What if the idols could eat? Daniel in Babylon, under King Cyrus, plays the skeptic with a straight face: the "living god" Bel devours tons of food nightly — because the priests and their families have been sneaking in through a secret door. Ash dust on the floor catches them out. Then Daniel destroys a live serpent-dragon the king worships, is thrown to the lions, and is fed by an angel who airlifts the prophet Habakkuk in by the hair. It is a pointed tale of true worship versus empty idols — sharp, funny, and monotheistic to the bone — preserved in Greek, and in older Bibles it stands as chapter 14 of Daniel.

This book is also available in the Revised Version (1895) — modern spelling.