Daniel 2

1. Now in the second year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

2. And the king commanded to call to the magicians and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell to the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

3. And the king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”

4. And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will reveal the meaning.”

5. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is certain. If you will not make known to me the dream, with its meaning, you will be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

6. But if you make known the dream and its meaning, you shall receive gifts and a present and great honor from me. Therefore reveal to me the dream and its interpretation.”

7. They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will reveal its interpretation.”

8. The king answered and said, “For I know that you surely want to gain time, because you see that the command from me is certain.

9. But if you will not make the dream known to me, there is only one penalty for you, for together you have agreed to speak lying and deceiving words before me until the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can reveal to me its interpretation.”

10. The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, “There is not a man on the earth who can reveal the king’s matter because no great and mighty king has ever asked such a thing from any magician, or astrologer or Chaldean.

11. And it is an impossible thing that the king asks, and there is no other man who can reveal it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12. For this cause the king became so angry and furious that he commanded all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed.

13. And the decree went out that the wise men should be killed. And they sought Daniel and his fellows to kill them as well.

14. Then Daniel answered with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the chief of the king’s executioners, who had gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.

15. He answered and said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree so hasty from the king?” Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

16. Then Daniel went in and asked of the king that he would give him time, and that he would make known the meaning to the king.

17. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,

18. That they might pray for the mercies of God in heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20. Daniel answered and said, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.

21. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

22. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.

23. I thank You, and praise You, O God of my fathers, Who has given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of You, for You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

24. Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had chosen to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said this to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

25. Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel in before the king, and said this to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make the interpretation known to the king.”

26. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “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, “The secret which the king has demanded cannot be shown to the king by the wise men, the enchanters, the astrologers or the magicians.

28. But there is a God in heaven Who reveals secrets and makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these:

29. As for you, O king, while upon your bed your thoughts came to you of what should come to pass hereafter. And He Who reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass.

30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man, but so that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

31. You, O king, looked—and behold, a great image! That great image, whose brightness was surpassing, stood before you. And its form was awesome.

32. This image’s head was of fine gold; his breast and his arms were of silver; his belly and his thighs were of bronze;

33. His legs were of iron; his feet were part of iron and part of clay.

34. You watched until a stone was cut out without hands that struck the image upon its feet which were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

35. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together. And they became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors. And the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36. This is the dream. And we will tell the interpretation before the king.

37. You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

38. And wherever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.

39. And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

40. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and beats down all things, and as the iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.

41. And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken.

43. And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mix themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not combine with clay.

44. Now in the days of these kings, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

45. Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

46. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel, and he commanded to offer an offering and sweet incense to him.

47. The king answered Daniel and said, “It is true that your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”

48. Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon.

49. And Daniel asked the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat within the gate of the king.