Daniel 2

1 And 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;

In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream fled from him.

2 and 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;

Yet the king commanded that the seers, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be gathered together to reveal to the king his dreams. When they arrived, they stood in front of the king.

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

And the king said to them, “I saw a dream, and, being confused in mind, I do not know what I saw.”

4 And 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.'

And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac, “O king, live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we will reveal its interpretation.”

5 The 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;

And in answer, the king said to the Chaldeans, “The memory of it has slipped away from me. Unless you reveal the dream to me, and its meaning, you will be put to death, and your houses will be confiscated.

6 and 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.'

But if you explain the dream and its meaning, you will receive from me rewards, and gifts, and great honor. Therefore, reveal to me the dream and its interpretation.”

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

They answered again and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will reveal its interpretation.”

8 The 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,

The king answered and said, “I am certain that you are stalling for time because you know that the memory of it has slipped away from me.

9 [so] that, if the dream ye do not cause me to know — one 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.'

Therefore, if you do not reveal to me the dream, there is only one conclusion to be reached about you, that the interpretation is likewise false, and packed full of deception, so as to speak before me until the time passes away. And so, tell me the dream, so that I will also know that the interpretation that you tell me is likewise true.”

10 The 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;

Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and they said, “There is no man on earth who can accomplish your word, O king. For neither has any king, however great and mighty, asked for an answer of this kind from every seer, and astrologer, and Chaldean.

11 and 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.'

For the answer that you seek, O king, is very difficult. Neither can anyone be found who can reveal it in the sight of the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.”

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

When he heard this, the king commanded, in fury and in great wrath, that all the wise men of Babylon should be destroyed.

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

And when the decree had gone forth, the wise men were put to death; and Daniel and his companions were sought, to be destroyed.

14 Then 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.

Then Daniel inquired, about the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the king’s army, who had gone forth to execute the wise men of Babylon.

15 He 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,

And he asked him, who had received the orders of the king, for what reason such a cruel sentence had gone forth from the face of the king. And so, when Arioch had revealed the matter to Daniel,

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

Daniel went in and asked of the king that he would grant him time to reveal the solution to the king.

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

And he went into his house and explained the task to Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,

18 and 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.

so that they would seek mercy before the face of the God of heaven, about this mystery, and so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the other wise men of Babylon.

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

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven,

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

and speaking aloud, he said, “May the name of the Lord be blessed by the present generation and forever; for wisdom and fortitude 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.

And he alters the times and the ages. He takes away kingdoms and he establishes them. He gives wisdom to those who are wise and teaching skills to those who understand.

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

He reveals deep and hidden things, and he knows what has been established in darkness. And the light is with him.

23 Thee, 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.'

To you, God of our fathers, I confess, and you, I praise. For you have given wisdom and fortitude to me, and now you have revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have uncovered for us the king’s thoughts.”

24 Therefore 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.'

After this, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke to him in this way, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will explain the solution to the king.”

25 Then 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.'

Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel to the king, and he said to him, “I have found a man of the sons of the transmigration of Judah, who would announce the solution to the king.”

26 The 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?'

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Do you really think that you can reveal to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?”

27 Daniel 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;

And Daniel, facing the king, answered and said, “The secret that the king seeks, the wise men, the seers, and the soothsayers are unable to reveal to the king.

28 but 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:

But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, who has revealed to you, king Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the latter times. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed, are such as these.

29 Thou, 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.

You, O king, began to think, while in your blanket, about what will be hereafter. And he who reveals secrets showed you what will happen.

30 As to me — not 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.

To me, likewise, this mystery is revealed, not according to the wisdom that is in me more than in other living things, but so that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and so that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

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.

You, O king, saw, and behold, something like a great statue. This statue, which was great and high, stood exalted above you, and you considered how terrible it was.

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

The head of this statue was of the finest gold, but the breast and the arms were of silver, and further on, the belly and the thighs were of brass;

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

but the shins were of iron, a certain part of the feet were of iron and another part were of clay.

34 Thou 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;

And so you looked until a stone was broken off without hands from a mountain, and it struck the statue on its feet, which were of iron and clay, and it shattered them.

35 then 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.

Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and diminished like the ashes of a summer courtyard, and they were quickly taken away by the wind, and no place was found for them; but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

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

This is the dream; we will also tell its interpretation before you, O 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;

You are a king among kings, and the God of heaven has given to you a kingdom, and fortitude, and power, and glory,

38 and 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.

and all the places wherein the sons of men and the beasts of the field dwell. He has likewise given the flying creatures of the air into your hand, and he has placed all things under your realm. Therefore, you are the head of gold.

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

And after you, another kingdom will rise up, inferior to you, of silver, and another third kingdom of brass, which will rule over the whole world.

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 beateth small and breaketh.

And the fourth kingdom will be like iron. Just as iron shatters and conquers all things, so will it shatter and crush all these.

41 As 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.

Furthermore, because you saw the feet and the toes to be part of potter’s clay and part of iron, the kingdom will be divided, but still, from the slip of iron it will take its origin, since you saw the iron mingled with the earthenware from clay.

42 As 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.

And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, part of the kingdom will be strong and part will be crushed.

43 Because 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.

Yet, because you saw the iron mingled with pottery from the earth, they will indeed be combined together with the offspring of man, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron cannot be mixed with earthenware.

44 'And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens a kingdom that is not destroyed — to 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.

But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will inspire a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and his kingdom will not be handed over to another people, and it will crush and will consume all these kingdoms, and this kingdom itself will stand in eternity.

45 Because 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.

In accordance with what you saw, because the stone was torn away from the mountain without hands, and it crushed the earthenware, and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God has shown the king what will happen after this. And the dream is true, and its interpretation is faithful.”

46 Then 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.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and adored Daniel, and he commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.

47 The 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.'

And so the king spoke with Daniel and said, “Truly, your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and also a revealer of secrets, since you could uncover this mystery.”

48 Then 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.

Then the king raised Daniel to a high rank and gave him many great gifts, and he appointed him as leader over all the provinces of Babylon and as chief of the magistrates over all the other wise men of Babylon.

49 And 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.

However, Daniel required of the king that he appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the works of the province of Babylon. But Daniel himself was at the king’s door.