Daniel 4

1 'Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the earth: Your peace be great!

Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages living in all the earth: May your peace be increased.

2 The signs and wonders that God Most High hath done with me, it is good before me to shew.

It has seemed good to me to make clear the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done with me.

3 His signs how great! and His wonders how mighty! His kingdom [is] a kingdom age-during, and His rule [is] with generation and generation.

How great are his signs! and how full of power are his wonders! his kingdom is an eternal kingdom and his rule goes on from generation to generation.

4 'I, Nebuchadnezzar, have been at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace:

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my place, and all things were going well for me in my great house:

5 a dream I have seen, and it maketh me afraid, and the conceptions on my bed, and the visions of my head, do trouble me.

I saw a dream which was a cause of great fear to me; I was troubled by the images of my mind on my bed, and by the visions of my head.

6 And by me a decree is made, to cause all the wise men of Babylon to come up before me, that the interpretation of the dream they may cause me to know.

And I gave orders for all the wise men of Babylon to come in before me so that they might make clear to me the sense of my dream.

7 Then coming up are the scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and the dream I have told before them, and its interpretation they are not making known to me.

Then the wonder-workers, the users of secret arts, the Chaldaeans, and the readers of signs came in to me: and I put the dream before them but they did not make clear the sense of it to me.

8 And at last come up before me hath Daniel, whose name [is] Belteshazzar — according to the name of my god — and in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods, and the dream before him I have told:

But at last Daniel came in before me, he whose name was Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I put the dream before him, saying,

9 'O Belteshazzar, master of the scribes, as I have known that the spirit of the holy gods [is] in thee, and no secret doth press thee, the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation, tell.

O Belteshazzar, master of the wonder-workers, because I am certain that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and you are troubled by no secret; this is the dream which I saw: make clear to me its sense.

10 As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height [is] great:

On my bed I saw a vision: there was a tree in the middle of the earth, and it was very high.

11 become great hath the tree, yea, strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to the end of the whole land;

And the tree became tall and strong, stretching up to heaven, and to be seen from the ends of the earth:

12 its leaves [are] fair, and its budding great, and food for all [is] in it: under it take shade doth the beast of the field, and in its boughs dwell do the birds of the heavens, and of it fed are all flesh.

Its leaves were fair and it had much fruit, and in it was food enough for all: the beasts of the field had shade under it, and the birds of heaven were resting in its branches, and it gave food to all living things.

13 'I was looking, in the visions of my head on my bed, and lo, a sifter, even a holy one, from the heavens is coming down.

In the visions of my head on my bed I saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven,

14 He is calling mightily, and thus hath said, Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its budding, move away let the beast from under it, and the birds from off its branches;

Crying out with a loud voice; and this is what he said: Let the tree be cut down and its branches broken off; let its leaves be taken off and its fruit sent in every direction: let the beasts get away from under it and the birds from its branches:

15 but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens is it wet, and with the beasts [is] his portion in the herb of the earth;

But keep its broken end and its roots still in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass; let him have the young grass of the field for food, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his part be with the beasts.

16 his heart from man's is changed, and the heart of a beast is given to him, and seven times pass over him;

Let his heart be changed from that of a man, and the heart of a beast be given to him; and let seven times go by him.

17 by the decree of the sifters [is] the sentence, and by the saying of the holy ones the requirement, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it, and the lowest of men He doth raise up over it.

This order is fixed by the watchers, and the decision is by the word of the holy ones: so that the living may be certain that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure, lifting up over it the lowest of men.

18 'This dream I have seen, I king Nebuchadnezzar; and thou, O Belteshazzar, the interpretation tell, because that all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to cause me to know the interpretation, and thou [art] able, for the spirit of the holy gods [is] in thee.

This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw; and do you, O Belteshazzar, make clear the sense of it, for all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to make the sense of it clear to me; but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.

19 'Then Daniel, whose name [is] Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him; the king hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My lord, the dream — to those hating thee, and its interpretation — to thine enemies!

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was at a loss for a time, his thoughts troubling him. The king made answer and said, Belteshazzar, do not be troubled by the dream or by the sense of it. Belteshazzar, answering, said, My lord, may the dream be about your haters, and its sense about those who are against you.

