Leadership at a crossroads in the midst of a pandemic at colleges and universities nationwide. Fortunately, there are organizations working at grassroots and high levels to help leaders at all levels at campuses adjust to these changes and prepare for an uncertain but possibly bright future. And today we are privileged to be joined by three co-founders of an extraordinary organization which targets historically black colleges and universities to develop that leadership pipeline and to ingratiate and really enhance skill for the upcoming generation of leaders on campus. We're joined by Tavon Blair, Diller University alumnus, Arian Forman, a co-founder of Excel Leader. I almost forgot to plug the name of the organization. Tennessee State University graduate and J. Nagadossi, a Howard University alumna to talk about Excel Leader, this organization that's working with folks campus-wide, nationwide on the subject of leadership. So brothers and sisters, I appreciate you being here today. First, tell me about the idea of three individuals from three campuses coming together to start something that says we have to really think about ways that we can fortify and support leadership at HBCUs. Tavon, we'll start with you. Sounds good. Well, the three of us were all former SGA presidents during the 2017 as well as 2018 academic school years. And so once we finished up, Arian kind of reached out and was saying, hey, we had a great experience and great running leadership, but how can we continue this work? How can we support the next generation of leaders? And so he said, hey, let's do this organization called Maximize. Let's help train leaders. And then J and I were in our senior year. This was back in 2018. And so we took a break, got into the election time for the midterms and then we came up with Excel Leader. And so I said, hey, J is doing great work over it, that Howard, let's partner with her as well. So the three of us just came together knowing that we may not be able to give back financially to our institutions, so we can give back in a space that helped groom us. So Student Government Association, how can we give back to these students and ensure that some of the guidance that we probably didn't have or we wish we would have had, we could help support these new students. And so in 2018, November 9th, we were able to make the announcement that we're gonna start having this leadership webinar series. They would run for eight to 10 weeks and reaching out to college students and saying, hey, do you wanna run for SGA president? If you're interested, here's this link. You benefit by having connections to former leaders, being able to get advice about how to run your campaign. And so from there, we've had two successful cohorts. Our 2018 cohort was with five students from Morehouse, Dillard, Tennessee State, Kentucky State, and we just been able to groom these students and not knowing how much they needed this during that time. So I know Arian and Jay can really highlight the impact that we've done in so little time. So great experience. Jay, talk a little bit about the importance of training folks for student leadership on campus because I think that to the average HBCU student or the casual HBCU observer, you hear student government association, you think a certain realm of influence, right? Well, we wanna see what campus activities will look like and we wanna see what advocacy for student needs look like. They don't get the interface with the Board of Trustees. They don't get the interface with alumni leadership. They don't get the politics that take place in that. Are those conversations that you have with students who are interested in student leadership and do you really tell them, okay, here's one side of your life as a leader and then there's a dark side.  No, absolutely. That is literally at the core of what we do, especially when we're talking to these students and we're even taking in new cohorts of students and also helping them matriculate through our program. That's at the heart of what we do. We talk about, it's not only enough just to run and to win, it's now preparing you with the tools necessary to govern. And oftentimes I think, as young students and I can attest to it, Tavan and Ariane could probably attest to it. Walking into student government, even if you've been in student government in any capacity or served in different roles, being SGA president is an experience that quite honestly, as much preparation as you can have, you still can't fully prepare for. There are gonna be things that happen during the course of your term. There's gonna be scandal, there are gonna be issues that happen that affect your university that you may not have seen before. So you're gonna have to be quick on your feet and understand how to respond to it, but also recognizing who your allies are within the administration and how you're able to push through the policies and the agenda that you had campaigned on and actually making that come to life. And so a lot of our program is really focused and we always tell our fellows each year, like this is not a, we're not doing pro, there's not a programming group. We're not gonna tell you how to throw the hottest homecoming. We're not gonna teach you how to throw the nicest event. This is about doing something and leaving legacy on your campus, right? And so legacy oftentimes, especially in the student government realm is achieved through policy, is achieved through creating new rules, new structures, new ways of doing at your university and ingraining it into the constitution at your student government so that you're able to effectively make changes where you might not see it while you're on campus, but two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years down the line, you go back to your university and you realize that some of the procedural orders, the ways in which, you know, administration interacts with SGA, a lot of those different changes are a byproduct of your leadership on campus. And so that's really a lot of what we stress to our students. Arian, how do you, I guess develop skill building and training across different campuses where the SGA culture and the political climate can be different from campus to campus. So for example, if I go to Morgan, SGA plays a different role and confronts different challenges even from those at Coppin, even though we're only separated by a couple of miles. And certainly it would be different, you know, between a Tennessee state and a Howard University, even though both of them are large, one is a public, one is a private. There are different elements of what role and what responsibilities SGA has and the politics they have to face. So how do you go about developing, you know, strategy building and getting young people used to certain elements of leadership from campus to campus is so different? Well, first of all, thanks for having us. I think one of the things that's so important and so big about Excel leaders, we have a common denominator. A common denominator is students. We know throughout different campuses around the country that although they may face different politics, different policy issues at the end of the day, the common denominator as student leaders on campuses, and then that's what's been the focus of our work so far, at the common denominator is students. And so if we could teach students how to focus on student issues and to properly advocate, the game will come with it, right? Because all of this is relationship building. And so one of the things that I think we pride ourselves in at Excel leader is the fact that students are the common denominator. And while other, you know, larger institutions may, you know, larger non-black institutions may have the ability to have support in leadership and get different conferences and mentorship groups. HBCUs don't have that. So it feels good to help students understand the power of advocacy and organizing. And at its base level, it's being an innovator. You know, we pride ourselves in making sure students understand that innovation is what creates policy that creates change that creates legacy. And so at the end of the day, while campus politics are different across the country, the baseline of what we do is advocacy on enhancing the student experience that HBCUs across the country. Now that you guys are a few years removed from undergrad, how do you look back at leadership and say, yeah, if I had to do it again, I would do that same thing or I would take that same approach or I would mobilize the same way. Or when you look back at it with the benefit of experience and age and time, do you say, man, you know what? I got that all wrong. Yeah, I would have done that. I would have done that totally different if I could go back with this mentality. How much of yourself do you see? Yeah, I did that. I made the right call on those things and how much do you say I would have done that better? Or done it differently at least? I honestly think so. And I'll put you back here because it just kinda eludes to one of our programmatic offerings. The reason why we recently changed our fellowship name to just, to the executive student leader fellowship is because I think we've all had the opportunity to work on a campaign or work at a corporate office or work for a rights activist where we've learned that being a student government leader is an executive role. And so if I could go back, there's so much I would change, stuff as simple as having one-on-ones with certain leaders in SGA, right? Focusing more on a certain different set of issues rather than others because now that I've lived and I've kinda been down the road a little bit, I learned that sometimes, student leaders get too in the weeds on stuff that they're supposed to have high-level overview and direction over. So I think for me, certainly now that I know that being president of anything is an executive role, I probably would go up a couple thousand feet and focus a little bit more on bigger issues that could have made a bigger impact. I would say for me, so the time at which I was in leadership was the year in which Howard was going through large financial aid scandal with our aid building, where money was essentially stolen from the university by way of different staff members that worked at the university and it was a huge scandal, right? And so a lot of my term, specifically the second half of my term was literally consumed by student activism around that issue and arguing for more student power at Howard, arguing for more accountability as it relates to the financial aid office and issues like that happening at our university. And to be quite honest, as I look back now, certain things that we did, like certain decisions that we, I think overall our decision-making was pretty sound and I'm actually proud about that, proud to have been a part of that movement to hold my university accountable, but also proud that as we sit today and we see how society is moving, right? There's more activism, there's more progressivism, there's more mobilizing as a collective to know that we were able to be a part of that at that moment in time and literally go up against our own institution, which I love, I'm a proud Howard University graduate, I love Howard University without Howard University. I think that my college experience would have been, totally different and my trajectory would be totally different, but I feel like in confronting your university, there's some piece of love in that, kind of it might sound crazy because we're like protesting outside, like doing our thing, but it's our love for our university that drove us to say, we need to hold ourselves accountable, we need to make sure that we're ensuring that the monies that are, you know, alum, the monies that we get, the monies that are supposed to go to students are left and remain for students, right? And so there was like that love piece in there and at the time I felt kind of, you know, outside voices say, oh, why are you guys putting Howard out there? You know, it's not a good look, right? Like that was kind of the narrative, but now looking back, I see, you know, that was born out of our love for our institution and I think that it made Howard a better place, especially for the student governments that came after me and the amount of power that they now have in decision-making at the university due to us, you know, locking ourselves in the A building and occupying that space. So let me just ask, were you one of the people saying, bitch, better have my money? No, I wasn't, but I was in that, I was in that quarter. Were you in that video? No, no, I actually wasn't. I was in that video, me and myself with my vice president, we had a loudspeaker, we're like out there, we're walking and like, mind you, we go to Howard University, right? Like we've seen protests and we've seen occupation of the A building before. We've seen Stokely Carmichael's come through our campus, you know, and set up shop. And so I think that's just a part of the calling and a part of the Howard University legacy and history. And so I feel like we embodied that.  