Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream

1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled that his sleep left him. 2And the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the astrologers,† to tell to the king his dreams. And they came and stood before the king. 3And the king said to them: “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”

4And the astrologers spoke to the king in Aramaic,† “O king, may you live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will show the interpretation.”

5The king answered and said to the astrologers, “The word from me is firm: If you⁺ do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you⁺ shall be cut into limbs, and your houses shall be made a dunghill! 6And if you⁺ show the dream and its interpretation, you⁺ will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.”

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

8The king answered and said, “For sure I know that you⁺ are buying time, all because you⁺ see that the word is gone from me, 9that if you⁺ do not make known to me the dream, it is one decree for you⁺. And you⁺ have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the times should change. Therefore you must tell the dream to me, and I will know that you⁺ can show me its interpretation.”

10The astrologers answered before the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who is able to show the word of the king, because that not any king, lord, or ruler has asked a thing like this from any magician, or enchanter, or astrologer. 11And the thing that the king is asking is difficult, and there is not another who can show it to the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12All because of this, the king was very angry and he became furious, and he gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13And the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.

The Dream Revealed to Daniel

14Then Daniel responded with counsel and discretion to Arioch the captain of the guard of the king, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15He answered and said to Arioch, captain of the king: “For what is this urgent decree from the king?”

Then Arioch made known the matter to Daniel. 16And Daniel went in and sought from the king that he should give to him time to show the interpretation to the king.

17Then Daniel went to his house, and to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his companions, he made known the matter, 18and he sought mercies from before the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions should perish not with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19Then to Daniel, in a vision which was of the night, the secret was revealed. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven, 20and Daniel answered, saying,

“Let the name of God be blessed from age even to age,

for the wisdom and might that are unto Him.

21And He is the One changing the times and the seasons,

removing kings and setting up kings,

giving wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those knowing with understanding.

22He is the One revealing deep and secret things,

knowing what is in the darkness,

for the light dwells with Him.

23To You, O God of my fathers,

I give thanks and I praise You,

for You have given wisdom and might.

To me

and now You have made known to me

what we asked of You,

for the matter of the king

You have made known to us.”

Daniel Interprets the Dream

24Therefore according to this, Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and thus said to him: “You should not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Take me before the king, and I will show the interpretation to the king.”

25Then Arioch, going with haste, brought Daniel before the king, and thus said to him: “I have found a man from the sons of the captivity of Judah who will show the interpretation to the king.”

26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?”

27Daniel answered before the king and said: “The secret that the king has been asking, the wise men, the enchanters, the magicians, and the diviners are not able to show to the king; 28but there is a God in heaven revealing secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will come to pass in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, this it is:

29To you, O king, your thought on your bed came up what would come to be after this; and the One revealing secrets has made known to you what will come to pass. 30And to me—not with wisdom that is in me more than all the living—this secret has been revealed to me, but in order that the interpretation should be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

31You, O king, were watching, and behold, a great image.† This great image, whose splendor was excellent, was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32This image, its head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron and part of them of clay.

34You were looking, until that a stone was cut out,† but not with hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and it shattered them. 35Then they were crushed as one—the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, and they became like chaff from the threshing floors in summer, and the wind carried them away, and any trace of them could not be found. And the stone that struck the image became as a great mountain, and it filled all the earth.

36This is the dream, and its interpretation we will tell before the king.

37You, O king, are king of kings—for the God of heaven has given to you the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory. 38And in everywhere the sons of man are dwelling, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the heavens, He has given them into your hand, and He has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold!

39And after you another kingdom will arise, inferior to you,

and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

40And there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because that iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes all these, it will break in pieces and it will crush. 41And as you saw the feet and the toes, partly of the clay of a potter, and partly of iron, so the kingdom shall be divided; and some of the strength of the iron will be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so partly the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. 43And as you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will be mixing together with the seed of man; they will not be adhering this to that, as iron does not mix with clay.

44And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will not be destroyed for the ages, and this other kingdom will not be left to the people; it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand to the ages, 45all because that you saw that from the mountain was cut out the stone that was without hands, 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 come to be after this.

And the dream is true, and its interpretation trustworthy.”

Nebuchadnezzar Promotes Daniel

46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and to Daniel he paid homage, and an offering and he commanded that incense be poured forth to him. 47The king Answered Daniel and said: “Of a truth it is that your⁺ God, He is God of gods and Lord of kings, and the One revealing secrets, since you were able to reveal this secret.”

48Then the king gave high honor to Daniel, and he gave many great gifts to him; and he made him ruler over all the province of Babylon and chief of the administrators over all the wise men of Babylon. 49And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and Daniel was in the gate of the king.