Now in the second year
of the reign
of Nebuchadnezzar
, Nebuchadnezzar
1 ahad
dreams
; and his spirit
was troubled
and his bsleep
2left
him.
Then the king 1gave
orders
to call
in the 2 amagicians
, the conjurers
, the sorcerers
and the 3Chaldeans
to tell
the king
his dreams
. So they came
in and stood
before
the king
.
The king said
to them, "I 1 ahad
a dream
and my spirit
2is anxious
to 3understand
the dream
."
Then the Chaldeans spoke
to the king
in 1 aAramaic
: " bO king
, live
forever
! cTell
the dream
to your servants
, and we will declare
the interpretation
."
The king replied
to the Chaldeans
, " 1The command
from me is firm
: if
you do not make
known
to me the dream
and its interpretation
, you will be 2 atorn
limb
from limb and your houses
will be made
a rubbish
heap
.
"But if you declare
the dream
and its interpretation
, you will receive
from me agifts
and a reward
and great
honor
; therefore
declare
to me the dream
and its interpretation
."
They answered a second
time
and said
, "Let the king
atell
the dream
to his servants
, and we will declare
the interpretation
."
The king replied
, "I know
for certain
that you are 1bargaining
for time
, inasmuch
as you have seen
that 2the command
from me is firm
,
that if you do not make
the dream
known
to me, there is only aone
1decree
for you. For you have agreed
together
to speak
lying
and corrupt
2words
before
me until
the 3situation
is changed
; therefore
tell
me the dream
, that I may bknow
that you can declare
to me its interpretation
."
The Chaldeans answered
1the king
and said
, "There
is not a man
on earth
who
could
declare
the matter
2for the king
, inasmuch
as no
great
king
or ruler
has ever asked
anything
like this
of any
3 amagician
, conjurer
or Chaldean
.
"Moreover, the thing which
the king
demands
is 1difficult
, and there
is no
one
else
who
could declare
it 2to the king
except
agods
, whose
bdwelling
place
is not with mortal flesh
."
Because of this
the king
became
aindignant
and very
furious
and gave
orders
to destroy
all
the wise
men
of Babylon
.
So the 1decree went
forth
that the wise
men
should be slain
; and they looked
for aDaniel
and his friends
to 2kill
them.
Then Daniel
replied
with discretion
and discernment
to aArioch
, the captain
of the king's
1bodyguard
, who
had gone
forth
to slay
the wise
men
of Babylon
;
he said to Arioch
, the king's
commander
, "For what
reason
is the 1decree
from the king
so 2urgent
?" Then
Arioch
informed
Daniel
about the matter
.
So Daniel went
in and requested
of the king
that he would 1give
him time
, in order that he might declare
the interpretation
to the king
.
Then Daniel
went
to his house
and informed
his friends
, aHananiah
, Mishael
and Azariah
, about the matter
,
so that they might arequest 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
.
Then the mystery
was revealed
to Daniel
in a night
avision
. Then
Daniel
blessed
the God
of heaven
;
Daniel said
, "Let the name
of God
be ablessed
forever
and ever
, For bwisdom
and power
belong to Him.
"It is He who achanges the times
and the epochs
; He bremoves
kings
and 1establishes
kings
; He gives
cwisdom
to wise
men
And knowledge
to 2men of understanding
.
"It is He who areveals the profound
and hidden
things
; bHe knows
what
is in the darkness
, And the clight
dwells
with Him.
"To You, O aGod of my fathers
, I give
thanks
and praise
, For You have given
me bwisdom
and power
; Even now
You have made
known
to me what
we crequested
of You, For You have made
known
to us the king's
matter
."
Therefore, Daniel
went
in to Arioch
, whom
the king
had appointed
to destroy
the wise
men
of Babylon
; he went
and spoke
to him as follows
: " aDo not destroy
the wise
men
of Babylon
! Take
me 1into the king's
presence
, and I will declare
the interpretation
to the king
."
Then Arioch
hurriedly
abrought
Daniel
1into the king's
presence
and spoke
to him as follows
: "I have found
a man
among
the 2 bexiles
from Judah
who
can make
the interpretation
known
to the king
!"
The king said
to Daniel
, whose
name
was aBelteshazzar
, "Are you able
to make
known
to me the dream
which
I have seen
and its interpretation
?"
Daniel answered
before
the king
and said
, "As for the mystery
about which
the king
has inquired
, neither
awise
men
, conjurers
, 1magicians
nor diviners
are able
to declare
it to the king
.
"However, there
is a aGod
in heaven
who
reveals
mysteries
, and He has made
known
to King
Nebuchadnezzar
what
will take
place
in the 1 blatter
days
. This
was your dream
and the cvisions
2in your mind
while on your bed
.
"As for you, O king, while on your bed
your thoughts
1turned
to what
would take
place
2in the future
; and aHe who reveals
mysteries
has made
known
to you what
will take
place
.
"But as for me, this mystery
has
not been revealed
to me for any awisdom
1residing
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 2understand
the bthoughts
of your 3mind
.
"You, O king, were looking
and behold
, there was a single
great
statue
; that statue
, which was large
and 1of extraordinary
splendor
, was standing
in front
of you, and its appearance
was aawesome
.
"The ahead of that statue
was made of fine
gold
, its breast
and its arms
of silver
, its belly
and its thighs
of bronze
,
its legs of iron
, its feet
partly
of iron
and partly
of clay
.
"You 1continued looking
until
a astone
was cut
out bwithout
hands
, and it struck
the statue
on its feet
of iron
and clay
and ccrushed
them.
"Then the iron
, the clay
, the bronze
, the silver
and the gold
were crushed
1all
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 statue
became
a great
cmountain
and filled
the whole
earth
.
"This was the dream
; now we will tell
aits interpretation
before
the king
.
"You, O king, are the aking
of kings
, to whom
the God
of heaven
has given
the 1kingdom
, the bpower
, the strength
and the glory
;
and wherever the sons
of men
dwell
, or the abeasts
of the field
, or the birds
of the sky
, He has given
them into your hand
and has caused you to rule
over them all
. You are the head
of gold
.
"After you there will arise
another
kingdom
inferior
to you, then another
third
kingdom
of bronze
, which
will rule
over all
the earth
.
"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
.
"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 1common
clay
.
"As the toes of the feet
were partly
of iron
and partly
of pottery
, so some
of the kingdom
will be strong
and part
of it will be brittle
.
"And in that you saw the iron
mixed
with 1common
clay
, they will combine
with one another 2in the seed
of men
; but they will not adhere
to one
another
, even
as iron
does not combine
with pottery
.
"In the days of those
kings
the aGod
of heaven
will bset
up a ckingdom
which
will never
be destroyed
, and that kingdom
will not be 1left
for another
people
; it will dcrush
and put
an end
to all
these
kingdoms
, but it will itself
endure
forever
.
"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 take
place
1in the future
; so the dream
is true
and its interpretation
is trustworthy
."
Then King
Nebuchadnezzar
fell
on his face
and did
ahomage
to Daniel
, and gave
orders
to present
to him an offering
and 1 bfragrant
incense
.
The king answered
Daniel
and said
, "Surely
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
."
Then the king
1 apromoted
Daniel
and gave
him many
great
gifts
, and he made
him ruler
over
the whole
bprovince
of Babylon
and chief
2prefect
over
all
the wise
men
of Babylon
.
And Daniel made
request
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
1 ccourt
.