If somebody took your money, you would want it back, right? Like we don't do that at Dylan. But what did you do at Dylan? What I was gonna say is that during from Jade and Arian, I was strengthened to have a second term. So I was actually a president as a junior and then ran again my senior year. So I was able to get that second chance to do things differently and seeing how, you know, learning from first time, second time experience. And so I think it is important if there are opportunities, I know some universities constitution don't allow that two-term kind of access to become president again, but it'll be important for students to have that. Cause each year we realize is that with our leaders, they jump in. So each year there's a new president that wants something different instead of building this legacy on, okay, I started this. Here's this transition of, you know, the work that we started, we brought the conversation up and here's this passed down kind of legacy thing that we're doing. So I think for Dylan, our experience, we had some crazy stuff happening about my first term. And like, you know, just looking back and saying, okay, we're breaking down, you know, trying to get students to understand where I guess getting more constant and more information about what's happening on campus instead of finding out, I guess, the week after something something happened. And so now we're like more reactionary to it. Find a way of how we can be proactive and knowing, you know, ahead of time, making that relationship with university leaders and saying that, you know, we're not here to, to be combative. We're here to work together, here to find a solution for both parties. And sometimes leaders, we may have, may feel we have the way that we have to go to either supporting the university or supporting the students. And at the end of the day, we both are one unit. I think that is the point that all leaders should kind of get that kind of training beforehand. But many of us, we step into these spaces and all are like, okay, I'm here and we're in the election. What do I do now? So that's where we step in. That's the view. That's one of the beauties of what we do is because I think a lot of students, a lot of student leaders at HBC use when the position to be like, okay, cool. No, no, no, no, no. When you come from Excel leader, when you come from the product of what we do, we're sending you off with a firm agenda to walk in facing issues, preparing to solve issues. And I think that's you, that, you know, Toby accurate there. We send students out to prepare them to fight and, you know, to build where needed. Yep. And also, I'm just, sorry, just one last thing I want to add in there as well and also to that legacy piece, right? With our fellows, really impressing on, impressing on them the importance of reaching out to presidents that have served before them, right? There's nothing new under the sun, SGA, although, you know, you have different administrations that come in with new ideas. I promise you more often than not, there was an administration three years, four years before you that were arguing for those same things. And so for us, we impress upon our leaders and connect them with former presidents at their universities so that they're able to really kind of get a better understanding of what's been done, what groundwork has been laid and then build on top of that. You guys are venturing into some very specific conversations about leadership. Jade, I know you're going to be core to a conversation about women in leadership on campus. You guys are also looking to address issues of student leadership in the era of COVID-19. Talk a little bit about some of those emerging conversations and what excites you most about those new, those new dialogues that you'll be having with student leaders. And Jade, we'll start with you since you'll be working with the sisters program. Yes. So this year, this fall actually, she's very new. We launched Exalite Her. It's definitely a labor of love. And I'm really excited about Exalite Her because what, you know, the premise of Exalite Her is essentially supporting HBCU women to lead on their campuses, right? In many different capacities. It's not just limited to SGA. It's not just limited to student government. It's leadership just in general. And oftentimes it's an anecdote that myself and other women presidents, other women SGA presidents often say, which is, you know, our campuses, more often than not are predominantly women, right? Well, they more often than not, always, what does it say? Literally, maybe one or two, it's close. But at Howard, I know from my experience, it was like 17 women to one man on campus, right? It's alarming. But in knowing that, you know, and having that fact and having, you know, seeing that on your campus, you don't see that translated to leadership, right? So oftentimes, you know, Howard University was man after man after man after man after man that was SGA president or SGA vice president or holding these different, you know, leadership titles on our campus and women weren't represented there. And so for me, that board just like a deep seated problem that I've always had, and especially considering that, like I said, our campuses are predominantly women, that's an issue that we need to address, right? How do we support?  Women who want to take on leadership. So really trying to change the ecosystems at our university and really kind of opening up a conversation that oftentimes we have in these little silos or sectors where, you know, I talked to a lot of my SGA women past presidents and they're like, yeah, there's not a lot of us. And we say that in that room, but yet there's nothing that's being done to translate to change on our campuses. And so I've had the direct experience with the president before me, Alison Carpenter, one of my really good friends and one of our board members. She literally told me, I was not gonna run for SGA. I was like, I wanna be behind the scenes girl, let me just be chief of staff, I'll do all the work. I don't wanna step out on leadership. She was like, you have to run, right? And she kept pressing me and pressing me and pressing me. And I think that, you know, that experience for me, I did run, but it impressed the importance of other women lifting up other women saying, I see it in you, sister, I know that you can do it. And I'm gonna be here to support you in your run, your bid for whatever position you wanna be in, right?  It's like a woman run show, right? And so that just takes, you know, intentional leadership on our campuses and having the tough conversations and figuring out how we can change the ecosystem that exists. Beautiful. And then the leadership in a COVID, I guess in a COVID era, brothers, I would turn it over to you to give you some of the highlights from what you think are gonna be important takeaways in it. And this is really interesting because it's, what can you say? What is leadership when no one's on campus in some spaces? What- That's the conversation we've been talking about. Let's talk about that. We do not wanna come off as experts in the conversation with the students tonight, speaking about how to lead during a COVID atmosphere. We never experienced that. And that's why we tell our students is that, yes, you all are this first group of people out of none of your success.  This is how you can look, one, two, three. This is the guide to how you can effectively lead during a pandemic. And we don't wanna give the information to them because we're all learning. We're learning with each other. And so the conversation how it's gonna go tonight is just hearing what they're going through and seeing how we can, you know, offer up some suggestions for like, hey, you know, this is the issue, but there's also that student at Tougaloo has to have the same exact experience from someone at Morgan or Savannah State. You guys are not alone in this journey. And so we're not the ones that are gonna help give you that perfect answer. It's your peers in this space. And so these students, they didn't have a NAISAP this summer. They didn't have, you know, this different student literature conferences. So the time we spent, that's how we all met each other. We met each other from conferences. They don't have that chance anymore. They're meeting virtually through Twitter, through social media. And so we wanna build this space for them tonight. The ones that do have access, you know, it's exclusive space on Clubhouse to have that conversation with them and to help build these ideas. So when this, if we are still in this COVID atmosphere, you know, going to, you know, the next term, we have something to work off of. We have a new way of how to train them to win their election, a new training, how to help them lead effectively and work with universities, especially in this past or fail kind of issue that students are fighting with right now. But Aria, if you have anything else you want to add in. The biggest part about tonight is what we're gonna do. We talked about this last night. It's checking on them as people. Before we can talk about leaders, we need to check on you as a person because I know if this pandemic has locked me in the house for some hundred days, I know we just need to go back down to the base level of, okay, how are you? Right? But when we get past that and we established some of those self care practices, we established some of that other stuff that's very important to your physical being. The next thing we're gonna do is we're gonna level the playing field. We're gonna help you acknowledge that there are executives of Fortune 500 companies, the manager at McDonald's, the trash worker, the mayor, the president of the United States was not prepared to lead in the panoramic, I mean, the pandemic. Here it is, here it is. You are not alone. I think that's what a lot of these HBCU students need to feel is that you're not alone. And at the end of the day, there is no play before pandemic. And so what we're gonna do tonight is do what we've done as black people for millennia is instead of eating the turnip, we take the greens off the turnip and we take the leaves off the turnip and we make turnip greens. So I think that tonight is our opportunity to tell them like it's in our DNA to innovate and to take the intestines from a pig and make chitlins, okay? It is a hard time. I don't even know what you're talking about, I don't know. But it's- Leave it to somebody from Tennessee State to come do it with chitlins.  