Daniel 2:20-33

New King James Version

²⁰Daniel answered and said:

^(A)“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
^(B)For wisdom and might are His.
²¹And He changes ^(C)the times and the seasons;
^(D)He removes kings and raises up kings;
^(E)He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
²²^(F)He reveals deep and secret things;
^(G)He knows what is in the darkness,
And ^(H)light dwells with Him.

²³“I thank You and praise You,
O God of my fathers;
You have given me wisdom and might,
And have now made known to me what we ^(I)asked of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s ^[a]demand.”

Daniel Explains the Dream

²⁴Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.”

²⁵Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the ^[b]captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.”

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

²⁷Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. ²⁸^(J)But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(K)what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: ²⁹As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; ^(L)and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. ³⁰^(M)But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, ^(N)and that you may ^[c]know the thoughts of your heart.

³¹“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. ³²^(O)This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and ^[d]thighs of bronze, ³³its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of ^[e]clay.