Daniel 2

¹And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

²Then 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.

³And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.

⁴Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

⁵The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

⁶But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof.

⁷They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

⁸The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would gain time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.

⁹But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but one law for you; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.

¹⁰The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter, forasmuch as no king, lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.

¹¹And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

¹²For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

¹⁴Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon;

¹⁵he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Wherefore is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

¹⁶And Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

¹⁸that 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.

¹⁹Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

²⁰Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.

²¹And he changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding;

²²he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

²³I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast now made known unto me what we desired of thee; for thou hast made known unto us the king’s matter.

²⁴Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.

²⁵Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

²⁶The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

²⁷Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king;

²⁸but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

²⁹as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.

³⁰But 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 thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart.

³¹Thou, O king, sawest, and, behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the aspect thereof was terrible.

³²As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,

³³its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.

³⁴Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.

³⁵Then 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 smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

³⁶This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

³⁷Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;

³⁸and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: thou art the head of gold.

³⁹And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.

⁴¹And whereas thou sawest 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, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

⁴²And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

⁴³And whereas thou sawest 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 doth not mingle with clay.

⁴⁴And 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 for ever.

⁴⁵Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

⁴⁶Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him.

⁴⁷The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.

⁴⁸Then 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.

⁴⁹And 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.

Daniel 2

¹And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed hath Nebuchadnezzar dreams, and his spirit doth move itself, and his sleep hath been against him;

²and the king saith to call for scribes, and for enchanters, and for sorcerers, and for Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they come in and stand before the king;

³and the king saith to them, `A dream I have dreamed, and moved is my spirit to know the dream.'

⁴And the Chaldeans speak to the king in Aramaean, `O king, to the ages live, tell the dream to thy servants, and the interpretation we do shew.'

⁵The king hath answered and said to the Chaldeans, `The thing from me is gone; if ye do not cause me to know the dream and its interpretation, pieces ye are made, and your houses are made dunghills;

⁶and if the dream and its interpretation ye do shew, gifts, and fee, and great glory ye receive from before me, therefore the dream and its interpretation shew ye me.'

⁷They have answered a second time, and are saying, `Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and the interpretation we do shew.

⁸The king hath answered and said, `Of a truth I know that time ye are gaining, because that ye have seen that the thing is gone from me,

⁹so that, if the dream ye do not cause me to knowone is your sentence, seeing a word lying and corrupt ye have prepared to speak before me, till that the time is changed, therefore the dream tell ye to me, then do I know that its interpretation ye do shew me.'

¹⁰The Chaldeans have answered before the king, and are saying, `There is not a man on the earth who is able to shew the king's matter; therefore, no king, chief, and ruler, hath asked such a thing as this of any scribe, and enchanter, and Chaldean;

¹¹and the thing that the king is asking is precious, and others are there not that do shew it before the king, save the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.'

¹²Therefore the king hath been angry and very wroth, and hath said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon;

¹³And the sentence hath gone forth, and the wise men are being slain, and they have sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

¹⁴Then Daniel hath replied with counsel and discretion to Arioch chief of the executioners of the king, who hath gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁵He hath answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, `Wherefore is the sentence so urgent from before the king?' Then Arioch hath made the thing known to Daniel,

¹⁶and Daniel hath gone up, and sought of the king that he would give him time to shew the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷Then Daniel to his house hath gone, and to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, he hath made the thing known,

¹⁸and to seek mercies from before the God of the heavens concerning this secret, that they destroy not Daniel and his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹Then to Daniel, in a vision of the night, the secret hath been revealed. Then hath Daniel blessed the God of the heavens.

²⁰Daniel hath answered and said, `Let the name of God be blessed from age even unto age, for wisdom and mightfor they are His.

²¹And He is changing times and seasons, He is causing kings to pass away, and He is raising up kings; He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding.

²²He is revealing deep and hidden things; He hath known what is in darkness, and light with Him hath dwelt.

²³Thee, O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising, for wisdom and might Thou hast given to me; and now, Thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from Thee, for the king's matter Thou hast caused us to know.'

²⁴Therefore Daniel hath gone up unto Arioch, whom the king hath appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he hath gone, and thus hath said to him, `The wise men of Babylon thou dost not destroy, bring me up before the king, and the interpretation to the king I do shew.'

²⁵Then Arioch in haste hath brought up Daniel before the king, and thus hath said to him`I have found a man of the sons of the Removed of Judah, who the interpretation to the king doth make known.'

²⁶The king hath answered and said to Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, `Art thou able to cause me to know the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?'

²⁷Daniel hath answered before the king and said, `The secret that the king is asking, the wise men, the enchanters, the scribes, the soothsayers, are not able to shew to the king;

²⁸but there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and He hath made known to king Nebuchadnezzar that which is to be in the latter end of the days. `Thy dream and the visions of thy head on thy bed are these:

²⁹Thou, O king, thy thoughts on thy bed have come up concerning that which is to be after this, and the Revealer of secrets hath caused thee to know that which is to be.

³⁰As to menot for any wisdom that is in me above any living hath this secret been revealed to me; but for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of thy heart thou dost know.

³¹`Thou, O king, wast looking, and lo, a certain great image. This image is mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing over-against thee, and its appearance is terrible.

³²This image! its head is of good gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass;

³³its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron, and part of them of clay.

³⁴Thou wast looking till that a stone hath been cut out without hands, and it hath smitten the image on its feet, that are of iron and of clay, and it hath broken them small;

³⁵then broken small together have been the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, and they have been as chaff from the summer threshing-floor, and carried them away hath the wind, and no place hath been found for them: and the stone that smote the image hath become a great mountain, and hath filled all the land.

³⁶This is the dream, and its interpretation we do tell before the king.

³⁷`Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of the heavens a kingdom, strength, and might, and glory, hath given to thee;

³⁸and whithersoever sons of men are dwelling, the beast of the field, and the fowl of the heavens, He hath given into thy hand, and hath caused thee to rule over them all; thou art this head of gold.

³⁹And after thee doth rise up another kingdom lower than those, and another third kingdom of brass, that doth rule overall the earth.

⁴⁰And the fourth kingdom is strong as iron, because that iron is breaking small, and making feeble, all things , even as iron that is breaking all these, it beateth small and breaketh.

⁴¹As to that which thou hast seen: the feet and toes, part of them potter's clay, and part of them iron, the kingdom is divided: and some of the standing of the iron is to be in it, because that thou hast seen the iron mixed with miry clay.

⁴²As to the toes of the feet, part of them iron, and part of them clay: some part of the kingdom is strong, and some part of it is brittle.

⁴³Because thou hast seen iron mixed with miry clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men: and they are not adhering one with another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

⁴⁴`And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens a kingdom that is not destroyedto the age, and its kingdom to another people is not left: it beateth small and endeth all these kingdoms, and it standeth to the age.

⁴⁵Because that thou hast seen that out of the mountain cut hath been a stone without hands, and it hath beaten small the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king that which is to be after this; and the dream is true, and its interpretation stedfast.

⁴⁶Then hath king Nebuchadnezzar fallen on his face, and to Daniel he hath done obeisance, and present, and sweet things, he hath said to pour out to him.

⁴⁷The king hath answered Daniel and said, `Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since thou hast been able to reveal this secret.'

⁴⁸Then the king hath made Daniel great, and many great gifts he hath given to him, and hath caused him to rule over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the perfects over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁴⁹And Daniel hath sought from the king, and he hath appointed over the work of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and Daniel is in the gate of the king.