1 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 magicians, and the enchanters, and
the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came
in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, I have dreamed a
dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spoke the
Chaldeans to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your
servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. 5 The king
answered the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you don’t make
known to me the dream and the interpretation of it, you shall be cut in
pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if you show
the dream and the interpretation of it, you shall receive of me gifts
and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the
interpretation of it. 7 They answered the second time and said, Let the
king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
8 The king answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time,
because you see the thing is 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 be
changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show
me the interpretation of it. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king,
and said, There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter,
because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or
enchanter, or Chaldean. 11 It is a rare thing that the king requires, and
there is no other who 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 was gone
forth to kill the wise men of Babylon; 15 he answered Arioch the king’s
captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the
thing known to Daniel. 16 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 nor perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then was
the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed
the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever
and ever; for wisdom and might are his. 21 He changes the times and the
seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise,
and knowledge to those who 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, 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 haste, and said thus
to him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, who
will make known to the king the interpretation. 26 The king answered
Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the
dream which I have seen, and the interpretation of it? 27 Daniel answered
before the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither
wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show to the king; 28 but
there is a God in heaven who 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 happen
hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall
happen. 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, saw, and, behold, a great image. This image, which
was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the
aspect of it was awesome. 32 As for this image, its head was of fine gold,
its breast and its 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 You
saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its
feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then was the
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, 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 struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation of it 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 children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of
the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all:
you are the head of gold. 39 After you shall arise another kingdom
inferior to you; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule
over all the earth. 40 The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, because
iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all
these, shall it break in pieces and crush. 41 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, because you saw the
iron mixed with miry clay. 42 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 Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cling to one another,
even as iron does not mingle with clay. 44 In the days of those kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor
shall the sovereignty of it be left to another people; but it shall break in
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
45 Because you saw that a 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 the king what shall happen
hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation of it sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel,
and commanded that they should offer an offering 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 Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the
gate of the king.
World English Bible - Public Domain |
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