Daniel 2
1 In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and sleep left him.
2 The king ordered the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to be summoned so they could tell him his dreams. They came and stood before him.
3 The king told them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled because I want to understand it.”
4 The Chaldeans addressed the king in Aramaic: “O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will explain it.”
5 The king answered the Chaldeans, “My decision is final: if you do not tell me the dream and its meaning, you will be cut to pieces, and your houses will be reduced to heaps of rubble.
6 But if you tell me the dream and its meaning, I will give you gifts, a reward, and great honor. So tell me the dream and its meaning.”
7 They replied again, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will explain it.”
8 The king answered, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, since you can see that my decision is final.
9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one sentence for you. You have agreed to give me false and corrupt answers, hoping the situation will change with time. So tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can explain it to me.”
10 The Chaldeans replied to the king, “There is no one on earth who can tell the king what he asks. No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean.
11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not among mortal flesh.”
12 At this, the king became angry and extremely furious. He ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
13 The decree went out, and the wise men were being put to death. Daniel and his companions were sought out for execution as well.
14 Then Daniel spoke to Arioch, the chief of the king’s guards, with good judgment and tact. Arioch had gone out to kill Babylon’s wise men.
15 He asked the king’s officer Arioch, “Why is the king’s decree so severe?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.
16 Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time, so he could explain the dream to the king.
17 After that, Daniel went home and told his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened.
18 They were to ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his companions would not be killed along with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.
19 Then the mystery was disclosed to Daniel in a vision during the night, and Daniel praised the God of heaven.
20 Daniel said, “May God’s name be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him.
21 He alters times and seasons; he removes kings and appoints kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and understanding to those who know.
22 He uncovers what is deep and hidden. He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
23 God of my ancestors, I thank and praise you, because you have given me wisdom and power. Now you have shown me what we asked of you: you have made the king’s matter known to us.”
24 Because of this, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had assigned to destroy Babylon’s wise men. He went and told him, “Do not kill Babylon’s wise men. Take me before the king, and I will explain the meaning to him.”
25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said, “I have found a man among the Judean exiles who can explain the meaning to the king.”
26 The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Can you tell me the dream I saw and what it means?”
27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can reveal to the king the mystery he is asking about.
28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the last days. Here is your dream and the visions that came to your mind as you lay in bed.
29 As for you, O king, while you were in bed, your thoughts turned to what would happen afterward. The revealer of mysteries has shown you what is to come.
30 This mystery was revealed to me, not because I possess greater wisdom than any other living person, but so the meaning could be made known to the king and you could understand the thoughts of your heart.
31 O king, as you watched, you saw a huge statue. It was enormous, dazzling in its brightness, and stood in front of you. Its appearance was terrifying.
32 The statue’s head was pure gold; its chest and arms were silver; its belly and thighs were bronze;
33 its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay.
34 As you watched, a stone was cut out without human hands touching it. It struck the statue on its iron-and-clay feet and shattered them.
35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold all broke apart together. They became like chaff on the summer threshing floors, and the wind swept them away until not a trace remained. The stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 That was the dream. Now we will explain its meaning to the king.
37 O king, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you the kingdom, power, strength, and honor.
38 Everywhere human beings live, he has placed the wild animals and the birds of the sky in your hands and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 After you, another kingdom will arise, less powerful than yours. Then a third kingdom of bronze will rule over the whole earth.
40 A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron. Just as iron crushes and smashes everything, that kingdom will crush and shatter all these.
41 You saw the feet and toes made partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron. That kingdom will be divided, but it will retain some of iron’s strength, since you saw iron mixed with muddy clay.
42 The toes were partly iron and partly clay, so part of that kingdom will be strong and part will be fragile.
43 You saw iron mixed with muddy clay. They will mingle through human marriages, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not blend with clay.
44 During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. It will not pass to another people. It will crush and bring an end to all those kingdoms, but it will endure forever.
45 You saw a stone cut from a mountain without human hands, and it crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen afterward. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown and bowed before Daniel. He ordered that a grain offering and incense be presented to him.
47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is God of gods, Lord of kings, and revealer of mysteries, since you were able to disclose this mystery.”
48 Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many valuable gifts, appointed him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and made him chief administrator over all Babylon’s wise men.
49 Daniel asked the king, and the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the province of Babylon’s affairs. Daniel remained at the king’s court.
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