Daniel 2

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

In the second year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him.

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

Then the king gave orders that the wonder-workers, and the users of secret arts, and those who made use of evil powers, and the Chaldaeans, were to be sent for to make clear to the king his dreams. So they came and took their places before the king.

3 and the king says to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is moved to know the dream.”

And the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled by the desire to have the dream made clear to me.

4 And the Chaldeans speak to the king [in] Aramaic, “O king, live for all ages, tell the dream to your servants, and we show the interpretation.”

Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in the Aramaean language, O King, have life for ever: give your servants an account of your dream, and we will make clear to you the sense of it.

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

The king made answer and said to the Chaldaeans, This is my decision: if you do not make clear to me the dream and the sense of it, you will be cut in bits and your houses made waste.

6 and if the dream and its interpretation you show, gifts, and fee, and great glory you receive from before me, therefore the dream and its interpretation you show me.”

But if you make clear the dream and the sense of it, you will have from me offerings and rewards and great honour: so make clear to me the dream and the sense of it.

7 They have answered a second time, and are saying, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we show the interpretation.”

A second time they said in answer, Let the king give his servants an account of his dream, and we will make clear the sense.

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

The king made answer and said, I am certain that you are attempting to get more time, because you see that my decision is fixed;

9 [so] that, if you do not cause me to know the dream—one is your sentence, seeing a lying and corrupt word you have prepared to speak before me, until the time is changed, therefore tell the dream to me, then I know that you show me its interpretation.”

That if you do not make my dream clear to me there is only one fate for you: for you have made ready false and evil words to say before me till the times are changed: so give me an account of the dream, and I will be certain that you are able to make the sense of it clear.

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

Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in answer, There is not a man on earth able to make clear the king's business; for no king, however great his power, has ever made such a request to any wonder-worker or user of secret arts or Chaldaean.

11 and the thing that the king is asking [is] precious, and there are no others that show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

The king's request is a very hard one, and there is no other who is able to make it clear to the king, but the gods, whose living-place is not with flesh.

12 Therefore the king has been furious and very angry, and has said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

Because of this the king was angry and full of wrath, and gave orders for the destruction of all the wise men of Babylon.

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

So the order went out that the wise men were to be put to death; and they were looking for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.

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

Then Daniel gave an answer with wisdom and good sense to Arioch, the captain of the king's armed men, who had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon;

15 He has answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why [is] the sentence so urgent from before the king?” Then Arioch has made the thing known to Daniel,

He made answer and said to Arioch, O captain of the king, why is the king's order so cruel? Then Arioch gave Daniel an account of the business.

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

And Daniel went in and made a request to the king to give him time and he would make clear the sense of his dream to the king.

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

And Daniel went to his house and gave his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah the news:

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

So that they might make a request for the mercy of the God of heaven in the question of this secret; so that Daniel and his friends might not come to destruction with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

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

Then the secret was made clear to Daniel in a vision of the night. And Daniel gave blessing to the God of heaven.

20 Daniel has answered and said, “Let the Name of God be blessed from age even to age, for wisdom and might—for they are His.

And Daniel said in answer, May the name of God be praised for ever and ever: for wisdom and strength are his:

21 And 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.

By him times and years are changed: by him kings are taken away and kings are lifted up: he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those whose minds are awake:

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

He is the unveiler of deep and secret things: he has knowledge of what is in the dark, and the light has its living-place with him.

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

I give you praise and worship, O God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and strength, and have now made clear to me what we were requesting from you: for you have given us knowledge of the king's business.

24 Therefore Daniel has gone up to Arioch, whom the king has appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he has gone, and thus has said to him, “You do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, bring me up before the king, and I show the interpretation to the king.”

For this reason Daniel went to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders for the destruction of the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not put to death the wise men of Babylon: take me in before the king and I will make clear to him the sense of the dream.

25 Then Arioch in haste has brought up Daniel before the king, and thus has said to him, “I have found a man of the sons of the expulsion of Judah, who makes known the interpretation to the king.”

Then Arioch quickly took Daniel in before the king, and said to him, Here is a man from among the prisoners of Judah, who will make clear to the king the sense of the dream.

26 The king has answered and said to Daniel, whose name [is] Belteshazzar, “Are you able to cause me to know the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?”

