Daniel 2

1 [One night] during the second year that Nebuchadnezzar ruled, he had a dream. The dream worried him very much; and [as a result] he could not sleep.

In the second year of [his] reign Nabuchodonosor dreamed a dream, and his spirit was amazed, and his sleep departed from him.

2 [The next morning] he summoned his men who worked magic, fortune-tellers, those who worked sorcery, and those who studied the stars. [Because he had forgotten what he had dreamed, ] he insisted that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood there in front of the king,

And the king gave orders to call the enchanters, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they came and stood before the king.

3 he said, “I had a dream [last night] that worries me. [Tell me what I dreamed, because] I want to know what the dream [means].”

And the king said to them, I have dreamed, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

4 The men who studied the stars replied to the king, speaking in the Aramaic [language]. They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we hope that you will live a long time! Tell us what you dreamed, and [then] we will tell you what it means!”

And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, [saying], O king, live for ever: do thou tell the dream to thy servants, and we will declare the interpretation.

5 But the king replied, “I have firmly decided that you must tell me the dream, and [also tell me] what it means. If you do not do that, I will [order my soldiers to] cut you into pieces, and to cause your houses to become only piles of stones!

The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing has departed from me: if ye do not make known to me the dream and the interpretation, ye shall be destroyed, and your houses shall be spoiled.

6 But if you tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will reward you. I will give you wonderful gifts and greatly honor you. So tell me what I dreamed and what it means!”

But if ye make known to me the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and presents and much honour: only tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

7 But again they said, “Tell us what you dreamed, and [then] we will tell you what it means.”

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

8 The king replied, “I know that you are just trying to get more time, because you know that I will do to you what I said that I would do.

And the king answered and said, I verily know that ye are trying to gain time, because ye see that the thing has gone from me.

9 If you do not tell me what I dreamed, you will be punished. [I think that] you have all agreed to tell me lies and [other] wicked things, because you hope that I will change ([my mind/what I am thinking]). But tell me the dream, and [then] I will know that you can [also] tell me what it means.”

If then ye do not tell me the dream, I know that ye have concerted to utter before me a false and corrupt tale, until the time shall have past: tell me my dream, and I shall know that ye will also declare to me the interpretation thereof.

10 The men who studied the stars replied, “There is no one on the earth who can do what you ask! There is no king, [even] a great and mighty king, who has [ever] asked his men who work magic or his fortune-tellers or men who study the stars to do something like that!

The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is no man upon the earth, who shall be able to make known the king’s matter: forasmuch as no great king or ruler asks such a question of an enchanter, magician, or Chaldean.

11 What you are asking [us to do] is impossible. Only the gods can tell you what you dreamed, and they do not live among us!”

For the question which the king asks is difficult, and there is no one else who shall answer it before the king, but the gods, whose dwelling is not with any flesh.

12 The king was very angry when he heard that, so he commanded [his soldiers] that they execute all such wise men in Babylon.

Then the king in rage and anger commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

13 And because of what the king commanded, they sent some men to find me and my [three] friends, to execute us [also].

So the decree went forth, and they began to slay the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to slay [them].

14 Arioch, the commander of the king’s guards, came to kill us. But I spoke to him very wisely and tactfully/skillfully.

Then Daniel answered [with] counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the royal guard, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon; [saying],

15 I asked Arioch, “Why has the king made such a harsh/terrible decree?” So Arioch told me all that had happened [because of the king’s dream].

Chief magistrate of the king, wherefore has the peremptory command proceeded from the king? So Arioch made known the matter to Daniel.

16 I [immediately] went to talk to the king and requested that the king give me some time, so that I could find out [what the dream was and] what the dream meant.

And Daniel intreated the king to give him time, and that he might [thus] declare to the king the interpretation of it.

17 Then I went home, and I told my friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, what had happened.

So Daniel went into his house, and made known the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias, his friends.

18 I urged them to ask God, who lives/rules in heaven, to have mercy on us by telling us the secret [meaning of what the king dreamed], in order that we and the other wise men in Babylon would not be executed.

