Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
Parallel translations
- WEB Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
- BSB Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:
- NKJV Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,
- NASB Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, you peoples, nations, and populations of all languages,
- NLT Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A herald proclaims the command to all peoples, nations, and languages. The decree is meant to be universal and inescapable.
Overview
The phrase "peoples, nations, and languages" recurs throughout Daniel to stress the worldwide reach of Babylon's claim. The herald's public proclamation leaves no one ignorant of the law. Yet such a universal demand for worship belongs to God alone, and the chapter will show that no human empire can rightly claim it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Dan 4:1Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
- Dan 6:25Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
- Mic 6:16For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
- Dan 4:14He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
- Isa 40:9O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
- Esth 8:9Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
- Isa 58:1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
- Prov 9:13–15A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
- Hos 5:11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 3:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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