Daniel 2

1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, whereat his spirit was troubled, and his sleep that was upon him was gone.

2 Then said the king to call the magicians, and the astrologers and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to solve for the king his dreams: and they came and placed themselves before the king.

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

4 Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Aramic, O king, live for ever: recite the dream to thy servants, and we will tell the interpretation.

5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The decree is firmly resolved on by me: If ye do not make known unto me the dream with its interpretation, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be changed into a dunghill.

6 But if ye tell the dream and its interpretation, then shall ye receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.

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

8 The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye wish to gain time, because ye see the decree is firmly resolved on by me:

9 That if ye do not make known unto me the dream, there is but one sentence for you; for ye have prepared lying and deceptive words to speak before me, till the time be changed. Therefore relate to me the dream, and I shall know that ye can tell me its interpretation.

10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the habitable earth that can tell the king's matter: wherefore no mighty and powerful king ever hath asked such a thing of any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

11 And the matter which the king requireth is difficult, and there is no other that can tell it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

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

13 And the law went forth and [some of] the wise men were slain: and they sought Daniel and his companions to slay them.

14 Then made Daniel representations with intelligence and prudence to Aryoch the captain of the king's guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

15 He commenced and said to Aryoch the king's commander, Wherefore is the law so hasty from the king? Then made Aryoch the matter known to Daniel.

16 But Daniel went in, and requested of the king that he would give him time, that he might tell the interpretation to the king.

17 Then went Daniel to his house, and made the matter known to Chananyah, Mishael, and 'Azaryah, his companions.

18 In order that they might pray for mercy of the God of heaven concerning this secret: so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

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

20 Daniel commenced and said, May the name of God be blessed from eternity and to all eternity; for wisdom and might are his;

21 And he changeth times and seasons; he removeth kings, and raiseth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to those that possess understanding.

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

23 To thee, O God of my father, do I give thanks, and I praise thee, who hast given me wisdom and might, and because thou hast made known unto me what we prayed for of thee; for thou hast made known unto us the king's matter.

24 Therefore did Daniel go in unto Aryoch, whom the king had ordered to destroy the wise men of Babylon, He went and said thus unto him, the wise men of Babylon must thou not destroy: bring me before the king, and I will tell unto the king the interpretation.

25 Then did Aryoch bring Daniel before the king in haste, and thus he said unto him, Here have I found a man out of the children of the exiles of Judah, who will make known unto the king the interpretation.

26 The 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 its interpretation?

27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded no wise men, astrologers, magicians, or soothsayers, can tell unto the king;

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

29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts, when thou wast on thy couch, rose [within thee] concerning what is to come to pass hereafter; and the Revealer of secrets hath made known to thee what is to come to pass.

30 But as for me, this secret hath not been revealed to me because of any wisdom that is in me more than in all other living; but for the sake that men might make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest understand the thoughts of thy heart.

31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was a large image; this image was mighty, and its brightness was excellent; it stood opposite to thee; and its form was fear-inspiring.

32 As regardeth this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its belly and its thighs of copper,

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

34 Thou didst look on till the moment that a stone tore itself loose, not through [human] hands, and it struck the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and ground them to pieces.

35 Then were the iron, the clay, the copper, the silver, and the gold ground up together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no trace was found of them; and the stone that had stricken the image became a mighty mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream; and its interpretation will we relate before the king.

37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven hath given kingdom, power, and strength, and honor:

38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, hath he given the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art the head of gold.

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

40 And the fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; forasmuch as iron grindeth up and beateth down all things, and as iron that breaketh [every thing], will it grind up and break all these.

41 And that thou sawest the feet and toes, and part of them of potter's clay, and part of them of iron, [signifieth] that it will be a divided kingdom, although there will be in it of the strength of the iron; forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mingled with miry clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were part of them of iron, and part of them of clay: so will the kingdom be partly strong and partly brittle.

43 And whereas thou sawest iron mingled with miry clay: so will they mingle themselves among the seed of men; but they will not cleave firmly one to another, even as iron cannot be mingled with clay.

44 But in the days of these kings will the God of heaven set up a kingdom: which shall to eternity not be destroyed, and its rule shall not be transferred to any other people; [but] it will grind up and make an end of all these kingdoms, while it will itself endure for ever.

45 Whereas thou sawest that out of the mountain a stone tore itself loose, not through [human] hands, and that it ground up the iron, the copper, the clay, the silver, and the gold: the great God hath made known to the king what is to come to pass after this. And the dream is reliable, and its interpretation certain.

46 Then did king Nebuchadnezzar fall upon his face, and he bowed down to Daniel, and ordered that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him.

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

48 Then did the king elevate Daniel, and gave him many great presents, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the superintendents over all the wise men of Babylon.

49 Then requested Daniel of the king, that he might appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and 'Abed-nego, over the public service of the province of Babylon; but Daniel remained in the gate of the king.