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¹ AND in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream and his spirit was troub1ed and his sleep departed from him.² Then the king commanded to call the magicians and the astrologers and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to show the king his dream. So they came and stood before the king.³ And the king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.⁴ Then spoke the Chaldeans before the king in Aramaic, saying, O king, live for ever; tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.⁵ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The word that I have spoken is true; if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be plundered.⁶ But if you show me the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and wealth and great honor; only show me the dream and its interpretation.⁷ They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.⁸ The king answered and said, Truly I know that what you want is time, because you see that my word is true.⁹ But if you will not make known to me the dream, there is but one sentence for you; for you have prepared lying words and falsehoods to speak before me, to gain time; therefore tell me the dream, so that I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth who can reveal what the king asks; neither has any great king or ruler ever asked such a thing of any magician or astrologer or Chaldean.¹¹ For the thing that the king is asking is very difficult, and there is no man who can show it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with men born of flesh.¹² Then the king was exceedingly furious, and he commanded angrily that all the wise men of Babylon should be destroyed.¹³ And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and guards sought Daniel and his companions to slay them.

¹⁴ Then Daniel meditated and took counsel, and then said to Arioch the commander of the kings guardsmen, who had gone out to slay the wise men of Babylon,¹⁵ Why is this decree from the king so urgent? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.¹⁶ Then Daniel desired of the king to give him time, and promised that he would show the king the interpretation.¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,¹⁸ That they might ask mercy before the God of heaven concerning the mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.¹⁹ Then was the mystery, revealed to Daniel in a night vision. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven.²⁰ Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might belong to him;²¹ And he changes seasons and times; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to them who know understanding;²² He reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light is with him.²³ To thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast now made known to me what we desired of thee; for thou hast made known to us the kings matter.

²⁴ And in that very hour Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had ordered to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; but bring me in before the king and I will show the king the interpretation.²⁵ Then Arioch brought Daniel in before the king in haste, and spoke thus to him: I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.²⁶ The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?²⁷ Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The mystery which the king has demanded to know, can no wise men, sorcerers, nor the magicians, nor the astrologers reveal to the king;²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, who has made known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream and the vision of your head upon your bed are these;²⁹ As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind concerning what shall come to pass hereafter; and he who reveals mysteries has made known to you what shall come to pass.³⁰ But as for me, this mystery is not revealed to me on account of any wisdom that I have more than any living person, but for the sake of the interpretation, that it might be known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

³¹ You, O king, were looking, and behold, a great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its appearance was terrible.³² This images head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,³³ Its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay.³⁴ Then you saw that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.³⁵ Then the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold were all broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and a strong wind carried them away so that no place was found for them; and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.³⁶ This is the dream; now I will tell its interpretation before the king.³⁷ You, O king, are a king of kings; for the God of heaven has given you a mighty kingdom and honor.³⁸ And every country in which men dwell, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field, he has placed under your authority, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.³⁹ And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and a third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the earth.⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; for just as iron hammers and breaks everything in pieces, so shall it break and conquer every kingdom.⁴¹ And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it some of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.⁴² And as for the toes of the feet which you saw, part of iron and part of clay, so some parts of the kingdom shall be strong and some parts weak.⁴³ And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, so they shall mix themselves with one another in marriage; but they shall not cleave one to another, just as iron does not mix with clay.⁴⁴ And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up an everlasting kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and bring to an end all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.⁴⁵ Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to you what shall come to pass in the latter days. The dream is true, and its interpretation is sure.

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer incense and sacrifices to him.⁴⁷ The king answered Daniel and said, Truly, your God is the God of gods and the LORD of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.⁴⁸ Then the king advanced Daniels rank and gave him a great many gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and appointed him chief over all the generals of the armies and over all the wise men of Babylon.⁴⁹ Then Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel himself remained in the kings gate.