The Book of the Prophet Daniel 2 The Decree: The King's Dream is Interpreted by Daniel

 The Book of the Prophet Daniel 2

The Decree: The King's Dream is Interpreted by Daniel

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.

2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, the astrologers, the enchanters, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king what his dream had been; and they came and stood before the king.

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

4 And the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “What has escaped me; if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill;

6 But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation.

7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.”

8 The king answered and said, “I perceive very well that you want to gain time, for you see that what I dreamed has escaped me.

9 Therefore, if you do not make known to me the dream, there will be only one sentence for you: for you have prepared lying and perverse words to speak in my presence, until the time changes. Therefore, tell me the dream, so that I may understand that you can give me the interpretation.”

10 The Chaldeans answered in the presence of the king and said, “There is no one on earth who can tell the king the word; For no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such a thing of any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

11 Therefore, the thing that the king asks is difficult, and there is no one who can declare it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

12 Then the king became very angry and furious; and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon.

13 So the decree went out that the wise men should be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.

14 Then Daniel spoke wisely and prudently to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

15 He answered and said to Arioch, the king’s prefect, “Why is the king’s command so urgent?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.

16 And Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might give the interpretation.

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

18 so that they might ask for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision; then Daniel praised the God of heaven.

20 Daniel spoke and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his;

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

22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.

23 O God of my fathers, I praise and honor you, for you have given me wisdom and might; and now you have made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

 24 So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men of Babylon. He went in and said to him, “Do not kill the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will give the king the interpretation.”

25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found one of the exiles from Judah who can tell the king the interpretation.”

26 The king answered and said to Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar), “Can you tell me the dream I had and its interpretation?”

27 Daniel answered the king and said, “The secret that the king requires, neither wise men nor astrologers, nor magicians nor soothsayers can reveal to the king.

28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets; he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days.” Your dream and the visions of your head on your bed are these:

29 While you, O king, were on your bed, your thoughts turned to what would happen after this. He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will happen.

30 And this secret was revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than all the living, but so that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you might understand the thoughts of your heart.

31 You, O king, were watching, and behold, a great image! An image, which was large and whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its appearance was awesome.

32 The head of that image was of fine gold; its chest and arms of silver; its belly and thighs of bronze;

33 Its legs of iron; its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

34 You were watching while a stone was cut out, but not by human hands, which struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.

35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer; the wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 This was the dream; we will tell the king its interpretation.

37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion, power, might, and glory.

38 Wherever humans live, whether animals of the field or birds of the air, he has given them into your hand; he has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

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

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; for as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything, so shall it crush and break all things.

41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, so shall it be a divided kingdom; yet it shall have some of the strength of iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay.

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

43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so shall they mingle with the seed of men, but they shall not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

44 But in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

45 Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar went out on his face and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that an offering of food and incense be presented to him.

47 The king answered Daniel, “Truly, your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you were able to reveal this secret.”

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

49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was at the king's gate.