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¹ And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.² Then the king commanded to call the sacred scholars, and the psychics, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in 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 the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your slaves the dream, and we will show the interpretation.⁵ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing has gone from me: if you don't make known to me the dream and the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.⁶ But if you show the dream and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof.⁷ They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his slaves the dream, and we will show the interpretation.⁸ The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you see the thing has gone from me.⁹ But if you don't make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time is changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation thereof.¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man on the earth that can show the king's matter, since no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any sacred scholar, or psychic, or Chaldean.¹¹ And it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.¹² For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.¹³ So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

¹⁴ Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon;¹⁵ he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.¹⁶ And Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and 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 would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.¹⁹ Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.²⁰ Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.²¹ And he changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those that have understanding;²² he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.²³ I thank you, and praise you, O you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king's matter.

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: Don't destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.²⁵ Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in a hurry, and said thus to him, I have found a [prominent] man of the sons of the captivity of Judah, that 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 the interpretation thereof?²⁷ Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men, psychics, sacred scholars, nor astrologers, show to the king;²⁸ but there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:²⁹ as for you, O king, your thoughts came [into your mind] on your bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that reveals secrets has made known to you what shall come to pass.³⁰ But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

³¹ You, O king, looked, and saw a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the aspect thereof was terrible.³² As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,³³ its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.³⁴ You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.³⁶ This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.³⁷ You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;³⁸ and wherever the sons of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens he has given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.³⁹ And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you; and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall bear rule over all the earth.⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, since iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, it shall break in pieces and crush.⁴¹ And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, since you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.⁴² And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.⁴³ And whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mingle with clay.⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.⁴⁵ Since you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

⁴⁶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him.⁴⁷ The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you have been able to reveal this secret.⁴⁸ Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.⁴⁹ And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.