I'm like, I'm like, go in here. But I think that the beauty of what we're gonna talk about tonight is that, and I always, I talked about this in one of my first books, is that when there is a lack of resources, that is the time where innovation is inspired, it's grown. And so I think our conversation tonight, we're gonna mess around and folks will come out of there with playbooks for the second semester. And that's just what we do. We are a people and an organization that believes in getting in there and working with students and helping them wear. And I'll just- I love it, man. You're good. I'll just note that and even on this call later on, we made a concerted effort to literally grab some of our, presidents that served during our times in leadership to also lend their voices and support because we recognize that this is a new space for everybody, like my colleagues have said. But there's experiences that we might have had that we might be able to connect to and say, hey, if you're having issues, breaking through with your university's leadership, I've been through something like that. It might have been different but here's the steps that I utilize to work through that issue. Now, maybe it'll have to be something specific for you. You'll have to tailor it, right? But there's, you know, this is my lived experience. These are experiences that I've had and we have a panel of other former SEA presidents and SEA leaders at HBCUs that are also gonna be on the call to share their insights and experiences as well. So it's really gonna be like one big, kind of like brainstorming collaborative effort to really look at the pandemic, look at leadership, look at our universities, what's at stake and identify ways in which we can support student leaders to be successful in their time and to also advocate for students in the midst of this pandemic, right? Yeah, and I think that we're, and Tamon, correct me if I'm wrong, because Tamon is the leader of this project. I think we have a Zoom version of this too. Yeah, so we're doing a Zoom version after final. Yeah, but those are gonna be watching us just check the way it's not in our social media and we'll have these up there. So that y'all segue right into the perfect thing. Tell us about the website. I have it listed here at the bottom. I hope that folks that watch this will go and check it out. We'll also link to it on our social media. But tell us where we can find each of you and where we can find more information about Excel Leader. So definitely, I'm sorry. I'll just say, make sure that you guys look at that link in the bottom, www.exceler.com. You can go to our website, it's beautiful. You guys can go and peruse our website, see the different programs that we offer and some of the impact that we've been able to make within these two years now going on three years now looking ahead. And so definitely go to our website. You can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter at exceler. And so it's spelled the same way. And then for me personally, you all, if you wanna keep up with me, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter at Jade Agadosi. It's my full name, so J-A-D-E-A-G-U-D-O-S-I. And that's on all social platforms. I'd love to connect with you all, especially women leaders. We're looking for, especially to support our new ex-lead her program. We're looking for more women leaders that have previously served at HBCUs to get connected with us. Cause we wanna make sure that we're supporting as many women as possible. So we're literally building a network of women. And so we wanna get connected with you all and we actually have a forum where we can get connected with you all. You guys can drop your information down low. You guys will literally be able to connect with us and get more updates on the work we're doing. Yeah, so Jay gave you all the spiel about us. So if you wanna follow me, I'm at Arian Jay. So that's A-A-R-I-N-J on all social platforms. I'm not just a really big stuff at the top of the year. So please listen, if you wanna connect, I'm always talking about business, faith, leadership, and food. So come find me and we gonna take off. Yes, you are gonna find me at Tavon Blair. I say, bring yourself now. So my first and last thing was my social accounts. Make sure you all follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Just to know that this is the conversation that's happening for HBCU leaders and knowing that this space exists for you. You're not in this journey alone. Even with civic engagement on your campus, reach out to us, shoot us a DM. We're here to help and support in any effort. Yeah, I'll have to put this real quick. Tavon is actually famous on social media. I was a student called me the other night and he said, what's the co-founder guy that you work with? He's always going viral on Twitter. So he probably found Tavon before you find me. But yeah, Tavon Tavon. Probably a sweet tweet of him liked his post before. He's big on social media. He's Mr. HBCU on Twitter. So if you just literally look up in the search bar, HBCU, you'll see Tavon's name right underneath your profile. Y'all are funny. That's up then. I love to see it. Young alumni trying to pour back into HBCU students, trying to pour back into HBCU institutions. Thank you guys so much. It's been a real treat to hear from you guys and hear your dynamic perspective on this stuff. And I hope to have you back on in the near future to talk about some of this programming. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And shout out to the brother in the back at Yvonne's house. You know what you're doing. That's fantastic, you know. And we will check in with you guys again. Thank you so much. All righty.


My name is Frank Kennedy and I have my biggest supporter with me, my wife Pat, and I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1998. And after review, I had no knowledge at all of no pain, anything that pre-looted the diagnosis and then I went to my doctor and my doctor said, well, we're going to do some tests just to see what's going on. After some testing, they determined I had a tumor in my right kidney and during the operation, they took it out, they also found that I had another tumor in my right adrenal gland. And after that, about three weeks after I had that happened, I had a heart attack and then they did a quadruple bypass. And after that, my doctor said, we're going to have to do some follow-up with the cancer tumors. So he made arrangements for me to go see another doctor in Cleveland. I went to the Cleveland Clinic, of which I was going there for about a year and a half until like late 2000, in late 2000, another kidney, another tumor showed up in my left kidney. And they made a determination that I was going to need some more follow-up treatments, start some drug therapy, and they decided that I should come back to the city of Chicago where I lived and have the therapy done there because it would be a long time going back and forth to the Cleveland Clinic if I was going to use a therapy program there. So I started on a therapy program in about 2001, early 2001, at the University of Chicago and I had been on that program on and off through three or four different particular drugs until like in 19, or in 2005, I had a stroke and a stroke they blamed on the particular or they thought was related to the particular drug I was on at that time. And then they decided to take me off of that drug and I was consequently on a couple of other drugs in the meantime. And after that I had a tumor show up in my collar bone and then they put me on a drug called Avastin and I was on that drug for about two years until actually until just about six months ago, or two months ago. And then after that then they decided they had to do more therapy and when these other tumors showed up in my collar bone they decided radiation was the best way to handle them. So I went through some radiation and then after the radiation they did another CAT scan and they said because of the situation I most likely should stay on some kind of a drug therapy. I was put on another new drug called Votrient, of which I'm still on Votrient today. It's still being monitored by the city of Chicago. Have a great program over there, what do I say, University of Chicago. They have a great program over there. I've been in several clinical studies there and it's a good thing for anybody who's going into problems to see if you can get some clinical studies because you get a lot of research that backs these all up and your condition gets handled very well through all the drug therapy that they go through with you and all the tests they go. I've been very satisfied with them.


chapters one through four of the book of Daniel from the Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Penfold. The book of Daniel. Chapters one through four. Daniel. Chapter one. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, come hath Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to Jerusalem, and laeth siege against it, and the Lord giveth into his hand Jehoiakim, King of Judah, and some of the vessels of the house of God, and he bringeth them into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. And the vessels he hath brought into the treasure house of his God. And the King sayeth to Ashpenaz, master of his eunuchs, to bring in out of the sons of Israel, even out of the royal seed, and of the chiefs, lads in whom there is no blemish, and of good appearance, and skillful in all wisdom, and possessing knowledge, and teaching thought, and who have ability to stand in the palace of the King, and to teach them the literature, and language of the Chaldeans. And the King doth appoint for them a rate, day by day, of the King's portion of food, and of the wine of his drinking, so as to nourish them three years, that at the end thereof they may stand before the King. And there are among them out of the sons of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and the chief of the eunuchs seteth names on them, and he seteth on Daniel, Delta Shazar, and on Hananiah, Shadrach, and on Mishael, Meshach, and on Azariah, Abed Niko. And Daniel purposeth in his heart that he will not pollute himself with the King's portion of food, and with the wine of his drinking, and he seeketh of the chief of the eunuchs that he may not pollute himself. And God giveth Daniel for kindness and for mercies before the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs seeth to Daniel. I am fearing my Lord, the King, who hath appointed your food and your drink, for why doth he see your faces sadder than those of the lads which are of your circle? Then ye have made my head indebted to the King, and Daniel seeth unto the Meltzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs hath appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Try, I pray, thee, thy servants, ten days, and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink, and our appearance is seen before thee, and the appearance of the lads who are eating the King's portion of food, and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. And he hearkeneth to them, to this