If integrated into the book of Daniel: 14.7.

Daniel laughed: He is not laughing at a joke or laughing in scorn; he is laughing at the absurdity of what the king has just said.

Do not be deceived: This clause should be phrased so as to be consistent with Daniel’s amusement. Daniel is not giving the king a solemn warning. “Don’t be fooled” in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version is a good rendering, as is New Jerusalem Bible “do not be taken in.” Something like “don’t be so gullible” or “don’t be so naive” would work also, but the king is, of course, being deceived by the priests.

O king: Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and others translate “Your Majesty,” the traditional phrase used in English for addressing a monarch, whether by one of the monarch’s own subjects or as a diplomatic courtesy on the part of a foreigner.

This is but clay inside and brass outside: Good News Translation has “This god you call Bel is nothing more than clay covered with bronze.” New Revised Standard Version begins this clause much better with “this thing is only….” Daniel does not dignify the idol by calling it a god or calling it by name; it is only this. Concerning the clay and brass (better to say “bronze,” as in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version), compare Dan 2.32-35. Clay probably refers to clay that had been baked in an oven and became a hard ceramic, rather than the soft earth before baking. “Bronze” is an alloy of copper and tin, making the metal much harder than copper. It could be polished so that it had a bright smooth surface. There may be irony in Daniel’s pointing out that the idol’s interior—the heart—is fragile clay. It is all a showy appearance with no substance. Compare EpJer 1:20 and the comments there

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.