Study Desk

Then Arioch hurriedly ^(C1)brought Daniel ^(F1)into the king's presence and spoke to him as follows: "I have found a man among the ^(F2)(C2)exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!"

The king said to Daniel, whose name was ^(C1)Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?"

Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the secret about which the king has inquired, neither ^(C1)wise men, sorcerers, soothsayer priests, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.

"However, there is a ^(C1)God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ^(F1)(C2)latter days. This was your dream and the ^(C3)visions ^(F2)in your mind while on your bed.

"As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts ^(F1)turned to what would take place ^(F2)in the future; and ^(C1)He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place.

"But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me ^(F1)for any ^(C1)wisdom ^(F2)residing in me more than in any other living person, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the ^(C2)thoughts of your ^(F3)mind.

"You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and ^(F1)of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was ^(F2)(C1)awesome.

"The ^(C1)head of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

"You ^(F1)continued watching until a ^(C1)stone was broken off ^(C2)without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(C3)crushed them.

"Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces ^(F1)all at the same time, and they were ^(C1)like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ^(C2)not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ^(C3)mountain and filled the entire earth.

"This was the dream; and now we will tell ^(C1)its interpretation before the king.

"You, O king, are the ^(C1)king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the ^(F1)kingdom, the ^(C2)power, the strength, and the honor;

and wherever the sons of mankind live, or the ^(C1)animals of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has handed them over to you and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

"And after you another kingdom will arise inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

"Then there will be a ^(C1)fourth kingdom as strong as iron; just as iron smashes and crushes everything, so, like iron that crushes, it will smash and crush all these things.

"And 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 within it some of the toughness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with ^(F1)common clay.

"And just 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 fragile.

"In that you saw the iron mixed with ^(F1)common clay, they will combine with one another ^(F2)in ^(F3)their descendants; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery.

"And in the days of those kings the ^(C1)God of heaven will ^(C2)set up a ^(C3)kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be ^(F1)left for another people; it will ^(C4)crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

"Just as you saw that a ^(C1)stone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the ^(C2)great God has made known to the king what ^(C3)will take place ^(F1)in the future; so the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy."

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid ^(C1)humble respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and ^(C2)incense.

The king responded to Daniel and said, "^(C1)Your God truly is a ^(C2)God of gods and a Lord of kings and a ^(C3)revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret."

Then the king ^(F1)(C1)promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire ^(C2)province of Babylon, and chief ^(F2)prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(C1)appointed ^(C2)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king's ^(F1)(C3)court.