Daniel 4:12-16

The Message

^10-12“‘This is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a big towering tree at the center of the world. As I watched, the tree grew huge and strong. Its top reached the sky and it could be seen from the four corners of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant—enough food for everyone! Wild animals found shelter under it, birds nested in its branches, everything living was fed and sheltered by it.

^13-15“‘And this also is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a holy watchman descend from heaven, and call out:

    Chop down the tree, lop off its branches,
        strip its leaves and scatter its fruit.
    Chase the animals from beneath it
        and shoo the birds from its branches.
    But leave the stump and roots in the ground,
        belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow.

^15-16    Let him be soaked in heaven’s dew
        and take his meals with the animals that graze.
    Let him lose his mind
        and get an animal’s mind in exchange,
    And let this go on
        for seven seasons.