And they sought mercies from the God of heaven concerning this mystery; that Daniel and his friends might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 And that night [God] gave to me a vision in which he revealed the secret. Then I praised God,

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven, and said,

20 saying, “We should praise God [MTY] forever, because [only] he truly is wise and powerful.

May the name of God be blessed from everlasting and to everlasting: for wisdom and understanding are his.

21 He determines what events will happen through the years. He removes [some] kings and gives their authority to [new] kings. He is the one who causes people to become wise and enables those who study to understand [many] things.

And he changes times and seasons: he appoints kings, and removes [them], giving wisdom to the wise, and prudence to them that have understanding:

22 He reveals things that are very mysterious; he is surrounded by light, but he knows things that are hidden [as though they were] in the darkness.

he reveals deep and secret [matters]; knowing what is in darkness, and the light is with him.

23 God, whom my ancestors [worshiped], I thank you and I praise you, because you have caused me to be wise and made me strong. You have told me what my friends and I asked you to tell us; and you have revealed to us what the king demanded to know.”

I give thanks to thee, and praise [thee], O God of my fathers, for thou hast given me wisdom and power, and hast made known to me the things which we asked of thee; and thou hast made known to me the king’s vision.

24 Then I went to Arioch, the man whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men in Babylon. I said to him, “Do not kill those wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”

And Daniel came to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon, but bring me in before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.

25 So Arioch quickly took me to the king. He said to the king, “I have found [this man], one of the men whom we brought from Judah who [says he can] can tell you what your dream means!”

Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel before the king, and said to him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judea, who will declare the interpretation to the king.

26 The king said to me, whose [new] name was Belteshazzar, “[Is this true]? Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?”

And the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltasar, Canst thou declare to me the dream which I saw, and the interpretation thereof?

27 I replied, “There are no wise men or fortune-tellers or men who work magic or men who work sorcery who can tell such things to you.

And Daniel answered before the king, and said, The mystery which the king asks [the explanation of] is not [in the power] of the wise men, magicians, enchanters, [or] soothsayers to declare to the king.

28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. And he has shown in [your dream] what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you what you dreamed, the vision you saw [as you were lying] on your bed.

But there is a God in heaven revealing mysteries, and he has made known to king Nabuchodonosor what things must come to pass in the last days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are as follows,

29 O King, while you were sleeping, you dreamed about events that will happen in the future. The one who reveals mysteries has shown you what is going to happen.

O king: thy thoughts upon thy bed arose [as to] what must come to pass hereafter: and he that reveals mysteries has made known to thee what must come to pass.

30 And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else on earth that I know the meaning of this mysterious dream. It is because God wanted you to understand what you were thinking.

Moreover, this mystery has not been revealed to me by reason of wisdom which is in me beyond all [others] living, but for the sake of making known the interpretation to the king, that thou mightest know the thoughts of thine heart.

31 O King, [in your vision] you saw in front of you a huge and terrifying statue [of a man. It was] shining very brightly, and it was frightening and awesome.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold an image: that image was great, and the appearance of it excellent, standing before thy face; and the form of it was terrible.

32 The head of the statue was [made] of pure gold. Its chest and arms [were made of] silver. Its belly and thighs [were made of] bronze.

[It was] an image, the head of which was of fine gold, its hands and breast and arms of silver, [its] belly and thighs of brass,

33 Its legs [were made of] iron, and its feet were a mixture of clay and iron.

its legs of iron, its feet, part of iron and part of earthenware.

34 As you watched, something cut a rock [from a mountain, but it was] not a human [who cut it]. The rock [tumbled down and] smashed the feet of the statue, feet [that were made of] iron and clay. It smashed them to bits.

Thou sawest until a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it smote the image upon its feet of iron and earthenware, and utterly reduced them to powder.

35 Then the rest of the statue collapsed into a big heap of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. The pieces of the statue were as small as bits of chaff on the ground where it is threshed, and the wind blew away all the tiny pieces. There was nothing left. But the rock that smashed the statue became a large mountain that covered the whole earth.

