¹ And in that place there was a great and mighty dragon, which all the Babylonians worshipped. ² And the king said unto Daniel, now you cannot say that this here is no living god, therefore pray to him. ³ And Daniel answered and said unto the king, I pray only to YHVH elo’ah of my fathers, for he is a living god, mighty and awe-inspiring. ⁴ But if you, O king, will give me leave, I will slay this dragon without lance or sword. ⁵ And the king said unto Daniel, I give you now leave to do unto it all that you wish. ⁶ And Daniel went and took pitch and fat and flax and hair, and rolled them into one lump, and he made unto himself iron hatchets, and rolled all that round and round the hatchets, and he threw it into the dragon’s mouth. ⁷ And it came to pass when the dragon had swallowed it and it had gone down into his stomach, the fat and pitch melted away from the hatchets, and the dragon was injured by the (spurs) points of the hatchet, and died. And Daniel said, lo, this is your god, whom you worshipped. ⁸ And when they of Babylon saw that the dragon was dead, they were all greatly incensed, and they gathered together and went up before the king, and they spake, saying, now we know that you are like unto one of the Jewish men, for lo! you have destroyed Bel, and the dragon you have killed, and the priests of Bel you have broken up, together with his temple. ⁹ And now, if you deliver not Daniel into our hands, we will kill you even in your house. ¹⁰ Now when the king saw that they were all greatly incensed so that they wanted to kill him, he delivered Daniel unto them. ¹¹ And they cast Daniel into the lions’ pit, and he was there seven days. ¹² For there was a pit in that place, in which there were seven lions, and they used to give them every day two carcasses, and two sheep; and on that day they were not given to them, to the intent that they might devour Daniel.

¹³ The prophet Ḥabakkuk was then in the land of Yisrael, and he sod a pottage to feed the reapers, and placed bread in his sack, and went to bring it to the reapers in the field. ¹⁴ And lo, the angel of YHVH (appeared), and spoke to Ḥabakkuk the prophet, saying, go and carry now this pottage which you have made to the town of Babylon, and give it to Daniel, who is in the lions’ pit. ¹⁵ And the prophet Ḥabakkuk answered and said to the angel, my lord, I have never seen the town of Babylon, neither do I know the lions’ pit. ¹⁶ And the angel of YHVH took him by the neck and bore him by the lock of his head, and he set him with the food that he had in his hands over the mouth of the lions’ pit which was in Babylon. ¹⁷ And when he recovered his breath, Ḥabakkuk called Daniel, and said, take now this food which your elo’ah has sent you. ¹⁸ And Daniel praised and prayed, and said, YHVH Elohim, you have remembered me, neither have you forsaken all those that love you. ¹⁹ And Daniel arose and ate; and the angel of YHVH carried Ḥabakkuk back to his place in one hour. ²⁰ And it came to pass on the seventh day that the king arose and went to the lions’ pit to see Daniel, and he saw Daniel sitting in the den. ²¹ And the king cried with a loud and mighty voice, and said, YHVH elo’ah of Daniel is great and glorious. ²² And the king ordered to draw Daniel out from the lions’ pit, and those men who had calumniated Daniel, the king ordered to cast them in there. And they cast them in the lions’ pit, and the (lions) devoured them in a moment.