2 In the
second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So 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, 3 he said to
them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”
4 Then the
astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret
it.”
5 The 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. 6 But 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.”
7 Once more
they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret
it.”
8 Then the
king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you
realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If 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.”
10 The
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. 11 What the
king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and
they do not live among humans.”
12 This made
the king so angry and furious that he
ordered the execution of all the
wise men of Babylon. 13 So 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.
14 When
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. 15 He asked
the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then
explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this,
Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the
dream for him.
17 Then Daniel
returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah. 18 He 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. 19 During the
night the mystery was
revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel
praised the God of heaven 20 and said:
“Praise be
to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I 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. ”
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I 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. ”
Daniel Interprets the Dream
24 Then 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.”
25 Arioch took
Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judahwho can tell the king what his dream
means.”
26 The king
asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and
interpret it?”
27 Daniel
replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king
the mystery he has asked about, 28 but 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:
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. 30 As 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.
31 “Your
Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling
statue,awesome in
appearance. 32 The head of
the statue was made of pure 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 baked clay.34 While
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. 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 swept them
away without leaving a trace. But
the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was
the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your
Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in 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.
39 “After you,
another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of
bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally,
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.41 Just 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. 42 As the toes
were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and
partly brittle. 43 And 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.
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. 45 This 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.”
46 Then King
Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before
Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The 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. ”
48 Then 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. 49 Moreover,
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.
(Daniel 2:1-49)
