1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams;h[ch. 4:5; 5:9; Gen. 41:8] his spirit was troubled, andi[ch. 6:18; Esth. 6:1] his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded thatd[See ch. 1:20 above] the magicians,e[See ch. 1:20 above] the enchanters, thejDeut. 18:10, 11; 2 Chr. 33:6; Isa. 47:9, 12 sorcerers, andkSee ch. 1:4 the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in andlSee ch. 1:5 stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, andh[See ver. 1 above] my spirit is troubled to know the dream. ” 4 Thenk[See ver. 2 above] the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,mch. 3:9; 5:10; 6:6, 21; See 1 Kgs. 1:31 “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. ” 5 The king answered and said tok[See ver. 2 above] the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall bench. 3:29 torn limb from limb,nch. 3:29 and youroEzra 6:11; [2 Kgs. 10:27] houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation,p[ch. 5:7, 16] you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor.q[ver. 7, 9] 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 torEph. 5:16; Col. 4:5 gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me,sEsth. 4:11 there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me tillt[ver. 21; ch. 7:25] the times change.uver. 6; [ver. 7] Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation. ” 10 vSee ch. 1:4 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 orvSee ch. 1:4 Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king exceptw[ch. 5:11, 14] the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. ”
12 Because of this the king was angry andx[ch. 3:19] very furious, andy[ver. 24] commanded that allzch. 4:6 the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they soughtaSee ch. 1:4-7 Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion tobver. 24, 25 Arioch, thec[Gen. 37:36] captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the kingdch. 3:22 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.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known toech. 1:6 Hananiah,ech. 1:6 Mishael, andech. 1:6 Azariah, his companions,
18 f[Matt. 18:19] and told them to seek mercy from thegver. 19, 28, 37, 44; Rev. 11:13 God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might noth[ver. 12, 24] be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel ini[Num. 12:6; Job 33:15, 16] a vision of the night. Then DanieljSee Josh. 22:33 blessed theg[See ver. 18 above] God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said:
k1 Chr. 29:10; Ps. 72:18; 113:2; 115:18; Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
l[Isa. 28:29] to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 m[ver. 9; ch. 7:25] He changes times and seasons;
n[ch. 4:17; 5:20; Job 12:18; Ps. 75:7; Rom. 13:1] he removes kings and sets up kings;
oSee ch. 1:17 he gives wisdom to the wise
oSee ch. 1:17 and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 pJob 12:22; [Ps. 25:14; 139:12; Amos 4:13; Heb. 4:13] he reveals deep and hidden things;
pJob 12:22; [Ps. 25:14; 139:12; Amos 4:13; Heb. 4:13] he knows what is in the darkness,
q1 Tim. 6:16; James 1:17; 1 John 1:5; [John 1:4, 5] and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, OrDeut. 26:7; 1 Chr. 12:17; 29:18 God of my fathers,
s[ch. 6:10] I give thanks and praise,
fort[ver. 20]; See ch. 1:17 you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me whatu[ver. 18] we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king's matter. ”
24 Therefore Daniel went in tovver. 14, 15 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 Thenv[See ver. 24 above] Arioch brought in Daniel before the kingwch. 3:24 in haste and said thus to him: “I have foundxch. 5:13; Ezra 4:1; 6:16, 19, 20; 10:7, 16 among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation. ” 26 The king said to Daniel,ySee ch. 1:7 whose name was Belteshazzar,z[ch. 5:16] “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,aSee ch. 1:20 enchanters,aSee ch. 1:20 magicians, orbch. 4:7; 5:7 astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 butcSee ver. 22 there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzardch. 10:14; Hos. 3:5 what will be in the latter days. Your dream andech. 4:5; 7:15 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,fver. 45 and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 Butg[Gen. 41:16; Acts 3:12] 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 thath[Eccles. 3:18] you may know the thoughts of your mind.
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 i[ver. 38] The head of this image was of fine gold,j[ver. 39] its chest and arms of silver, its middle andj[ver. 39] thighs of bronze, 33 k[ver. 40] its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut outl[ch. 8:25; Job 34:20; Lam. 4:6; 2 Cor. 5:1] by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, andmver. 35, 40, 44, 45; Isa. 8:9; [Matt. 21:44; Luke 20:18] broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and becamenPs. 1:4 like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so thato[Rev. 20:11] not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image becamep[Isa. 2:2] a great mountainq[Ps. 80:9] and filled the whole earth.
36 This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king,rEzra 7:12; Ezek. 26:7 the king of kings, to whomsver. 19 the God of heaventch. 5:18; [Ezra 1:2]; See ver. 21 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,uch. 4:21; Jer. 27:6 the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you arev[ver. 32] the head of gold. 39 w[ver. 32; ch. 5:28, 31] Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdomv[See ver. 38 above] of bronze,x[ch. 7:6] which shall rule over all the earth. 40 Andy[ch. 7:7, 23] there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because ironzSee ver. 34 breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shallzSee ver. 34 break and crush all these. 41 And as you sawa[ver. 33] the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of they[See ver. 40 above] 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, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kingsbver. 19 the God of heaven will set upcch. 4:3, 34; 6:26; 7:14, 27; Mic. 4:7; [Matt. 3:2; Luke 1:33; John 18:36] a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people.d[Isa. 60:12]; See ver. 34 It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, andcch. 4:3, 34; 6:26; 7:14, 27; Mic. 4:7; [Matt. 3:2; Luke 1:33; John 18:36] it shall stand forever, 45 just ase[ver. 34] you saw thatf[Isa. 28:16] a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and thatd[See ver. 44 above] it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. Agver. 28 great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. ”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzarh[2 Sam. 14:22] fell upon his face andi[Matt. 8:2; Acts 10:25] paid homage to Daniel, and commanded thatj[Acts 14:13] an offering andk[Ezra 6:10] incense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, yourlDeut. 10:17 God is God of gods andm[1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16] Lord of kings, andnSee ver. 22 a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery. ” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many greato[ver. 6] gifts, and made him ruler over the wholepch. 3:1, 12, 30; [Esth. 1:1] province of Babylon andqch. 5:11; [ch. 4:9] chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and herch. 3:12 appointeds[ch. 1:7] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs ofp[See ver. 48 above] the province of Babylon. But DanieltEsth. 2:19 remained at the king's court.