The King’s Forgotten Dream

2 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ^[a](A)had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his ^(B)sleep ^[b]left him. ² Then the king ^[c]gave orders to call in the ^[d](C)magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the ^[e]Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. ³ The king said to them, “I ^[f](D)had a dream and my spirit ^[g]is anxious to ^[h]understand the dream.”

⁴ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^[i](E)Aramaic: “^(F)O king, live forever! ^(G)Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁵ The king replied to the Chaldeans, “^[j]The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^[k](H)torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. ⁶ But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^(I)gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king ^(J)tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁸ The king replied, “I know for certain that you are ^[l]bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that ^[m]the command from me is firm, ⁹ that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^(K)one ^[n]decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ^[o]words before me until the ^[p]situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may ^(L)know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” ¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered ^[q]the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter ^[r]for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^[s](M)magician, conjurer or Chaldean. ¹¹ Moreover, the thing which the king demands is ^[t]difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^[u]to the king except ^(N)gods, whose ^(O)dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

¹² Because of this the king became ^(P)indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the ^[v]decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for ^(Q)Daniel and his friends to ^[w]kill them.

¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^(R)Arioch, the captain of the king’s ^[x]bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; ¹⁵ he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the ^[y]decree from the king so ^[z]urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. ¹⁶ So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would ^[aa]give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, ^(S)Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, ¹⁸ so that they might ^(T)request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^(U)destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night ^(V)vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; ²⁰ Daniel said,

²⁴ Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “^(AH)Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me ^[ad]into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

²⁵ Then Arioch hurriedly ^(AI)brought Daniel ^[ae]into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the ^[af](AJ)exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” ²⁶ The king said to Daniel, whose name was ^(AK)Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither ^(AL)wise men, conjurers, ^[ag]magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. ²⁸ However, there is a ^(AM)God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ^[ah](AN)latter days. This was your dream and the ^(AO)visions ^[ai]in your mind while on your bed. ²⁹ As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts ^[aj]turned to what would take place ^[ak]in the future; and ^(AP)He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. ³⁰ But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any ^(AQ)wisdom ^[al]residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may ^[am]understand the ^(AR)thoughts of your ^[an]mind.

The King’s Dream

³¹ “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and ^[ao]of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was ^(AS)awesome. ³² The ^(AT)head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ You ^[ap]continued looking until a ^(AU)stone was cut out ^(AV)without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and ^(AW)crushed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed ^[aq]all at the same time and became ^(AX)like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ^(AY)not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ^(AZ)mountain and filled the whole earth.

The Interpretation—Babylon the First Kingdom

³⁶ “This was the dream; now we will tell ^(BA)its interpretation before the king. ³⁷ You, O king, are the ^(BB)king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the ^[ar]kingdom, the ^(BC)power, the strength and the glory; ³⁸ and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the ^(BD)beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.

Medo-Persia and Greece

³⁹ After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

Rome

⁴⁰ Then there will be a ^(BE)fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. ⁴¹ In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with ^[as]common clay. ⁴² As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. ⁴³ And in that you saw the iron mixed with ^[at]common clay, they will combine with one another ^[au]in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.

The Divine Kingdom

⁴⁴ In the days of those kings the ^(BF)God of heaven will ^(BG)set up a ^(BH)kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be ^[av]left for another people; it will ^(BI)crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ Inasmuch as you saw that a ^(BJ)stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the ^(BK)great God has made known to the king what ^(BL)will take place ^[aw]in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel Promoted

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did ^(BM)homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and ^[ax](BN)fragrant incense. ⁴⁷ The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely ^(BO)your God is a ^(BP)God of gods and a Lord of kings and a ^(BQ)revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king ^[ay](BR)promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole ^(BS)province of Babylon and chief ^[az]prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ And Daniel made request of the king, and he ^(BT)appointed ^(BU)Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ^[ba](BV)court.

