Daniel and the Priests of Bel

After King Astyages died, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom. Daniel lived with the king and was honoured above the others around him. In Babylon there was an idol called Bel. Each day great amounts of flour, sheep, and wine were spent on it. The king honoured Bel and went daily to worship it, but Daniel worshipped only his own God.

The king asked Daniel why he would not worship Bel. Daniel answered that he could not honour idols made by human hands. He worshipped the living God, who created the sky and the earth and has sovereignty over all flesh. The king replied that Bel seemed alive, since so much food and drink was placed before it. Daniel said the idol itself never ate or drank.

The king became angry and called Bel’s priests. He said that if they could not show who was consuming the offerings, they would die. But if they could prove that Bel consumed them, Daniel would die for speaking against Bel. There were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. They proposed a test with the sealed temple.

The priests said the king should set out the food and wine, shut the door securely, and seal it with his own signet. If by morning everything was gone, Bel must have eaten it. They were not worried, because they had made a secret entrance under the table. After the food was arranged, Daniel had his servants scatter ashes through the temple while the king watched. Then the door was shut and sealed.

During the night, the priests came in by the secret way with their wives and children, as they usually did, and ate and drank everything. In the morning the king saw that the seals were still whole. When he found the table empty, he praised Bel. But Daniel stopped him and told him to look at the floor. There were footprints of men, women, and children in the ashes.

Then the king understood what had happened. He seized the priests with their wives and children, and they showed him the secret doors they had used to enter and consume the offerings. The king killed them. After that, he handed Bel over to Daniel, and Daniel overthrew Bel and its temple.