And in the third year of his empire, he made a great feast to all his princes, and to all his children, or servants, to the strongest men of Persia, and to the noble men of Media, and to the prefects, or chief men, of provinces, before himself,
An hard revelation is told to me; he that is unfaithful, doeth unfaithfully; and he that is a destroyer, destroyeth. Thou Elam, go up, and thou Media, beseech [or besiege]; I made all the wailing thereof for to cease.
for they served to them, when they were many folks, and great kings; and I shall yield to them after the works of them, and after the deeds of their hands.
Sharpen ye arrows, fill ye arrow cases; the Lord hath raised the spirit of the kings of Medes, and his mind is against Babylon, that he lose it, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. The king of Medes is raised of the Lord against Babylon.
Raise ye a sign in the land, sound ye with a clarion in hills; hallow ye folks on it, tell ye to the kings of Ararat, of Minni, and of Ashchenaz against it; number ye Tifsar, that is, the leader of the host, against it, and bring ye an horse, as a bruchus having a prick.
And the earth shall be moved, and shall be troubled; for the thought of the Lord shall fully awaken against Babylon, that he set the land of Babylon desert, and unhabitable.
Now therefore, king, confirm thou the sentence, and write thou the decree, that this that is ordained of Medes and Persians be not changed, neither be it leaveful to any man to break.