The King’s Golden Image

3 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an ^(A)image of gold, the height of which was sixty ^[a]cubits and its width six ^[b]cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the ^(B)province of Babylon. ² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the ^(C)satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ³ Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you ^[c]the command is given, ^(D)O peoples, nations and men of every ^[d]language, ⁵ that at the moment you ^(E)hear the sound of the horn, flute, ^[e]lyre, ^[f]trigon, ^[g]psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. ⁶ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall ^[h]immediately be ^(F)cast into the midst of a ^(G)furnace of blazing fire.” ⁷ Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, ^[i]lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every ^[j]language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Worship of the Image Refused

⁸ For this reason at that time certain ^(H)Chaldeans came forward and ^[k](I)brought charges against the Jews. ⁹ They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “^(J)O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have ^(K)made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, ^[l]lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to ^(L)fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(M)appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in ^(N)rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve ^(O)my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready, ^(P)at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, ^[m]lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will ^[n]immediately be ^(Q)cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and ^(R)what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (S)Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. ^17 [o]If it be so, our ^(T)God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; ^[p]and ^(U)He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ^18 (V)But even if He does not, ^(W)let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel’s Friends Protected

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with ^(X)wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered ^[q]by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹ Then these men were tied up in their ^[r](Y)trousers, their ^[s]coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. ²² For this reason, because the king’s ^[t]command was ^[u](Z)urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. ²³ But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, ^(AA)fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” ²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and ^(AB)walking about in the midst of the fire ^[v]without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the ^(AC)gods!” ²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the ^(AD)Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego ^(AE)came out of the midst of the fire. ²⁷ The ^(AF)satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the ^(AG)fire had no ^[w]effect on ^[x]the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their ^[y](AH)trousers ^[z]damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the ^(AI)God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has ^(AJ)sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their ^(AK)trust in Him, ^[aa]violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as ^(AL)not to serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I ^(AM)make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of ^(AN)Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their ^(AO)houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is ^(AP)no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king ^(AQ)caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

The King Acknowledges God

4 ^[a]Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every ^[b]language that live in all the earth: “May your ^[c](A)peace abound! ² It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the ^(B)Most High God has done for me.

The Vision of a Great Tree

⁴ “^[d]I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ^(E)flourishing in my palace. ⁵ I saw a ^(F)dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the ^(G)visions ^[e]in my mind kept alarming me. ⁶ So I gave orders to ^(H)bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷ Then the ^[f](I)magicians, the conjurers, the ^[g]Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream ^[h]to them, but they could not make its ^(J)interpretation known to me. ⁸ But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is ^(K)Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ^[i](L)a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream ^[j]to him, saying, ⁹ ‘O Belteshazzar, ^(M)chief of the magicians, since I know that ^(N)a spirit of the holy gods is in you and ^(O)no mystery baffles you, ^(P)tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

¹⁰ ‘Now these were the ^(Q)visions ^[k]in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a ^(R)tree in the midst of the ^[l]earth and its height was great.

¹³ ‘I was looking in the ^(X)visions ^[n]in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, ^(Y)an angelic watcher, a ^(Z)holy one, descended from heaven.

¹⁸ This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the ^(AH)wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a ^(AI)spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Interprets the Vision

¹⁹ “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ^(AJ)thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not ^(AK)let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘^(AL)My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to ^(AM)your adversaries! ²⁰ The ^(AN)tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth ²¹ and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged— ²² it is ^(AO)you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your ^[t]majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your ^(AP)dominion to the end of the earth. ²³ In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “^(AQ)Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump ^[u]with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let ^[v]him share with the beasts of the field until ^(AR)seven ^[w]periods of time pass over him,” ²⁴ this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has ^(AS)come upon my lord the king: ²⁵ that you be ^(AT)driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven ^[x]periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the ^(AU)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and ^(AV)bestows it on whomever He wishes. ²⁶ And in that it was commanded to ^(AW)leave the stump ^[y]with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be ^[z]assured to you after you recognize that it is ^(AX)Heaven that rules. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, may my ^(AY)advice be pleasing to you: ^[aa](AZ)break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by ^(BA)showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a ^(BB)prolonging of your prosperity.’

The Vision Fulfilled

²⁸ “All this ^(BC)happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. ^29 (BD)Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. ³⁰ The king ^[ab]reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the ^(BE)great, which I myself have built as a royal ^[ac]residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ ³¹ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice ^[ad]came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: ^[ae]sovereignty has been removed from you, ³² and ^(BF)you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and ^(BG)seven ^[af]periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the ^(BH)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ ³³ Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was ^(BI)driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴ “But at the end of ^[ag]that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my ^[ah]reason returned to me, and I blessed the ^(BJ)Most High and praised and honored ^(BK)Him who lives forever;

³⁶ At that time my ^[aj](BQ)reason returned to me. And my majesty and ^(BR)splendor were ^[ak]restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my ^[al]sovereignty, and surpassing ^(BS)greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of ^(BT)heaven, for ^(BU)all His works are ^[am]true and His ways ^[an]just, and He is able to humble those who ^(BV)walk in pride.”