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Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹ In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^(a)his spirit was troubled, and ^(b)his sleep left him. ² Then the king commanded that ^(c)the magicians, ^(d)the enchanters, the ^(e)sorcerers, and ^(f)the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^(g)stood before the king. ³ And the king said to them, "I had a dream, and ^(h)my spirit is troubled to know the dream." ⁴ Then ⁽ⁱ⁾the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{[a] (j)}"O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation." ⁵ The king answered and said to ^(k)the Chaldeans, "The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^(l)torn limb from limb, ^(m)and your ⁽ⁿ⁾houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶ But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^(o)you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^(p)Therefore show 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 show its interpretation." ⁸ The king answered and said, "I know with certainty that you are trying to ^(q)gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— ⁹ if you do not make the dream known to me, ^(r)there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^(s)the times change. ^(t)Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation." ^10 (u)The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^(v)Chaldean. ¹¹ The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^(w)the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."

¹² Because of this the king was angry and ^(x)very furious, and ^(y)commanded that all ^(z)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(aa)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(ab)Arioch, the ^(ac)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He declared^[b] to Arioch, the king's captain, "Why is the decree of the king ^(ad)so urgent?" Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(ae)Hananiah, ^(af)Mishael, and ^(ag)Azariah, his companions, ^18 (ah)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(ai)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(aj)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(ak)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(al)blessed the ^(am)God of heaven. ²⁰ Daniel answered and said:

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to ^(ba)Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation."

²⁵ Then ^(bb)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(bc)in haste and said thus to him: "I have found ^(bd)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation." ²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, ^(be)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(bf)"Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?" ²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, "No wise men, ^(bg)enchanters, ^(bh)magicians, or ^(bi)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸ but ^(bj)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(bk)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(bl)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹ To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(bm)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ But ^(bn)as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^(bo)you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹ "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ^32 (bp)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(bq)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(br)thighs of bronze, ^33 (bs)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(bt)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(bu)broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(bv)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(bw)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(bx)a great mountain ^(by)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ "This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(bz)the king of kings, to whom ^(ca)the God of heaven ^(cb)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸ and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(cc)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(cd)the head of gold. ^39 (ce)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(cf)of bronze, ^(cg)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(ch)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(ci)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(cj)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(ck)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(cl)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,^[c] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(cm)the God of heaven will set up ^(cn)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(co)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(cp)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(cq)you saw that ^(cr)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(cs)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(ct)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure."

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(cu)fell upon his face and ^(cv)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(cw)an offering and ^(cx)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, "Truly, your ^(cy)God is God of gods and ^(cz)Lord of kings, and ^(da)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery." ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(db)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(dc)province of Babylon and ^(dd)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(de)appointed ^(df)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(dg)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(dh)remained at the king's court.