Daniel 2

1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and he could not sleep.

2So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. They came in and stood before the king.

3The king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”

4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

5The king answered the Chaldeans, “This is my firm decision: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into rubble.

6But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts, a reward, and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

7They answered a second time, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.”

8The king answered, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you see that my decision is firm:

9if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one sentence for you. You have agreed among yourselves to tell me lying and corrupt words until the situation changes. So tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”

10The Chaldeans answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can tell what the king asks. No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean.

11What the king asks is difficult, and there is no one who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

12Because of this the king became angry and very furious, and he ordered all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed.

13So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed. They looked for Daniel and his companions to kill them too.

14Then Daniel responded with wise counsel and tact to Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

15He asked Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.

16So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, so that he could give the king the interpretation.

17Then Daniel went to his house and told the matter to his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

18so that they would ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this mystery, and Daniel and his companions would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20Daniel said, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him.

21He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

22He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.

23To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and power. Now you have made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

24Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will give the king the interpretation.”

25Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel in before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”

26The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream I saw and its interpretation?”

27Daniel answered the king, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about.

28But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the last days. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay in bed were these:

29As for you, O king, while you lay in bed, your thoughts turned to what would happen after this, and the revealer of mysteries has made known to you what is going to happen.

30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me not because I have more wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that the interpretation may be made known to the king and you may understand the thoughts of your heart.

31You were watching, O king, and there was a great statue. That statue was huge and its brightness extraordinary. It stood in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying.

32The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,

33its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

34As you watched, a stone was cut out, not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.

35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were all crushed together and became like chaff from the threshing floors in summer. The wind swept them away, and not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36This was the dream, and now we will tell the king its interpretation.

37You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory.

38Wherever they live, he has given into your hand human beings, the wild animals, and the birds of the sky, and he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

39After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule over the whole earth.

40Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. Just as iron crushes and shatters everything, and as iron smashes things, it will crush and smash all these.

41Just as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, so it will be a divided kingdom; yet some of the firmness of iron will be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay.

42As the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.

43And just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix together through intermarriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

44In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it will stand forever—

45just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain, not by human hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has made known to the king what will happen after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel, and he ordered that an offering and fragrant incense be presented to him.

47The king said to Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”

48Then the king gave Daniel a high position and many great gifts. He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

49At Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained at the king’s court.