word, and trieth them ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearance hath appeared better and fatter in flesh than any of the lads who are eating the King's portion of food, and the Meltzar is taking away their portion of food, and the wine of their drink, and is giving to them vegetables. As to these four lads, God hath given to them knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom, and Daniel hath given instruction about every kind of vision and dream. And at the end of the days that the King had said to bring them in, bring them in doth the chief of the eunuchs before Nebuchadnezzar, and the King speaketh with them, and there hath none been found among them all, like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and they stand before the King. And in any matter of wisdom and understanding that the King hath sought of them, he findeth them ten hands above all the scribes and the enchanters who are in all his kingdom. And Daniel is unto the first year of Cyrus the King. Chapter 2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed hath Nebuchadnezzar dreams, and his spirit doth move itself and his sleep hath been against him. And the King sayeth to call for scribes and for enchanters and for sorcerers and for Chaldeans to declare to the King his dreams, and they come in and stand before the King. And the King sayeth to them, a dream I have dreamed and moved is my spirit to know the dream. And the Chaldeans spoke to the King in Aramean, O King, to the ages live, tell the dream to thy servants, and the interpretation we do shoo. The King hath answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing from me is gone, if ye do not cause me to know the dream and its interpretation, pieces ye are made, and your houses are made dung hills. And if the dream and its interpretation ye do shoo, gifts, and fee, and great glory ye receive from before me, therefore the dream and its interpretation shoo ye me. They have answered a second time and are saying, Let the King tell the dream to his servants, and the interpretation we do shoo. The King hath answered and said, Of a truth I know that time ye are gaining, because that ye have seen that the thing is gone from me, so that if the dream ye do not cause me to know, one is your sentence, seeing a word lying and corrupt ye have prepared to speak before me till that the time is changed. Therefore the dream tell ye to me, Then do I know that its interpretation ye do shoo me. The Chaldeans hath answered before the King and are saying, There is not a man on the earth who is able to shoo the King's matter. Therefore no King, chief, and ruler hath asked such a thing as this of any scribe, an enchanter, and Chaldean. And the thing that the King is asking is precious. And others are there not that do shoo it before the King, save the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. Therefore the King hath been very angry and very rough, and hath said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the sentence hath gone forth, and the wise men are being slain, and they have sought Daniel and his companions to be slain. Then Daniel hath replied with counsel and discretion to Ariach, chief of the executioners of the King, who hath gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. He hath answered and said to Ariach the King's captain, Wherefore is the sentence so urgent from before the King? Then Ariach hath made the thing known to Daniel, and Daniel hath gone up and sought of the King that he would give him time to shoo the interpretation to the King. Then Daniel to his house hath gone, and to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, he hath made the thing known, and to seek mercies from before the God of the heavens concerning this secret, that they destroy not Daniel and his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then to Daniel, in a vision of the night, the secret hath been revealed. Then hath Daniel blessed the God of the heavens. Daniel hath answered and said, Let the name of God be blessed from age even unto age, for wisdom and might, for they are his. And he is changing times and seasons. He is causing kings to pass away, and he is raising up kings. He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding. He is revealing deep and hidden things. He hath known what is in darkness, and light with him hath dwelt. The O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising for wisdom and might thou hast given to me, and now thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from thee. For the king's matter thou hast caused us to know.  He hath gone, and thus hath said to him, The wise men of Babylon, thou dost not destroy. Bring me up before the king, and the interpretation to the king I do shoo. Then Ariach in haste hath brought up Daniel before the king, and thus hath said to him, I have found a man of the sons of the removed of Judah, who the interpretation to the king doth make known. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, whose name is Delta Shazzar. Are thou able to cause me to know the dream that I have seen and its interpretation? Daniel hath answered before the king and said, The secret that the king is asking, the wise men, the enchanters, the scribes, the soothsayers are not able to shoo to the king. But there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and he hath made known to King Nebuchadnezzar, that which is to be in the latter end of the days. Thy dream and the visions of thy head on thy bed are these. Thou, O King, thy thoughts on thy bed have come up concerning that which is to be after this. And the revealer of secrets hath caused thee to know that which is to be. As to me, not for any wisdom that is in me above any living hath this secret been revealed to me. But for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of thy heart thou dost know. Thou, O King, was looking and low, a certain great image. This image is mighty, and its brightness excellent. It is standing over against thee, and its appearance is terrible. This image, its head is of good gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron, and part of them of clay. Thou was looking till that a stone hath been cut out without hands, and it hath smitten the image on its feet that are of iron and of clay, and it hath broken them small. Then broken small together hath been the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold. And they have been as chaff from the summer threshing floor, and carried them away half the wind. And no place hath been found for them. And the stone that smote the image hath become a great mountain, and hath filled all the land. This is the dream, and its interpretation we do tell before the King. Thou, O King, art a King of kings. For the God of the heavens, a kingdom strength and might and glory hath given to thee. And whither so ever, sons of men are dwelling, the beast of the field, and the fowl of the heavens, he hath given into thy hand, and hath caused thee to rule over them all. Thou, art this head of gold. And after thee, doth rise up another kingdom lower than those, and another third kingdom of brass that doth rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom is strong as iron, because that iron is breaking small, and making feeble all things, even as iron that is breaking all these, it beateth small and breaketh. As to that which thou hast seen, the feet and toes, part of them potters clay, and part of them iron, the kingdom is divided. And some of the standing of the iron is to be in it, because that thou hast seen the iron mixed with myry clay. As to the toes of the feet, part of them iron and part of them clay, some part of the kingdom is strong, and some part of it is brittle. Because thou hast seen iron mixed with myry clay. They are mixing themselves with the seed of men, and they are not adhering one with another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens, a kingdom that is not destroyed to the age, and its kingdom to another people is not left. It beateth small, and endeth all these kingdoms, and its standeth to the age. Because that thou hast seen that out of the mountain cut hath been a stone without hands, and it hath beaten small the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God hath made known to the king that which is to be after this, and the dream is true, and its interpretation steadfast. Then hath King Nebuchadnezzar fallen on his face, and to Daniel he hath done obeisance, and present, and sweet things he hath said to pour out to him. The king hath answered Daniel and said, Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and revealer of secrets, since thou hast been able to reveal this secret. Then the king hath made Daniel great, and many great gifts he hath given to him, and hath caused him to rule over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon. And Daniel hath sought from the king, and he hath appointed over the work of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Daniel is in the gate of the king. Chapter 3 Nebuchadnezzar the king hath made an image of gold, its height, sixty cubits, its breadth, six cubits. He hath raised it up in the valley of Dura, in the province of Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar the king hath sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the honorable judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up. Then are gathered the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the honorable judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up. And they are standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar hath raised up. And a crier is calling mightily, to you they are saying, O peoples, nations and languages, at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the sultry, the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up, and who so doth not fall down and do obeisance, in that hour he is cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the peoples are hearing the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the sultry, and all kinds of music, falling down are all the peoples, nations and languages, doing obeisance to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up. Therefore at that time, drawn near, have certain Chaldeans and accused the Jews. They have answered, yea, they are saying to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, to the ages live, thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man who doth hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the sultry, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, doth fall down and do obeisance to the golden image, and who so doth not fall down and do obeisance, is cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the work of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men have not made of thee, O king, any regard. Thy gods, they are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up, are not making obeisance. Then Nebuchadnezzar in anger and fury hath said to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then these men have been brought in before the king. Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and said to them, Is it a laid plan, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? My gods, ye are not serving, and to the golden image that I have raised up, ye are not doing obeisance. Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbutt, the sultry and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made. And lo, ye do know obeisance? In that hour, ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have answered. Ye, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need concerning this matter to answer thee. Lo, it is our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace, and from thy hand, O King, he doth deliver. And lo, not, be it known to the O King, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up, we do know obeisance.  He answered and said to heat the furnace seven times above that which is seen to be heated. And to certain mighty men who are in his force, he hath said to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to cast into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men have been bound in their coats, their tunics, and their turbans, and their clothing, and have been cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because that the word of the King is urgent, and the furnace heated exceedingly, those men who hath taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego killed them hath the spark of the fire, and these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, have fallen down in the midst of the burning fiery furnace, bound. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the King, hath been astonished, and hath risen in haste. He hath answered and said to his counselors, Have we not cast three men into the midst of the fire, bound? They hath answered, and are saying to the King, Certainly, O King, he answered and hath said, Lo, I am seeing four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the appearance of the forth is like to a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar hath drawn near to the gate of the burning fiery furnace. He hath answered and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of God most high, come forth, yea, come. Then come forth, do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the midst of the fire, and gathered together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the counselors of the King, are seeing these men, that the fire hath no power over their bodies, and the hair of their head hath not been singed, and their coats have not changed, and the smell of fire hath not passed on them. Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and hath said, Blast is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his messenger, and hath delivered his servants who trusted on him, and the word of the King changed, and gave up their bodies that they might not serve, nor do obeisance to any God except to their own God. And by me a decree is made, that any people, nation, and language that doth speak erroneously concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, pieces he is made, and its house is made a dung hill, because that there is no other God who is able thus to deliver. Then the King hath caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon. CHAPTER 4 Nebuchadnezzar, the King to all peoples, nations, and languages who are dwelling in all the earth, your peace be great. The signs and wonders that God most high hath done with me, it is good before me to shoo. His signs how great, and his wonders how mighty. His kingdom is a kingdom age-during, and his rule is with generation and generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, hath been at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. A dream I hath seen, and it maketh me afraid, and the conceptions on my bed, and the visions of my head do trouble me. And by me a decree is made, to cause all the wise men of Babylon to come up before me, that the interpretation of the dream they may cause me to know. Then coming up are the scribes, the enchanters, the kaldians, and the soothsayers, and the dream I have told before them, and its interpretation they are not making known to me. And at last come up before me hath Daniel, whose name is Balthashazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and the dream before him I have told. O Balthashazzar, master of the scribes, as I have known that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret doth press thee, the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation tell. As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height is great. Become great hath the tree, yea, strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to the end of the whole land. Its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it. Under it take shade doth the beast of the field, and in its boughs dwell do the birds of the heavens, and of it fed are all flesh. I was looking, in the visions of my head on my bed, and lo, a sifter, even a holy one from the heavens is coming down. He is calling mightily, and thus hath said, cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its budding. Move away, let the beast from under it, and the birds from off its branches. But the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens is it wet, and with the beasts is his portion in the herb of the earth. His heart from man's is changed, and the heart of a beast is given to him, and seven times pass over him. By the decree of the sifters is the sentence, and by the saying of the holy ones the requirement, to the intent that the living may know that the most high is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom he willeth he giveth it, and the lowest of men he doth raise up over it. This dream I have seen, I, King Nebuchadnezzar, and thou, O Belteshazzar, the interpretation tell, because that all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to cause me to know the interpretation, and thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him. The King hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My Lord, the dream, to those hating thee, and its interpretation, to thine enemies, the tree that thou hast seen, that hath become great and strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to all the land, and its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it. Under it dwell doth the beast of the field, and on its boughs sit do the birds of the heavens. Thou it is, O King, for thou hast become great and mighty, and thy greatness hath become great, and hath reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And that which the King hath seen, a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he hath said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it, but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field is his portion, till that seven times pass over him. This is the interpretation, O King, and the decree of the most high it is that hath come against my Lord the King. And they are driving thee away from men, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, and the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and by the dew of the heavens they are wetting thee, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the most high is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom he willeth he giveth it. And that which they said to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, thy kingdom for thee abideth, after that thou knowest that the heavens are ruling. Therefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and thy sins by righteousness break off, and thy perversity by pitying the poor, lo, it is a lengthening of thine ease. All hath come on Nebuchadnezzar the King. At the end of twelve months, on the palace of the kingdom of Babylon, he hath been walking. The King hath answered and said, Is not this that great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength, and for the glory of my honor? While the word is in the King's mouth, a voice from the heavens hath fallen. To thee they are saying, O Nebuchadnezzar the King, the kingdom hath passed from thee, and from men they are driving thee away, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling. The herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the most high is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom he willeth, he giveth it. In that hour the thing hath been fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and from men he is driven, and the herb as oxen he eateth, and by the dew of the heavens his body is wet, till that his hair as eagles hath become great, and his nails as birds. And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, mine eyes to the heavens hath lifted up, and mine understanding unto me returneth, and the most high I hath blessed, and the age during living one I hath praised and honored, whose dominion is a dominion age during, and his kingdom with generation and generation, and all who are dwelling on the earth as nothing are reckoned, and according to his will he is doing among the forces of the heavens and those dwelling on the earth, and there is none that doth clap with his hand and sayeth to him, What hast thou done? At that time my understanding doth return unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and my brightness doth return unto me, and to me my counselors and my great men do seek, and over my kingdom I have been made right, and abundant greatness hath been added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honoring the king of the heavens, for all his works are truth, and his paths judgment, and those walking in pride he is able to humble. The end of chapters one through four of the book of Daniel from the Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible. Recording by Mark Penfold. Chapters five through eight of the book of Daniel from the Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Penfold. Daniel. Chapters five through eight. Chapter five Bel Shazar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine. Bel Shazar hath said, while tasting the wine, to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that is in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king and his great men, his wives, and his concubines. Then they have brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and drunk with them have the king and his great men, his wives, and his concubines. They have drunk wine and have praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In that hour come forth hath fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over against the candlestick on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing. Then the king's countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another. Call doth the king mightily to bring up the enchanters, the caldeans, and the soothsayers. Answered hath the king, and said to the wise men of Babylon that, any man who doth read this writing, and its interpretation, doth shoe me, purple he puteth on, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and third in the kingdom he doth rule. Then coming up are all the wise men of the king, and they are not able to read the writing, and the interpretation to make known to the king. Then the king Balshazar is greatly troubled, and his countenance is changing in him, and his great men are perplexed. The queen, on account of the words of the king and his great men, to the banquet house hath come up. Answered hath the queen, and said, O king, to the ages live, let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, as the wisdom of the gods was found in him. And king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, chief of the scribes, enchanters, kaldians, soothsayers, established him. Thy father, O king, because that an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of enigmas, and loosing of knots was found in him, in Daniel, whose name the king made Balshazar, now let Daniel be called, and the interpretation he doth show. Then Daniel hath been caused to come up before the