20 The tree that thou hast seen, that hath become great and strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to all the land,

The tree which you saw, which became tall and strong, stretching up to heaven and seen from the ends of the earth;

21 and its leaves [are] fair, and its budding great, and food for all [is] in it, under it dwell doth the beast of the field, and on its boughs sit do the birds of the heavens.

Which had fair leaves and much fruit, and had in it food for all; under which the beasts of the field were living, and in the branches of which the birds of heaven had their resting-places:

22 'Thou it [is], O king, for thou hast become great and mighty, and thy greatness hath become great, and hath reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth;

It is you, O King, who have become great and strong: for your power is increased and stretching up to heaven, and your rule to the end of the earth.

23 and that which the king hath seen — a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he hath said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field [is] his portion, till that seven times pass over him.

And as for the vision which the king saw of a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven, saying, Let the tree be cut down and given to destruction;

24 'This [is] the interpretation, O king, and the decree of the Most High it [is] that hath come against my lord the king:

This is the sense of it, O King, and it is the decision of the Most High which has come on my lord the king:

25 and they are driving thee away from men, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, and the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and by the dew of the heavens they are wetting thee, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it.

That they will send you out from among men, to be with the beasts of the field; they will give you grass for your food like the oxen, and you will be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times will go by you, till you are certain that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure.

26 And that which they said — to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom for thee abideth, after that thou knowest that the heavens are ruling.

And as they gave orders to let the broken end and the roots of the tree be, so your kingdom will be safe for you after it is clear to you that the heavens are ruling.

27 'Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and thy sins by righteousness break off, and thy perversity by pitying the poor, lo, it is a lengthening of thine ease.

For this cause, O King, let my suggestion be pleasing to you, and let your sins be covered by righteousness and your evil-doing by mercy to the poor, so that the time of your well-being may be longer.

28 'All — hath come on Nebuchadnezzar the king.

All this came to King Nebuchadnezzar.

29 'At the end of twelve months, on the palace of the kingdom of Babylon he hath been walking;

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of his great house in Babylon.

30 the king hath answered and said, Is not this that great Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength, and for the glory of mine honour?

The king made answer and said, Is this not great Babylon, which I have made for the living-place of kings, by the strength of my power and for the glory of my honour?

31 'While the word is [in] the king's mouth a voice from the heavens hath fallen: To thee they are saying: O Nebuchadnezzar the king, the kingdom hath passed from thee,

While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice came down from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is said: The kingdom has gone from you:

32 and from men they are driving thee away, and with the beast of the field [is] thy dwelling, the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it.

And they will send you out from among men, to be with the beasts of the field; they will give you grass for your food like the oxen, and seven times will go by you, till you are certain that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure.

33 'In that hour the thing hath been fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and from men he is driven, and the herb as oxen he eateth, and by the dew of the heavens his body is wet, till that his hair as eagles' hath become great, and his nails as birds.'

That very hour the order about Nebuchadnezzar was put into effect: and he was sent out from among men, and had grass for his food like the oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair became long as eagles' feathers and his nails like those of birds.

34 'And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, mine eyes to the heavens have lifted up, and mine understanding unto me returneth, and the Most High I have blessed, and the Age-during Living One I have praised and honoured, whose dominion [is] a dominion age-during, and His kingdom with generation and generation;

And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifting up my eyes to heaven, got back my reason, and, blessing the Most High, I gave praise and honour to him who is living for ever, whose rule is an eternal rule and whose kingdom goes on from generation to generation.

35 and all who are dwelling on the earth as nothing are reckoned, and according to his will He is doing among the forces of the heavens and those dwelling on the earth, and there is none that doth clap with his hand, and saith to Him, What hast Thou done?

And all the people of the earth are as nothing: he does his pleasure in the army of heaven and among the people of the earth: and no one is able to keep back his hand, or say to him, What are you doing?

36 'At that time my understanding doth return unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honour and my brightness doth return unto me, and to me my counsellors and my great men do seek, and over my kingdom I have been made right, and abundant greatness hath been added to me.

At the same time my reason came back to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my honour and my great name came back to me; and my wise men and my lords were turned to me again; and I was made safe in my kingdom and had more power than before.

37 'Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honouring the King of the heavens, for all His works [are] truth, and His paths judgment, and those walking in pride He is able to humble.'

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give worship and praise and honour to the King of heaven; for all his works are true and his ways are right: and those who go in pride he is able to make low.