3. The Babylonians had an idol named Bel. Each day the people had to provide Bel with an offering of 400 litres of fine flour, forty sheep, and 200 litres of wine.
4. King Cyrus believed that Bel was a god, and each day he used to go and worship it. But Daniel worshipped his own God.
5. One day the king asked Daniel, “Why don't you worship Bel?”Daniel answered, “I do not worship idols made with human hands. I worship only the living God, who created heaven and earth and is the Lord of all human beings.”
6. “And don't you believe that our god Bel is really alive?” asked the king. “Haven't you seen how much he eats and drinks every day?”
7. Daniel laughed and said, “Don't be taken in, Your Majesty. This god you call Bel is nothing more than clay covered with bronze; it has never eaten or drunk anything.”
8-10. At this the king became angry and called in all seventy of the priests of Bel. He said to them, “I warn you that you will be put to death, unless you can show me that it is Bel who is eating these offerings. If you prove to me that it is Bel, then I will have Daniel put to death for claiming that Bel is not a god.”Daniel agreed to this proposal.
11. Then they all went with the king into Bel's temple, where the priests said to the king, “Your Majesty, we will go out and let you place the food on the table and prepare the wine. When you leave, you may lock the door behind you and seal it with the royal seal.
12. In the morning when you return, if you find that Bel has not eaten everything, you can put us to death. But if he has, Daniel will die for making false accusations against us.”
13. But the priests were not worried, because they had made a secret entrance underneath a table in the temple, so that they could go in every night and eat the offerings.
14. When the priests had left, the king set out the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring some ashes and scatter them all over the floor of the temple. No one except the king saw them do this. After that they all went out, locked the door, sealed it with the royal seal, and left.
15. That night, as usual, the priests with their wives and children came into the temple by the secret entrance and ate all the food and drank all the wine.
16. Early the next morning, the king and Daniel went to the temple.
17. The king asked, “Have the seals been broken, Daniel?”“No, Your Majesty, they have not been broken,” he replied.
18. As soon as the door was opened, the king saw the empty table and shouted, “You are great, O Bel! You really are a god.”