[1] In the second year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had
dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him. [2] Then
the king gave orders that the wonder-workers, and the users of secret arts,
and those who made use of evil powers, and the Chaldaeans, were to be sent
for to make clear to the king his dreams. So they came and took their
places before the king. [3] And the king said to them, I have had a dream,
and my spirit is troubled by the desire to have the dream made clear to me.
[4] Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in the Aramaean language, O King,
have life for ever: give your servants an account of your dream, and we
will make clear to you the sense of it. [5] The king made answer and said
to the Chaldaeans, This is my decision: if you do not make clear to me the
dream and the sense of it, you will be cut in bits and your houses made
waste. [6] But if you make clear the dream and the sense of it, you will
have from me offerings and rewards and great honour: so make clear to me
the dream and the sense of it. [7] A second time they said in answer, Let
the king give his servants an account of his dream, and we will make clear
the sense. [8] The king made answer and said, I am certain that you are
attempting to get more time, because you see that my decision is fixed; [9]
That if you do not make my dream clear to me there is only one fate for
you: for you have made ready false and evil words to say before me till the
times are changed: so give me an account of the dream, and I will be
certain that you are able to make the sense of it clear. [10] Then the
Chaldaeans said to the king in answer, There is not a man on earth able to
make clear the king's business; for no king, however great his power, has
ever made such a request to any wonder-worker or user of secret arts or
Chaldaean. [11] The king's request is a very hard one, and there is no
other who is able to make it clear to the king, but the gods, whose
living-place is not with flesh. [12] Because of this the king was angry and
full of wrath, and gave orders for the destruction of all the wise men of
Babylon. [13] So the order went out that the wise men were to be put to
death; and they were looking for Daniel and his friends to put them to
death. [14] Then Daniel gave an answer with wisdom and good sense to
Arioch, the captain of the king's armed men, who had gone out to put to
death the wise men of Babylon; [15] He made answer and said to Arioch, O
captain of the king, why is the king's order so cruel? Then Arioch gave
Daniel an account of the business. [16] And Daniel went in and made a
request to the king to give him time and he would make clear the sense of
his dream to the king. [17] And Daniel went to his house and gave his
friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah the news: [18] So that they might
make a request for the mercy of the God of heaven in the question of this
secret; so that Daniel and his friends might not come to destruction with
the rest of the wise men of Babylon. [19] Then the secret was made clear to
Daniel in a vision of the night. And Daniel gave blessing to the God of
heaven. [20] And Daniel said in answer, May the name of God be praised for
ever and ever: for wisdom and strength are his: [21] By him times and years
are changed: by him kings are taken away and kings are lifted up: he gives
wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those whose minds are awake: [22] He
is the unveiler of deep and secret things: he has knowledge of what is in
the dark, and the light has its living-place with him. [23] I give you
praise and worship, O God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and
strength, and have now made clear to me what we were requesting from you:
for you have given us knowledge of the king's business. [24] For this
reason Daniel went to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders for the
destruction of the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not put to
death the wise men of Babylon: take me in before the king and I will make
clear to him the sense of the dream. [25] Then Arioch quickly took Daniel
in before the king, and said to him, Here is a man from among the prisoners
of Judah, who will make clear to the king the sense of the dream. [26] The
king made answer and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you
able to make clear to me the dream which I saw and its sense? [27] Then
Daniel said in answer to the king, No wise men, or users of secret arts, or
wonder-workers, or readers of signs, are able to make clear to the king the
secret he is searching for; [28] But there is a God in heaven, the unveiler
of secrets, and he has given to King Nebuchadnezzar knowledge of what will
take place in the last days. Your dreams and the visions of your head on
your bed are these: [29] As for you, O King, the thoughts which came to you
on your bed were of what will come about after this: and the unveiler of
secrets has made clear to you what is to come. [30] As for me, this secret
is not made clear to me because of any wisdom which I have more than any
living man, but in order that the sense of the dream may be made clear to
the king, and that you may have knowledge of the thoughts of your heart.
[31] You, O King, were looking, and a great image was there. This image,
which was very great, and whose glory was very bright, was placed before
you: its form sent fear into the heart. [32] As for this image, its head
was made of the best gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its
middle and its sides were of brass, [33] Its legs of iron, its feet were in
part of iron and in part of potter's earth. [34] While you were looking at
it, a stone was cut out, but not by hands, and it gave the image a blow on
its feet, which were of iron and earth, and they were broken in bits. [35]
Then the iron and the earth, the brass and the silver and the gold, were
smashed together, and became like the dust on the floors where grain is
crushed in summer; and the wind took them away so that no sign of them was
to be seen: and the stone which gave the image a blow became a great
mountain, covering all the earth. [36] This is the dream; and we will make
clear to the king the sense of it. [37] You, O King, king of kings, to whom
the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and
the glory, [38] Wherever the children of men are living; into whose hands
he has given the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven, and has made
you ruler over them all, you are the head of gold. [39] And after you
another kingdom, lower than you, will come to power; and a third kingdom,
of brass, ruling over all the earth. [40] And the fourth kingdom will be
strong as iron: because, as all things are broken and overcome by iron, so
it will have the power of crushing and smashing down all the earth. [41]
And as you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's work and part of iron,
there will be a division in the kingdom; but there will be some of the
strength of iron in it, because you saw the iron mixed with the potter's
earth. [42] And as the toes of the feet were in part of iron and in part of
earth, so part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will readily be
broken. [43] And as you saw the iron mixed with earth, they will give their
daughters to one another as wives: but they will not be united one with
another, even as iron is not mixed with earth. [44] And in the days of
those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come
to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another
people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it
will keep its place for ever. [45] Because you saw that a stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and
the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has
given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream
is fixed, and its sense is certain. [46] Then King Nebuchadnezzar, falling
down on his face, gave worship to Daniel, and gave orders for an offering
and spices to be given to him; [47] And the king made answer to Daniel and
said, Truly, your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings, and an unveiler
of secrets, for you have been able to make this secret clear. [48] Then the
king made Daniel great, and gave him offerings in great number, and made
him ruler over all the land of Babylon, and chief over all the wise men of
Babylon. [49] And at Daniel's request, the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-nego authority over the business of the land of Babylon: but Daniel
was kept near the king's person.

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