Daniel 2

1 In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he had a dream. His spirit was deeply troubled, and sleep left him. 2 The king ordered the chanters, magicians, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to be summoned to tell him his dream. 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 spoke to the king in Aramaic: “King, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will explain its interpretation.” 5 The king answered the Chaldeans, “The matter has left me. If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be destroyed and your houses will be plundered.” 6 “But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will explain its interpretation.” 8 The king answered, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time because you see that the matter has left me.” 9 “If you do not tell me the dream, I know you have agreed to tell me something false and corrupt until the time passes. Tell me the dream, and I will know that you can also explain its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king, “No one on earth can reveal the king’s matter. No great king or ruler asks such a thing of any chanter, magician, or Chaldean.” 11 “What the king asks is difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortal creatures.” 12 Then the king became furious and ordered all Babylon’s wise men to be destroyed. 13 The decree went out, the wise men began to be killed, and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them too.

14 Daniel responded with counsel and good judgment to Arioch, the captain of the royal guard, who had gone out to kill Babylon’s wise men. 15 Daniel asked him, “Officer of the king, why has such a harsh order gone out from the king?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. 16 Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time so that he could explain the interpretation to him. 17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 They sought pity from the God of heaven concerning this secret so that Daniel and his friends would not perish with the rest of Babylon’s wise men. 19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision during the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 “May God’s name be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and understanding belong to him.” 21 “He changes times and seasons, appoints kings and removes them, gives wisdom to the wise, and insight to those who have understanding.” 22 “He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.” 23 “God of my fathers, I thank and praise you, because you have given me wisdom and power. Now you have revealed what we asked of you; you have revealed the king’s vision to me.”

24 Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy Babylon’s wise men, and said, “Do not destroy Babylon’s wise men. Bring me before the king, and I will explain the interpretation to him.” 25 Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said, “I have found a man among the Judean captives who will explain the interpretation to the king.” 26 The king asked Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Can you tell me the dream I saw and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king, “The secret the king asks about cannot be revealed to him by wise men, magicians, chanters, or soothsayers.” 28 “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what must happen in the last days. This is your dream and the visions that came to you as you lay on your bed.” 29 “King, as you lay on your bed, your thoughts turned to what must happen after this. The one who reveals secrets has shown you what must happen.” 30 “This secret was not revealed to me because I possess more wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that the interpretation might be made known to the king and you might understand the thoughts of your heart.” 31 “King, you saw a single great image standing before you. Its appearance was extraordinary, and its form was terrifying.” 32 “The image’s head was fine gold; its hands, chest, and arms were silver; and 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 from a mountain without human hands. It struck the image on its iron-and-clay feet and crushed them to powder.” † 35 “Then the clay, iron, bronze, silver, and gold were all crushed to powder. They became like chaff from a summer threshing floor, and the force of the wind carried them away until no trace of them remained. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation.” 37 “You, king, are a king of kings. The God of heaven has given you a strong, mighty, and honored kingdom.” 38 “Wherever human beings live, he has placed the wild animals of the field and the birds of the sky in your hand and made you lord over them all. You are the gold head.” 39 “After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom, the bronze one, which will rule over the whole earth.” 40 “The fourth kingdom will be strong as iron. Just as iron crushes and subdues everything, it will crush and subdue all things.” † 41 “As you saw that the feet and toes were partly clay and partly iron, the kingdom will be divided, though some of iron’s strength will remain in it, just as the iron was mixed with clay.” 42 “As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, part of the kingdom will be strong and part will be brittle.” 43 “As you saw iron mixed with clay, they will mix with human offspring but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.” 44 “In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed or left to another people. It will crush and scatter all those kingdoms, but it will stand forever.” † 45 “This is the meaning of the stone you saw cut from a mountain without human hands, which crushed the clay, iron, bronze, silver, and gold. The great God has shown the king what must happen after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation is certain.” 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown and bowed down to Daniel, and he ordered that a grain offering and incense be offered to him. 47 The king answered Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, the one who reveals secrets, since you were able to reveal this secret.” 48 The king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, set him over the whole province of Babylon, and made him chief of the satraps over all Babylon’s wise men. 49 At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the royal court.