Daniel 2

¹In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezʹzar, Nebuchadnezʹzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. ²Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeʹans be summoned, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. ³And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” ⁴Then the Chaldeʹans said to the king, “O king, live for ever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” ⁵The king answered the Chaldeʹans, “The word from me is sure: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷They answered a second time, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” ⁸The king answered, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is sure ⁹that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” ¹⁰The Chaldeʹans answered the king, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand; for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldeʹan. ¹¹The thing that the king asks is difficult, and none can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹²Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³So the decree went forth that the wise men were to be slain, and they sought Daniel and his companions, to slay them. ¹⁴Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arʹi-och, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to slay the wise men of Babylon; ¹⁵he said to Arʹi-och, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so severe?” Then Arʹi-och made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶And Daniel went in and besought the king to appoint him a time, that he might show to the king the interpretation.

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiʹah, Mishʹa-el, and Azariʹah, his companions, ¹⁸and told them to seek mercy of the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel said:

“Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever,

to whom belong wisdom and might.

²¹He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

²²he reveals deep and mysterious things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him.

²³To thee, O God of my fathers,

I give thanks and praise,

for thou hast given me wisdom and strength,

and hast now made known to me what we asked of thee,

for thou hast made known to us the king’s matter.”

²⁴Therefore Daniel went in to Arʹi-och, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

²⁵Then Arʹi-och brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who can make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazʹzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered the king, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery which the king has asked, ²⁸but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezʹzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be hereafter, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰But as for me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living has this mystery been revealed to me, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

³¹“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²The head of this image was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; ³⁵then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. ³⁹After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes, it shall break and crush all these. ⁴¹And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the miry clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; ⁴⁵just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezʹzar fell upon his face, and did homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel remained at the king’s court.