| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. | 1Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. |
| 2So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, | 2Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. |
| 3he said to them, "I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means." | 3The king said to them, "I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream." |
| 4Then the astrologers answered the king, "May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it." | 4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: "O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation." |
| 5The king replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. | 5The king replied to the Chaldeans, "The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. |
| 6But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me." | 6"But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation." |
| 7Once more they replied, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it." | 7They answered a second time and said, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation." |
| 8Then the king answered, "I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: | 8The king replied, "I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, |
| 9If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me." | 9that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation." |
| 10The astrologers answered the king, "There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. | 10The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. |
| 11What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans." | 11"Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh." |
| 12This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. | 12Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. |
| 13So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. | 13So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. |
| 14When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. | 14Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king's bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; |
| 15He asked the king's officer, "Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. | 15he said to Arioch, the king's commander, "For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. |
| 16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. | 16So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king. |
| 17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. | 17Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, |
| 18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. | 18so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. |
| 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven | 19Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; |
| 20and said: "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. | 20Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. |
| 21He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. | 21"It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. |
| 22He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. | 22"It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. |
| 23I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king." | 23"To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king's matter." |
| 24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him." | 24Therefore, 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: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king's presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king." |
| 25Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means." | 25Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king's presence and spoke to him as follows: "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!" |
| 26The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?" | 26The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?" |
| 27Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, | 27Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. |
| 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: | 28"However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. |
| 29"As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. | 29"As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. |
| 30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. | 30"But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing 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 understand the thoughts of your mind. |
| 31"Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue--an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. | 31"You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. |
| 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, | 32"The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, |
| 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. | 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. |
| 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. | 34"You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. |
| 35Then 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 swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. | 35"Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. |
| 36"This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. | 36"This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. |
| 37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; | 37"You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; |
| 38in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. | 38and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts 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. |
| 39"After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. | 39"After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. |
| 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron--for iron breaks and smashes everything--and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. | 40"Then there will be a fourth 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. |
| 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. | 41"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 common clay. |
| 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. | 42"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. |
| 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. | 43"And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. |
| 44"In the time 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 those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. | 44"In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. |
| 45This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands--a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy." | 45"Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy." |
| 46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. | 46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. |
| 47The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." | 47The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery." |
| 48Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. | 48Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. |
| 49Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court. | 49And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king's court. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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