DANIEL

237. THE ULTIMATE VINDICATION OF THE UPRIGHT

In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and mental visions as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream and recounted the principal points: 'I saw in my night visions the four winds of heaven rush down upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I looked until its wings were stripped off, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's mind was given it.

'Then I saw a second beast, like a bear; and it raised itself upon one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth, and they said to it: "Arise, devour much flesh." After this I looked, and another beast, like a leopard, appeared, which had upon its sides four wings of a bird; and the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.

'After this I saw in my night visions a fourth beast, terrible, frightful, and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the rest with its feet; and it differed from all the preceding beasts; and it had ten horns. As I was considering the horns, another little horn came up among them, by which three of the first horns were torn out by the roots; and in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

'I looked until thrones were set up, and an Aged One took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the

hair on his head like spotless wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream flowed out before him; thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set and the books were opened.

'I looked at that time because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn spoke-I looked even until the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given as fuel for the fire. Also the dominion of the rest of the beasts was taken away, but they were allowed to live until a fixed time.

'I saw in my night visions one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven; and he advanced to the Aged One, and was brought close before him. And there was given to him dominion and glory and ṣovereignty, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his sovereignty one which shall not be destroyed.

So

'I, Daniel, was deeply troubled and my mental visions disturbed me. I approached one of those who stood by and asked him the truth about all this. he told me and interpreted to me the symbols: "These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the sovereignty and possess it forever. And at that time every one of your people whose name shall be found written in the book shall be saved. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to reproaches and everlasting disgrace. But those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the heavens, and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars, forever and ever."

238.

THE LYRICS

LAMENTATIONS

THE SONGS OF THE EXILES

JUDAH'S UTTER DESOLATION

See how she sits deserted, the city once populous!
She has become as a widow, once great among nations!
A princess among the provinces, now in servitude!
At night she bitterly weeps, tears wet her cheeks;
No one comforts her of all her lovers;

Her friends have all proved untrue and become her foes.

Judah is exiled, the victim of trouble and slavery; She dwells in the midst of the heathen, and finds no repose;

All her pursuers have caught her in her hour of distress. The highways to Zion mourn, none comes to the feasts, All her gates are desolate, her priests are sighing,

Her maidens are crushed with grief, and she is in bitter

ness.

Her foes have gained the lead, her enemies prosper,
For Jehovah has made her suffer for all her misdeeds;
Her children have passed into exile before her foes,
Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor,
Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture,
For they have fled without strength at the approach of
the pursuer.

Jerusalem recalls the days of her trouble and anguish,
When people fell by the foe, with none to help her,
Her enemies saw her and mocked because of her down-

fall.

She has sinned so deeply that she has become a thing unclean,

All who have honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness,

She too is filled with sighs, and turns away her face.

Ho! you who pass by the way, look and behold

If there be any sorrow like this, that has come upon me? Like that with which Jehovah crushed me in the day of his wrath.

From on high he has sent fire into my bones to subdue

me,

He has spread a net for my feet, and has turned me back, He has made me faint and desolate all the day long.

239. A LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE

How the gold has lost its splendor, the finest gold is changed!

The sacred stones are poured out at the head of each street!

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, They are regarded as mere earthen vessels, the work of

a potter!

Even the jackals present the breast, and suckle their whelps,

But the daughters of my people are cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

The tongue of the nursling clings to his palate from thirst;

The children beg for food, but no one offers it.

They who once fed on dainties starve in the streets; Those reared in royal purple find refuge on dunghills. For the guilt of my people exceeds the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown in an instant, without the touch of human hands.

Her princes were cleaner than snow, they were whiter

than milk;

Their skin was redder than coral, their beauty as sap

phire.

But now they are blacker than coal, unknown on the streets;

Shrivelled their skin on their bones, it is dry as a stick.

Better those killed by the sword, than those slain by hunger,

These stricken pine away, for want of the fruits of the field.

The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children;

These serve as their food while my people are being destroyed.

Jehovah has expended his wrath, he has poured out his fury,

He has kindled a fire in Zion which has consumed her

foundations.

No kings of the earth had believed nor the men of the world

That assailant or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem.

It was for the sins of her prophets, the crimes of her priests,

Who poured out in the midst of the city the blood of the upright.

Through the streets they stagger like blind men polluted with blood.

To avoid their touch men draw aside their garments; 'Unclean!' they cry to them. 'Depart, do not touch us;' For they wander to and fro among the nations, with no other shelter,

The wrath of the Lord has dispersed them; no more does he care,

For no one respects the priests nor regards the prophets.