Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream
Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ahad dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his bsleep left him. 2 Then the king said to call in the amagicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 Then the king said to them, “I ahad a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in aAramaic: “bO king, live forever! cSay the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be atorn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me agifts and a reward and great glory; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king asay the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you are buying time, inasmuch as you have seen that the word from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only aone law for you. Indeed, you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the time is changed; therefore say the dream to me, that I may bknow that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who is able to declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or powerful ruler has ever asked about a matter like this of any amagician, conjurer, or Chaldean. 11 Moreover, the matter which the king asks is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except agods, whose bdwelling place is not with flesh.”
12 Because of this the king became aindignant and very furious and said for them to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the law went forth that the wise men were to be killed; and they sought out aDaniel and his friends to kill them.
14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to aArioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon; 15 he answered and said to Arioch, a powerful official for the king, “For what reason is the law from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went in and sought from the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.
God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to his friends, to aHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 18 so that they might aseek compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be bdestroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night avision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20 Daniel answered and said,
“Let the name of God be ablessed forever and ever,
For bwisdom and might belong to Him.
21 And He achanges the times and the seasons;
He bremoves kings and establishes kings;
He gives cwisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.
22 He areveals the deep and hidden things;
bHe knows what is in the darkness,
And the clight dwells with Him.
23 To You, O aGod of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me bwisdom and might;
Even now You have made known to me what we csought from You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
24 Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: “aDo not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”
25 Then Arioch hurriedly abrought Daniel before the king and said thus to him: “I have found a man among the bexiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was aBelteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king is asking, neither awise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28 However, there is a aGod in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the blast days. This was your dream and the cvisions of your head while on your bed. 29 As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future; and aHe who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will happen. 30 But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me by any awisdom which is in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may know the bthoughts of your heart.
Daniel Interprets the Dream
31 “You, O king, were looking, and behold, there was a single great image; that image, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was rising up in front of you, and its appearance was aawesome. 32 The ahead of that image was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a astone was cut out bwithout hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and ccrushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became alike chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that bnot a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great cmountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream; now we will say aits interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the aking of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the bpower, the strength, and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men inhabit, or the abeasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has made you rule with power over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 But after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule with power over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a afourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 Now in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron; it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay; they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not cling to one another, even as iron does not combine with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the aGod of heaven will bcause a ckingdom to rise up which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will dcrush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a astone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the bgreat God has made known to the king what cwill happen in the future; so the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Daniel and Friends Promoted
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did ahomage to Daniel and said for them to present to him an offering and bfragrant incense. 47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Truly ayour God is a bGod of gods and a Lord of kings and a crevealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king apromoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him rule with power over the whole bprovince of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel sought of the king, and he aappointed bShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ccourt.