13. They were not perturbed, because under the table they had made a secret entrance through which they always came in to consume the food.
14. After they departed the king set the food before Bel, while Daniel ordered his servants to bring some ashes, which they scattered through the whole temple; the king alone was present. Then they went outside, sealed the closed door with the king’s ring, and departed.
15. The priests entered that night as usual, with their wives and children, and they ate and drank everything.
16. Early the next morning, the king came with Daniel.
17. “Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?” he asked. And Daniel answered, “They are unbroken, O king.”
18. As soon as he had opened the door, the king looked at the table and cried aloud, “You are great, O Bel; there is no deceit in you.”
19. But Daniel laughed and kept the king from entering. He said, “Look at the floor and consider whose footprints these are.”
20. “I see the footprints of men, women, and children!” said the king.
21. In his wrath the king arrested the priests, their wives, and their children. They showed him the secret door by which they used to enter to consume what was on the table.
22. The king put them to death, and handed Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.
23. There was a great dragon which the Babylonians revered.
24. The king said to Daniel, “You cannot deny that this is a living god, so worship it.”
25. But Daniel answered, “I worship the Lord, my God, for he is the living God.
26. Give me permission, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club.” “I give you permission,” the king said.
27. Then Daniel took some pitch, fat, and hair; these he boiled together and made into cakes. He put them into the mouth of the dragon, and when the dragon ate them, he burst. “This,” he said, “is what you revered.”
28. When the Babylonians heard this, they were angry and turned against the king. “The king has become a Jew,” they said; “he has destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and put the priests to death.”
29. They went to the king and demanded: “Hand Daniel over to us, or we will kill you and your family.”
30. When he saw himself threatened with violence, the king was forced to hand Daniel over to them.
31. They threw Daniel into a lions’ den, where he remained six days.