much!

What does it mean?

The statue represents the empires

that will follow yours.

Yours is the greatest - the head of gold.

And the stone that destroys the statue?

That is the kingdom of God.

In the future God will reign over all the world...

Forever.

Destroyed by God.

Yes, sire.

What's your name?

Daniel.

You're a brave man, Daniel.

I value that.

You will serve me.

Will we ever return to Jerusalem?

Jeremiah promised that...

that one day we would.

And in the meantime, what do we do?

Just bow our heads and serve this monster?

I can't do it anymore.

Think about our people, Azariah.

As long as we're in the king's court,

we can help them.

Imprisoned or dead, we can't.

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed God's Temple,

forced us into exile...

My name is Azariah,

'He who is helped by God'...

Well I call upon God to help me now!

He'll kill you if you won't bow.

I can not.

I will not worship that.

Now!

With all our hearts we follow you...

Bow your heads!

We seek your presence...

With all my heart I follow you.

I fear you.

I seek your presence.

Bring them!

Oh my friends,

your faith will be tested now.

Daniel!

What's wrong with them?

Why would your friends not bow to me?

I assure you, sire,

they will serve you faithfully

all their lives, as I will, but...

But?

But they will only worship God.

I will make them bow.

We follow you, we fear you, we seek your presence...

You.

When we wish to bend something that is hard and unyielding,

what do we do with it?

We put it into the fire.

Majesty...

Take him.

We fear you, and we seek your presence.

Burn them!

Majesty, no!

Burn them! Bring me wood...

Bring oil...

Please save me!

Fire...

Bring me fire!

Hear my prayer, oh Lord. Hear my cry.

The cords of death entangle me,

the anguish of the grave consumes me.

Do not ignore my tears.

I'm overcome by sorrow.

I call upon the name of the Lord...

Lord save me...

The Lord hears my cry.

The Lord receives my prayer...

My enemies will be daunted;

they will turn back in shame.

Why do they not burn?

Lord.

It's a miracle.

People of Judah, rise.

God is with us.

He's with us.

God is with us.

The miracle in the fire unites the Jewish people.

Far from allowing their faith to weaken in exile,

they reaffirm their trust in God.

The laws and histories

that Moses received on Mount Sinai,

are preserved and compiled

with the books of Joshua, Samuel and Kings.

Together, they form the heart of the Hebrew Bible.

The Jewish people have their faith,

but they're still prisoners.

And the only man who can set them free

has lost his mind.

So here you are...

Nebuchadnezzar.

The greatest king and lowliest man on God's earth.

See where your pride has brought you?

and us.

You could have set us free.

Now we are as trapped as you.

A new king is coming.

Please God, let him deliver us.

Within a few years of Nebuchadnezzar's death

a massive army approaches Babylon.

Led by Cyrus, king of Persia.

Let them know we've arrived.

The Babylonians know they don't stand a chance.

They let Cyrus in without a fight.

Cyrus! Cyrus!

Cyrus will set us free if the prophecy is right.

To protect his fellow Jews,

Daniel befriends Cyrus

and continues to interpret dreams.

But what does your dream mean, Daniel?

It's not my dream, sire.

There's a prophet here in Babylon - Isaiah -

He says, "Here is a king whose right hand I take hold of"

"to subdue nations before him."

"He is Cyrus."

He names you, sire.

It means God is with you.

I think you flatter me.

But no one has ever died of flattery.

Your majesty has done many great things,

as the record will show.

As it should.

I am Cyrus, King of the world.

Yet he hangs on Daniel's every word

like he's lost the power to think for himself.

Daniel must be removed.

One month without prayer.

Surely only a traitor would object.

I cannot go back on my word.

I promised them freedom to worship.

It is merely a test of their loyalty.

They've had so many rulers,

we wanted to make sure they saw you as the final...

ultimate "King of the World".

One month without prayer...

It probably sounds reasonable to Cyrus,

but they know we can't comply.

They don't care about the King,

they just want as much power over him as they can get.

Which means they need you out of their way.

It's a trap for all of us. They want us dead.

A whole month. What will you do?

I don't know.

But I do know I can't live long without praying to God.

Save me, O God, by your name...

Have mercy on me...

according to your unfailing love...

create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me...

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me,

but restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

For disobeying Cyrus, Daniel is arrested

and sentenced to death.

Save me, O God, by your name.

Have mercy on me,

according to your unfailing love...

The next morning,

Cyrus realizes he's made a terrible mistake.

Sire, are you unwell?

I haven't slept.

Please God I'm not too late.

Sire, should I call the physician?

I have wronged my friend.

Open it!

Daniel?

God is with you.

Your God is real.

Your God has saved you.

Yes.

I am Cyrus, King of the World, and my judgment is this:

your people shall return to Jerusalem.

Their God will be pleased.

Though, sadly...

they no longer have a temple to worship him in.

Throw him in with the lions.

No... no...!

Do you know what this is?

It's from the temple in Jerusalem.

It's beautiful.

You know, I've never seen it used.

And staying here in Babylon, I suppose now I never will.

But our children will.

When they get to Jerusalem.

When the temple is re-built and the nation is restored...

our struggle is over.

There's something I need to show you.

Come with me.

Look, our people are heading home.

After decades in exile,

moving as one, with hope and purpose.

They've waited so long for this.

But I fear for their future.

I had a dream.

I saw a great beast,

dreadful and terrible and unimaginably strong.

It had great iron teeth,

and it devoured the whole world.

But God will not abandon us.

I saw a great new leader in my dream.

There before me was one, like a son of man,

coming with the clouds of heaven.

He was given authority,

glory and sovereign power.

Nations and men of every language worshipped him.

This isn't the end, Azariah...

It's the beginning.

The Jewish people will need help

to survive what is coming.

Over the next 500 years,

Their tiny nation is attacked again and again.

Then they succumb to the might of Rome...

Get in line!

Roman greed

Forward!

Roman law

Roman punishment.

Israel suffers like never before.

Every day, the people pray for a new King David

to lead them to salvation.

Next time on the Bible:

Mary, my betrothed.

You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen,

and the sweetest smile.

I wonder, what can you tell me of the new king?

Are you not looking at Herod,

king of the Jews?

Of course.

Then who is claiming to be king?

No one. He is not born yet.

It is a prophecy, heralded by the star.

Kill them.

Kill them all.

I've got you.

I baptize you,

ready for the new kingdom.

As you are cleansed...

... so all Israel shall be cleansed!

The people are flocking to this wild man, John.

Some even call him the 'Messiah'.

Then you need to keep an eye on your 'Messiah'.

There is one to come, greater than me,

who will baptize with fire.

I am just the voice in the wilderness, preparing the way for the...

...Lord.

He's here.

Out there.

Opening the hearts of all men.

Orders from Caesar. This dissent must stop.

What are we gonna do?

Change the world.

He will bring a new age of righteousness and justice!

His power will draw all men to a new world!

All people!