Then once for all the earthenware, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold, were ground to powder, and became as chaff from the summer threshingfloor; and the violence of the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them: and the stone which had smitten the image became a great mountain, and filled all the earth.

36 That was what you dreamed. Now I will tell you what it means.

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

37 You are a king [who rules] over [many other] kings. The God who rules in heaven has caused you to rule over them and has given you great power [DOU] and has honored you.

Thou, O king, art a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a powerful and strong and honourable kingdom,

38 He has caused you to be the ruler over all people, and [even] the animals and birds are controlled by you. [So] the head [of the statue] represents you.

in every place where the children of men dwell: and he has given into thine hand the wild beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and he has made thee lord of all.

39 But after your [kingdom/rule] ends, there will be another [great] kingdom, [but it] will not be as great as yours. [The silver parts of the statue represent that kingdom]. Then there will be a third [great] kingdom [whose king] will rule over the whole earth. The bronze parts [of the statue represent] that kingdom.

Thou art the head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and a third kingdom which is the brass, which shall have dominion over all the earth;

40 After that kingdom ends, there will be a fourth [great] kingdom. The iron [parts of the statue represent that kingdom]. [The army of] that kingdom will smash the previous kingdoms, just like iron smashes everything that it strikes.

and a fourth kingdom, which shall be strong as iron: as iron beats to powder and subdues all things, so shall it beat to powder and subdue.

41 The feet and toes of the statue that you saw, that were a mixture of iron and clay, indicate that the kingdom they represent will [later] be divided.

And whereas thou sawest the feet and the toes, part of earthenware and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet there shall be in it of the strength of iron, as thou sawest the iron mixed with earthenware.

42 Some parts of that kingdom will be as strong as iron, but some parts will not remain together, just as iron and clay do not stick together.

And [whereas] the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of earthenware, part of the kingdom shall be strong, and [part] of it shall be broken.

43 The mixture of iron and clay [in the statue] shows also that the rulers of those kingdoms that separate from each other will try to form alliances with each other as a result of members of the royal families of those kingdoms marrying each other. But that will not succeed, just as iron and clay do not stick together.

Whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with earthenware, they shall be mingled with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave together, as the iron does not mix itself with earthenware.

44 But while those kings are ruling, God who rules in heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. No one will ever defeat its king. He will completely destroy all those kingdoms, but his kingdom will remain forever.

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and his kingdom shall not be left to another people, [but] it shall beat to pieces and grind to powder all [other] kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

45 That is the meaning of the rock that something cut from the mountain, the rock that will crush to tiny bits the statue that is made of iron, bronze, silver, and gold. O king, the great God has shown you what will truly happen in the future. And you can trust [what I told you about] the meaning of the dream.”

Whereas thou sawest that a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it beat to pieces the earthenware, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold; the great God has made known to the king what must happen hereafter: and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof sure.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself in front of me [in great respect]. He commanded [his people] that they burn incense and burn an offering of grain to honor me.

Then king Nabuchodonosor fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and gave orders to offer to him gifts and incense.

47 The king said to me, “[Your God has enabled] you to tell me the meaning of this dream/mystery, so now I truly know that your God is greater than all the other gods and all other kings. He reveals [to people] things that they cannot know.”

And the king answered and said to Daniel, Of a truth your God is a God of gods, and Lord of kings, who reveals mysteries; for thou hast been able to reveal this mystery.

48 Then the king gave many gifts to me, and he [also] appointed me to rule over the entire province of Babylon, and [also] to be the boss of all his wise men.

And the king promoted Daniel, and gave him great and abundant gifts, and set him over the whole province of Babylon, and [made him] chief satrap over all the wise men of Babylon.

49 I asked the king to appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to [also] have important positions in Babylon province, and the king did what I asked him to do. But [I did my work while] I stayed at the king’s palace.

And Daniel asked of the king, and he appointed Sedrach, Misach, and Abdenago, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the king’s palace.