king. Answered hath the king, and said to Daniel, Thou art that Daniel, who art of the sons of the removed of Judah, whom the king my father brought in of Judah. And I have heard of thee that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and light understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee. And now, cause to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know, and they are not able to shoe the interpretation of the thing. And I, I have heard of thee, that thou art able to give interpretations, and to loose knots. Now, lo, thou art able to read the writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know, purple, thou dost put on, and a bracelet of gold is on thy neck, and third in the kingdom, thou dost rule. Then hath Daniel answered, and said before the king, Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give. Nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know. Thou, O king, God most high, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory and honor, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father. And because of the greatness that he gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him, whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low. And when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him. And from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses is his dwelling. The herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God most high is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom he willed he raises up over it. And thou his son, Valshazar, hath not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known. And against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself, and the vessels of his house they have brought in before thee, and thou and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised.  Then from before him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down, and this is the writing that is noted down. Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided. This is the interpretation of the thing. Numbered, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it. Weighed, thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking. Divided, divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians. Then hath Belchazar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night Belchazar king of the Caldeans is slain, and Darius the Mede hath received the kingdom when a son of sixty and two years. Chapter 6 It hath been good before Darius, and he hath established over the kingdom satraps, a hundred and twenty, that they may be throughout the whole kingdom, and higher than they three presidents of whom Daniel is first, that these satraps may give to him an account, and the king have no loss. Then this Daniel hath been overseer over the presidents and satraps, because that an excellent spirit is in him, and the king hath fought to establish him over the whole kingdom. Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he is faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him. Then these men are saying, we do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found it against him in the law of his God. Then these presidents and satraps have assembled near the king, and thus they are saying to him, O King Darius, to the ages live, taken counsel, have all the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, to establish a royal statute, and to strengthen and interdict, that any who seeketh a petition from any God and man, until thirty days, save of thee, O King, is cast into a den of lions. Now, O King, thou dost establish the interdict, and sign the writing that it is not to be changed, as a law of media and Persia, that doth not pass away. Therefore, King Darius hath signed the writing and interdict, and Daniel, when he hath known that the writing is signed, hath gone up to his house, and the window being opened for him, in his upper chamber, over against Jerusalem, three times in a day he is kneeling on his knees, and praying, and confessing before his God, because that he was doing it before this. Then these men have assembled, and found Daniel praying and in treating grace before his God. Then they have come near, yea, they are saying before the king concerning the king's interdict, hath thou not signed an interdict, that any man who seeketh from any God in man until thirty days, save of thee, O King, is cast into a den of lions? Answered hath the king and said, the thing is certain as a law of media and Persia, that doth not pass away. Then they have answered, yea, they are saying before the king that, Daniel, who is of the sons of the removed of Judah, hath not placed on thee, O King, any regard, nor on the interdict that thou hast signed, and three times in a day he is seeking his petition. Then the king, when he hath heard the matter, is greatly displeased at himself, and on Daniel he hath set the heart to deliver him, until the going up of the son he was arranging to deliver him. Then these men have assembled near the king and are saying to the king, no, O King, that the law of media and Persia is, that any interdict and statute that the king doth establish is not to be changed. Then the king hath said, and they have brought Daniel, and have cast him into a den of lions. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, thy God, whom thou art serving continually, himself doth deliver thee. And a stone hath been brought and placed at the mouth of the den. And the king hath sealed it with his signet and with the signet of his great men that the purpose be not changed concerning Daniel. Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night, fasting, and Dahavan hath not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled from off him. Then doth the king rise in the early morning, at the light, and in haste to the den of lions he hath gone. And at his coming near to the den, to Daniel, with a grieved voice he cryeth. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, thy God, whom thou art serving continually, is he able to deliver thee from the lions? Then Daniel hath spoken with the king.  Then was the king very glad for him, and he hath commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den, and Daniel hath been taken up out of the den, and no injury hath been found in him, because he hath believed in his God. And the king hath said, and they have brought those men who hath accused Daniel, and to the den of lions they have cast them, they, their sons, and their wives, and they have not come to the lower part of the den till that the lions hath power over them, and all their bones they have broken small. Then Darius the king hath written to all the people's nations and languages who are dwelling in all the land, Your peace be great, from before me is made a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and abiding to the ages, and his kingdom that which is not destroyed, and his dominion is unto the end. A deliverer and rescuer and doer of signs and wonders in the heavens and in earth is he who hath delivered Daniel from the paw of the lions, and this Daniel hath prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian, chapter 7 In the first year of Balshazar king of Babylon, Daniel hath seen a dream and the visions of his head on his bed, then the dream he hath written, the chief of the things he hath said. Answered hath Daniel and said, I was seeing in my vision by night and low the four winds of the heavens are coming forth to the great sea, and four great beasts are coming up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first is like a lion, and it hath an eagle's wings. I was seeing till that its wings have been plucked, and it hath been lifted up from the earth, and on feet as a man it hath been caused to stand, and a heart if man is given to it. And low another beast, a second like two a bear, and to the same authority it hath been raised, and three ribs are in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus they are saying to it, rise, consume much flesh. After this I was seeing, and low another like a leopard, and it hath four wings of a fowl on its back, and four heads hath the beast, and dominion is given to it. After this I was seeing in the visions of the night, and low a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong, and it hath iron teeth, very great, it hath consumed, yay, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled, and it is diverse from all the beasts that are before it, and it hath ten horns. I was considering about the horns, and low another horn, a little one, hath come up between them, and three of the first horns have been eradicated from before it, and low eyes as the eyes of man are in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things. I was seeing till that thrones have been thrown down, and the ancient of days is seated, his garment as snow is white, and the hair of his head is as pure wool, his throne flames of fire, its wheels burning fire, a flood of fire is proceeding, and coming forth from before him, a thousand thousands to serve him, and a myriad of myriads before him do rise up. The judge is seated, and the books have been opened. I was seeing then, because of the voice of the great words that the horn is speaking, I was seeing till that the beast is slain, and his body hath been destroyed, and given to the burning fire, and the rest of the beasts have caused their dominion to pass away, and a prolongation in life is given to them till a season and a time. I was seeing in the visions of the night and low, with the clouds of the heavens as a son of man was one coming, and unto the ancient of days he hath come, and before him they have brought him near, and to him is given dominion and glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages do serve him. His dominion is a dominion age during that passeth not away, and his kingdom that which is not destroyed. Pierced hath been my spirit, I, Daniel, in the midst of the sheaf, and the visions of my head trouble me. I have drawn near unto one of those standing, and the certainty I seek from him of all of this, and he hath said to me, yea, the interpretation of the things he hath caused me to know. These great beasts that are for, are for kings, they rise up from the earth, and receive the kingdom do the saints of the most high, and they strengthen the kingdom unto the age, even unto the age of the ages. Then I wished for certainty concerning the fourth beast, that was diverse from them all, fearful exceedingly, its teeth of iron, and its nails of brass it hath devoured, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled, and concerning the ten horns that are in its heads, and of the other that came up, and before which three have fallen, even of that horn that hath eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose appearance is great above its companions. I was seeing, and this horn is making war with the saints, and hath prevailed over them, till that the ancient of days hath come, and judgment is given to the saints of the most high, and the time hath come, and the saints have strengthened the kingdom. Thus he said, the fourth beast is the fourth kingdom in the earth, that is diverse from all kingdoms, and it consumeth all the earth, and treadeth it down, and breaketh it small, and the ten horns out of the kingdom are ten kings, they rise, and another doth rise after them, and it is diverse from the former, and three kings it humbleth, and words as an adversary of the most high it doth speak, and the saints of the most high it doth wear out, and it