Daniel 2
1 In the second year of [his] reign Nabuchodonosor dreamed a dream, and his spirit was amazed, and his sleep departed from him.
In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign the king had dreams that upset him so much that he found it difficult to sleep.
2 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.
So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. They came in and stood before him.
3 And the king said to them, I have dreamed, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
“I've had a dream that has really upset me,” he told them. “I need to know what it means.”
4 And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, [saying], O king, live for ever: do you tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.
The astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “May Your Majesty the king live forever! Tell us your dream and we your servants will interpret it for you.”
5 The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing has departed from me: if you do not make known to me the dream and the interpretation, you shall be destroyed, and your houses shall be spoiled.
“I can't recall it,” the king told the astrologers. “If you can't reveal the dream to me, and its meaning, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be totally destroyed!
6 But if you make known to me the dream, and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and presents and much honor: only tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
But if you can tell me the dream and its meaning you will receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. So tell me the dream and what it means!”
7 They answered the second time, and said, Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.
Again they said the same thing: “If Your Majesty the king would tell us his servants the dream, we will explain what it means.”
8 And the king answered and said, I verily know that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the thing has gone from me.
“It's obvious to me that you're just trying to buy time!” said the king. “You can see that I can't remember the dream.
9 If then you do not tell me the dream, I know that you 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 you will also declare to me the interpretation thereof.
If you can't reveal the dream to me, you will all receive the same punishment! You have conspired against me, telling me lies, hoping things will change. So tell me what my dream was and then I'll know that you can explain what it means.”
10 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.
The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth could tell the king what he dreamed! Never before has a king, however great and powerful, demanded this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer!
11 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.
What Your Majesty is asking is impossible! No one can tell Your Majesty what you dreamed, except the gods, and they do not live among us mortals.”
12 Then the king in rage and anger commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
This made the king extremely angry, and he ordered all the wise men of Babylon executed.
13 So the decree went forth, and they began to kill the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to kill [them].
The decree was issued. The wise men were about to be executed, and the king's men went looking for Daniel and his friends.
14 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],
Daniel approached Arioch, the commander of the imperial guard, whom the king had put in charge of the order to execute all the wise men of Babylon. Wisely and tactfully
15 Chief magistrate of the king, therefore has the preemptory command proceeded from the king? So Arioch made known the matter to Daniel.
Daniel asked him, “Why would the king issue such a harsh decree?” So Arioch explained to Daniel what had happened.
16 And Daniel entreated the king to give him time, and that he might [thus] declare to the king the interpretation of it.
Daniel immediately went to see the king and asked for more time to explain the dream and its meaning to him.
17 So Daniel went into his house, and made known the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias, his friends.
Then Daniel went home and shared with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what was going on.
18 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.
He told them to pray to the God of heaven, asking for help regarding this mystery, so that he and his friends would not be killed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night; and Daniel blessed the God of heaven, and said,
That night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven:
20 May the name of God be blessed from everlasting and to everlasting: for wisdom and understanding are his.
“Praise the wonderful nature of God forever and ever, for he is wise and powerful.
21 And he changes times and seasons: he appoints kings, and removes [them], giving wisdom to the wise, and prudence to them that have understanding:
He is in charge of time and history. He removes kings, and he sets kings in place. He gives wisdom to make people wise; he gives knowledge to people so they can understand.
22 he reveals deep and secret [matters]; knowing what is in darkness, and the light is with him.
He reveals deep, mysterious things. He knows what lies in darkness, and light lives in his presence.
23 I give thanks to you, and praise [you], O God of my fathers, for you has given me wisdom and power, and has made known to me the things which we asked of you; and you has made known to me the king's vision.
I give thanks and praise to you, God of my fathers, for you have given me wisdom and power. Now you have revealed to me what we asked you; you have revealed to us the king's dream.”
24 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.
So Daniel went to Arioch whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon and told him, “Don't execute the wise men of Babylon! Take me to see the king and I will explain to him his dream.”
25 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.
Arioch immediately took Daniel to the king and told him, “I've found one of the captives from Judah who can tell Your Majesty what your dream means.”
26 And the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltasar, Canst you declare to me the dream which I saw, and the interpretation thereof?
The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you really able to tell me what my dream was, and what it means?”
27 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.
“No wise men or enchanters or magicians or diviners can explain the mystery Your Majesty wants to know,” Daniel replied.
28 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. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are as follows,
“But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the last days. Your dream and the visions that came to your mind as you were lying in bed were these.
29 O king: your thoughts upon your bed arose [as to] what must come to pass hereafter: and he that reveals mysteries has made known to you what must come to pass.
As Your Majesty lay there, your thoughts turned to the future, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what would take place.
30 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 you might know the thoughts of your heart.
It's not because I have any more wisdom than anyone else that this mystery has been revealed to me, but to explain to Your Majesty what you were thinking about so you could understand.
31 You, O king, saw, and behold an image: that image was great, and the appearance of it excellent, standing before your face; and the form of it was terrible.
Your Majesty, as you looked, there before you stood a great statue. The statue standing in front of you was huge, and blazingly bright. It looked terrifying!
32 [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,
The head of the statue was gold, the chest and arms were silver, its middle and thighs were bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet, part of iron and part of earthenware.
its legs were iron, and its feet were iron and baked clay.
34 You saw until a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it struck the image upon its feet of iron and earthenware, and utterly reduced them to powder.
While you were watching, a stone was quarried, but not by human hands. It struck the iron and clay feet of the statue and smashed them to pieces.
35 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 threshing floor; and the violence of the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them: and the stone which had struck the image became a great mountain, and filled all the earth.
Then the rest of the statue—the bronze, the silver, and the gold—broke into pieces like the iron and clay. The wind blew them all away like chaff from the summer threshing floor, so that no trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
This was the dream, and now we will explain what it means to the king.
37 You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a powerful and strong and honorable kingdom,
Your Majesty, you are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, and power, strength, and glory.
38 in every place where the children of men dwell: and he has given into your hand the wild beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and he has made you lord of all.
He gave you control over all peoples, as well as the wild animals and birds. He made you ruler of all of them. You are the head of gold.
39 You are the head of gold. And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, an a third kingdom which is the brass, which shall have dominion over all the earth;
But after you another kingdom will rise that is inferior to your kingdom and will replace yours. After that a third kingdom that is bronze will rise and rule over the whole world.
40 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.
The fourth kingdom will be strong as iron and in the same way that iron crushes and smashes everything; it will crush and smash all others.
41 And whereas you saw 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 you saw the iron mixed with earthenware.
You saw the feet and toes made from iron and baked clay, and this indicates it will be a divided kingdom. It will have some of the strength of iron but mixed with clay.
42 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.
As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
43 Whereas you saw 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.
In the same way that you saw the iron mixed with ordinary clay, so the people will mix but they will not stick together just as iron and clay do not mix.
44 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.
During the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed or taken over by others. It will crush all these kingdoms, bringing them to an end, and it will last forever,
45 Whereas you saw 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.
in the same way that you saw the stone quarried from the mountain, but not by human hands, crush the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has revealed to Your Majesty what is to come. The dream is true, and the explanation is trustworthy.”
46 Then king Nabuchodonosor fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and gave orders to offer to him gifts and incense.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell down before Daniel and worshiped him, and ordered offerings of grain and incense to be made to him.
47 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 you has been able to reveal this mystery.
The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, the revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
48 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.
Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and gave him many expensive gifts, making him governor over the whole province of Babylon and head of all the wise men of Babylon.
49 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.
At Daniel's request, the king placed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the province of Babylon, and Daniel remained at the king's court.