The king made answer and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make clear to me the dream which I saw and its sense?

27 Daniel has 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 show to the king;

Then Daniel said in answer to the king, No wise men, or users of secret arts, or wonder-workers, or readers of signs, are able to make clear to the king the secret he is searching for;

28 but there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar that which [is] to be in the latter end of the days. Your dream and the visions of your head on your bed are these:

But there is a God in heaven, the unveiler of secrets, and he has given to King Nebuchadnezzar knowledge of what will take place in the last days. Your dreams and the visions of your head on your bed are these:

29 You, O king, your thoughts on your bed have come up [concerning] that which [is] to be after this, and the Revealer of secrets has caused you to know that which [is] to be.

As for you, O King, the thoughts which came to you on your bed were of what will come about after this: and the unveiler of secrets has made clear to you what is to come.

30 As for me—not for [any] wisdom that is in me above any living has this secret been revealed to me; but for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of your heart you know.

As for me, this secret is not made clear to me because of any wisdom which I have more than any living man, but in order that the sense of the dream may be made clear to the king, and that you may have knowledge of the thoughts of your heart.

31 You, O king, were looking, and behold, a certain great image. This image [is] mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing before you, and its appearance [is] terrible.

You, O King, were looking, and a great image was there. This image, which was very great, and whose glory was very bright, was placed before you: its form sent fear into the heart.

32 This image! Its head [is] of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze;

As for this image, its head was made of the best gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its middle and its sides were of brass,

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

Its legs of iron, its feet were in part of iron and in part of potter's earth.

34 You were looking until a stone has been cut out without hands, and it has struck the image on its feet, that [are] of iron and of clay, and it has broken them small;

While you were looking at it, a stone was cut out, but not by hands, and it gave the image a blow on its feet, which were of iron and earth, and they were broken in bits.

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

Then the iron and the earth, the brass and the silver and the gold, were smashed together, and became like the dust on the floors where grain is crushed in summer; and the wind took them away so that no sign of them was to be seen: and the stone which gave the image a blow became a great mountain, covering all the earth.

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

This is the dream; and we will make clear to the king the sense of it.

37 You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of the heavens a kingdom, strength, and might, and glory, has given to you;

You, O King, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory,

38 and wherever sons of men are dwelling, the beast of the field, and the bird of the heavens, He has given into your hand, and has caused you to rule over them all; you [are] this head of gold.

Wherever the children of men are living; into whose hands he has given the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven, and has made you ruler over them all, you are the head of gold.

39 And after you another kingdom arises lower than those, and another third kingdom of bronze, that rules over all the earth.

And after you another kingdom, lower than you, will come to power; and a third kingdom, of brass, ruling over all the earth.

40 And 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 beats small and breaks.

And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron: because, as all things are broken and overcome by iron, so it will have the power of crushing and smashing down all the earth.

41 As for that which you have 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 you have seen the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's work and part of iron, there will be a division in the kingdom; but there will be some of the strength of iron in it, because you saw the iron mixed with the potter's earth.

42 As for 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.

And as the toes of the feet were in part of iron and in part of earth, so part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will readily be broken.

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

And as you saw the iron mixed with earth, they will give their daughters to one another as wives: but they will not be united one with another, even as iron is not mixed with earth.

44 And in the days of these kings the God of the heavens raises up a kingdom that is not destroyed for all time, and its kingdom is not left to another people: it beats small and ends all these kingdoms, and it stands for all time.

And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever.

45 Because that you have seen that out of the mountain a stone has been cut without hands, and it has beaten the iron small, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king that which [is] to be after this; and the dream [is] true, and its interpretation steadfast.”

Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream is fixed, and its sense is certain.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar has fallen on his face, and to Daniel he has done homage, and present, and sweet things, he has said to pour out to him.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar, falling down on his face, gave worship to Daniel, and gave orders for an offering and spices to be given to him;

47 The king has 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 you have been able to reveal this secret.”

And the king made answer to Daniel and said, Truly, your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings, and an unveiler of secrets, for you have been able to make this secret clear.

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

Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him offerings in great number, and made him ruler over all the land of Babylon, and chief over all the wise men of Babylon.

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

And at Daniel's request, the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego authority over the business of the land of Babylon: but Daniel was kept near the king's person.