hopeeth to change seasons and law, and they are given into its hand till a time, and times, and a division of a time, and the judge is seated, and its dominion they cause to pass away, to cut off, and to destroy unto the end, and the kingdom, and the dominion, even the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens, is given to the people, the saints of the most high, his kingdom is a kingdom aged during, and all dominions do serve and obey him. hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, greatly do my thoughts trouble me, and my countenance is changed on me, and the matter in my heart I have kept. CHAPTER VIII In the third year of the reign of Dalshazar, the king, a vision hath appeared unto me, I, Daniel, after that which had appeared unto me at the beginning, and I see in a vision, and it cometh to pass in my seeing, and I am in Shushan, the palace that is in Elam, the province, and I see in a vision, and I have been by the stream, who lie, and I lift up my eyes, and look, and lo, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it hath two horns, and the two horns are high, and the one is higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last. I have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures do stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it hath done according to its pleasure, and hath exerted itself, and I have been considering, and lo, a young he goat hath come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth. As to the young he goat, a conspicuous horn is between its eyes, and it cometh unto the ram possessing the two horns that I had seen standing before the stream, and runeth unto it in the fury of its power, and I have seen it coming near the ram, and it becomeeth embittered at it, and smighteth the ram, and breaketh its two horns, and there hath been no power in the ram to stand before it, and it casteth it to the earth, and trebleth it down, and there hath been no deliverer to the ram out of its power, and the young he goat hath exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, broken hath been the great horn, and come up doth a vision of four in its place, at the four winds of the heavens, and from the one of them come forth half a little horn, and it exerteth itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beauteous land. Yea, it exerteth unto the host of the heavens, and causeth to fall to the earth of the host, and of the stars, and trebleth them down, and unto the prince of the host it exerteth itself, and by it taken away hath been the continual sacrifice, and thrown down the base of his sanctuary, and the host is given up with a continual sacrifice through transgression, and it throweth down truth to the earth, and it hath worked and prospered, and I hear a certain holy one speaking, and a certain holy one sayeth to the wonderful numberer who is speaking, till when is the vision of the continual sacrifice, and of the transgression an astonishment to make both sanctuary and host a treading down, and he sayeth unto me, till evening, morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right, and it cometh to pass in my scene, I, Daniel, the vision that I require understanding and lo, standing over against me is as the appearance of a mighty one, and I hear a voice of man between the banks of Ulai, and he calleth and sayeth, Gabriel, cause this one to understand the appearance, and he cometh in near my station, and at his coming in I hath been afraid, and I fall on my face, and he sayeth unto me, understand, son of man, for at the time of the end is the vision, and in his speaking with me I have been in a trance on my face, on the earth, and he cometh against me, and causeth me to stand on my station, and sayeth, lo, I, I am causing thee to know that which is in the latter end of the indignation, for at the appointed time is the end. The ram that thou hast seen possessing two horns are the kings of media and Persia, and the young he goat, the hairy one, is the king of Javan, and the great horn that is between its eyes is the first king, and that being broken stand up to four in its place. Four kingdoms from the nation do stand up, and not in its power, and in the latter end of their kingdom, about the perfecting of the transgressors, stand up doth a king, fierce of face, and understanding hidden things, and his power hath been mighty, and not by his own power, and wonderful things he destroyeth, and he hath prospered, and rot, and destroyed mighty ones, and the people of the holy ones, and by his understanding he hath also caused deceit to prosper in his hand, and in his heart he exerteth himself, and by ease he destroyeth many, and against the prince of princes he standeth, and without hand he is broken. And the appearance of the evening and of the morning that is told is true, and thou hide thou the vision, for it is after many days. And I, Daniel, have been yea, I became sick for days, and I rise and do the king's work, and am astonished at the appearance, and there is none understanding. End of the book of Daniel, chapters five through eight. Recording by Mark Penfold. Chapters nine through twelve of the book of Daniel, from the Young's Literal Translation of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Penfold. Daniel, chapters nine through twelve. Chapter nine. In the first year of Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who hath been made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, have understood by books the number of the years, in that a word of Jehovah hath been unto Jeremiah the prophet, concerning the fulfilling of the wastes of Jerusalem, seventy years. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I pray to Jehovah, my God, and confess, and say, I beseech thee, O Lord God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness to those loving him, and to those keeping his commands. We have sinned, and done perversely, and done wickedly, and rebelled to turn aside from thy commands and from thy judgments. And we have not hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, who have spoken in thy name unto our kings, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To thee, O Lord, is the righteousness, and to us the shame of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off in all the lands, whether thou hast driven them in their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us is the shame of face, to our kings, to our heads, and to our fathers, in that we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God are the mercies and the forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, that he hath set before us by the hand of his servants the prophets. And all Israel have transgressed thy law, to turn aside, so as not to hearken to thy voice. And poured on us is the execration, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he confirmed his words that he hath spoken against us, and against our judges who have judged us, to bring in upon us great evil, in that it hath not been done under the whole heavens, as it hath been done in Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil hath come upon us, and we have not appeased the face of Jehovah our God, to turn back from our inequities, and to act wisely in thy truth. And Jehovah doth watch for the evil, and bringeth it upon us, for righteous is Jehovah our God, concerning all his works that he hath done, and we have not hearkened to his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who hath brought forth thy people from the land of Egypt by a strong hand, and doth make for thee a name, as at this day we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray, the vine anger, and thy fury from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the inequities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people, are for a reproach to all our neighbors. And now hearken, O our God, unto the prayer of thy servant, and unto his supplication, and cause thy face to shine on thy sanctuary that his desolate, for the Lord's sake, incline, O my God, thine ear, and hear, open thine eyes, and see our desolations, and the city on which thy name is called, for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before thee, but for thine mercies that are many. O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, attend and do, do not delay for thine own sake, O my God, for thy name is called on thy city, and on thy people. And while I am speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and causing my supplication to fall before Jehovah, my God, for the holy mount of my God, yea, while I am speaking in power, then that one, Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision at the commencement, being caused to fly swiftly, is coming unto me at the time of the evening present. And he giveth understanding, and speaketh with me, and sayeth, O Daniel, now I have come forth to cause thee to consider understanding wisely. At the commencement of thy supplications hath the word come forth, and I have come to declare it, for thou art greatly desired, and understand thou concerning the matter, and consider concerning the appearance.  And thou dost know, and dost consider wisely, from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem, till Messiah the leader is seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks. The broad place hath been built again, and the rampart, even in the distress of the times. And after the sixty and two weeks, cut off is Messiah, and the city and the holy place are not his. The leader who hath come doth destroy the people, and its end is with a flood, until the end is war, determined are desolations. And he hath strengthened a covenant with many, one week, and in the midst of the week he causeth sacrifice and present to cease, and by the wing of abominations he is making desolate, even till the consummation. And that which is determined is poured on the desolate one. Chapter 10 In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing is revealed to Daniel, whose name is called Valteshazzar, and the thing is true, and the warfare is great, and he hath understood the thing, and hath understanding about the appearance. In those days I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days, desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I hath not anointed myself at all till the completion of three weeks of days. And in the twenty-and-fourth day of the first month I have been by the side of the great river, that is Hiddekal, and I lift up my eyes, and look, and lo, a certain one clothed in linen, and his loins girt with pure gold of ufaz, and his body as a barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet as the aspect of bright brass, and the voice of his words as the voice of a multitude. And I have seen I, Daniel, by myself, the appearance, and the men who have been with me have not seen the appearance, but a great trembling hath fallen on them, and they flee to be hidden, and I have been left by myself, and I see this great appearance, and there hath been no power left in me, and my honor hath been turned in me to corruption. Yea, I have not retained power, and I hear the voice of his words, and when I hear the voice of his words, then I have been in a trance on my face, and my face is to the earth, and lo, a hand hath come against me, and shakeeth me on my knees and the palms of my hands, and he saith unto me, Daniel, man greatly desired, attend to the words that I am speaking unto thee, and stand on thy station, for now I have been sent unto thee. And when he speaketh with me this word, I have stood trembling, and he saith unto me, do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words have been heard, and I have come because of thy words, and the head of the kingdom of Persia is standing over against me twenty and one days, and lo, Michael, first of the chief heads, hath come in to help me, and I have remained there near the kings of Persia, and I have come to cause thee to understand that which doth happen to thy people in the latter end of the days, for yet the vision is after days. And when he speaketh with me about these things, I have set my face toward the earth, and have been silent, and lo, as the manner of the sons of men, he is striking against my lips, and I open my mouth, and I speak, and say unto him who is standing over against me, my Lord, by the appearance turned have been my pangs against me, and I have retained no power, and how is the servant of this my Lord able to speak this with my Lord? As for me, henceforth there remaineth in me no power, yea, breath hath not been left in me. And he addeth, and strikeeth against me as the appearance of a man, and strengtheneth me. And he sayeth, do not fear, O man, greatly desired, peace to thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he speaketh with me, I have strengthened myself, and I say, let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. And he sayeth, hast thou known why I have come unto thee? And now I turn back to fight with the head of Persia, yea, I am going forth, and lo, the head of Javan hath come. But I declare to thee that which is noted down in the writing of truth, and there is not one strengthening himself with me, concerning these, except Michael, your head. Chapter 11. And I, in the first year of Darius the Mead, my standing is for a strengthener, and for a stronghold to him. And now, truth I declare to thee, lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all. And according to his strength by his riches, he stireth up the whole with the kingdom of Javan. And a mighty king hath stood, and he hath ruled a great dominion, and hath done according to his will. And according to his standing is his kingdom broken, and divided to the four winds of the heavens, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion that he ruled, for his kingdom is plucked up, and for others apart from these. And a king of the south, even of his princes, doth become strong, and doth prevail against him, and hath ruled a great dominion is his dominion. And at the end of years they do join themselves together, and a daughter of the king of the south doth come in unto the king of the north to do upright things, and she doth not retain the power of the arm, and he doth not stand nor his arm. And she is given up, she and those bringing her in, and her child, and he who is strengthening her in these times. And one hath stood up from a branch of her roots, in his station, and he cometh in unto the bulwark, yea, he cometh into a stronghold of the king of the south, and hath wrought against them, and hath done mightily. And also their gods, with their princes, with their desirable vessels of silver and gold, into captivity he bringeth into Egypt, and he doth stand more years than the king of the north, and the king of the south hath come into the kingdom, and turned back unto his own land. And his sons stir themselves up, and have gathered a multitude of great forces, and he hath certainly come in, and overflowed, and passed through, and he turneth back, and they stir themselves up unto his stronghold. And the king of the south doth become embittered, and hath gone forth, and fought with him, with the king of the north, and hath caused a great multitude to stand, and the multitude hath been given into his hand, and he hath carried away the multitude, his heart is high, and he hath caused myriads to fall, and he doth not become strong. And the king of the north hath turned back, and hath caused a multitude to stand greater than the first, and at the end of the times a second time he doth certainly come in with a great force, and with much substance. And in those times many do stand up against the king of the south, and sons of the destroyers of thy people do lift themselves up to establish the vision, and they have stumbled. And the king of the north cometh in, and poureth out a mount, and hath captured fenced cities, and the arms of the south do not stand, nor the people of his choice, yea, there is no power to stand. And he who is coming unto him doth according to his will, and there is none standing before him, and he standeth in the desirable land, and it is holy in his hand. And he seteth his face to go in with the strength of his full kingdom, and upright ones with him, and he hath wrought, and the daughter of women he giveth to him, to corrupt her, and she doth not stand, nor is for him. And he turneth back his face to the isles, and hath captured many, and a prince hath caused his reproach of himself to cease, without his reproach he turneth it back to him, and he turneth back his face to the strongholds of his land, and hath stumbled and fallen, and is not found, and stand up on his station hath one causing an exactor to pass over the honor of the kingdom, and in a few days he is destroyed, and not in anger, nor in battle, and stood up on his station hath a despicable one, and they have not given unto him the honor of the kingdom, and he hath come in quietly, and hath strengthened the kingdom by flatteries, and the arms of the flood are overflowed from before him, and are broken, and also the leader of the covenant, and after they join themselves unto him he worketh deceit, and hath increased, and hath been strong by a few of the nation, peaceably even into the fertile places of the province he cometh, and he hath done that which his fathers did not, nor his father's fathers, pray and spoil and substance to them he scattereth, and against places he deviseth his devices even for a time, and he stireth up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great force, and the king of the south stireth himself up to battle with a very great and mighty force, and standeth not, for they devise devices against him, and those eating his portion of food destroy him, and his force overfloweth, and fallen hath many wounded, and both of the king's hearts are to do evil, and at one table they speak lies, and it doth not prosper, for yet the end is at a time appointed, and he turneth back to his land with great substance, and his heart is against the holy covenant, and he hath wrought and turned back to his land. At the appointed time he turneth back, and hath come against the south, and it is not as the former, and as the latter. And ships of Chittim have come in against him, and he hath been pained, and hath turned back, and hath been insolent towards the holy covenant, and hath wrought and turned back, and he understandeth concerning those forsaking the holy covenant, and strong ones out of him stand up, and have polluted the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual sacrifice, and appointed the desolating abomination, and those acting wickedly against the covenant, he defileth by flatteries, and the people knowing their God are strong, and have wrought, and the teachers of the people give understanding to many, and they have stumbled by word, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil days. And in their stumbling they are helped, a little help, and joined to them have been many with flatteries, and some of the teachers do stumble for refining by them, and for purifying, and for making right, till the end of the time, for it is yet for a time appointed. And the king hath done according to his will, and exalted himself, and magnified himself against every God, and against the God of gods he speaketh wonderful things, and hath prospered till the indignation hath been completed, for that which is determined hath been done. And unto the God of his fathers he doth not attend, nor to the desire of women, yea, to any God he doth not attend, for against all he magnifyeth himself. And to the God of strongholds on his station he giveth honor, yea, to a God whom his fathers knew not he giveth honor, with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things. And he hath dealt in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange God whom he hath acknowledged, he multiplyeth honor, and hath caused them to rule over many, and the ground he apportioneth at a price. And at the time of the end push himself forward with him, doth a king of the south, and storm against him, doth a king of the north, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships, and he hath come in to the lands, and hath overflowed, and passed over, and hath come into the desirable land, and many do stumble, and these escape from his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon. And he sendeth forth his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt is not for an escape. And he hath ruled over treasures of gold, and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim, and Qushim are at his steps, and reports trouble him out of the east, and out of the north, and he hath gone forth in great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction. And he planteth the tents of his palace between the seas, and the holy desirable mountain, and hath come unto his end, and there is no helper to him. Chapter 12 And at that time stood up Doth Michael, the great head, who is standing up for the sons of thy people, and there hath been a time of distress, such as hath not been since there hath been a nation till that time, and at that time do thy people escape, everyone who has found written in the book, and the multitude of those sleeping in the dust of the ground do awake, some to life age during, and some to reproaches, to abhorrence age during, and those teaching do shine as the brightness of the expanse, and those justifying the multitude as stars to the age and forever. And thou, O Daniel, hide the things, and seal the book till the time of the end, many do go to and fro, and knowledge is multiplied, and I have looked, I, Daniel, and lo, two others are standing, one here at the edge of the flood, and one there at the edge of the flood, and he saith to the one clothed in linen, who is upon the waters of the flood, till when is the end of these wonders, and I hear the one clothed in linen, who is upon the waters of the flood, and he doth lift up his right hand and his left unto the heavens, and sweareth by him who is living to the age that after a time, times, and a half, and at the completion of the scattering of the power of the holy people, finished are all these, and I have heard, and I do not understand, and I say, oh my lord, what is the latter end of these, and he saith, go, Daniel, for hidden and sealed are the things till the time of the end. Purify themselves, yea, make themselves white, yea, refined are many, and the wicked have done wickedly, and none of the wicked understand, and those acting wisely do understand, and from the time of the turning aside of the perpetual sacrifice, and to the giving out of the desolating abomination, are days a thousand two hundred and ninety. Oh, the blessedness of him who was waiting earnestly, and doth come to the days a thousand three hundred thirty and five, and thou go on to the end, then thou dost rest, and dost stand in thy lot at the end of the days, the end of the book of Daniel chapters nine through twelve, and the end of the book of Daniel from the young's literal translation of the holy bible. Recording by Mark Penfold.