Daniel 2

Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dreams

1In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2Then the king commanded that the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans be called to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3The king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be made a refuse heap. 6But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, reward, and great honor. Therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare its interpretation.” 8The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you are buying time because you see that the word from me is firm. 9If you do not make known to me the dream, there is one decree for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the time changes. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can declare its interpretation to me.”

No Human Being Can Do What the King Asks

10The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, “There is no person upon the earth who can declare the king’s matter. Therefore no great and powerful king has asked such a thing from any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean. 11The matter that the king asks is difficult, and there is no other who can declare it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” 12Because of this the king became angry and very furious and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13So the decree went out that the wise men were to be killed, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.

Daniel Seeks Mercy from the God of Heaven

14Then Daniel responded with counsel and discretion to Arioch, captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15He answered and said to Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why is the decree from the king so severe?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, so that he might declare the interpretation to the king. 17Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18so that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Blessed Be the Name of God

20Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God
from age to age,
for wisdom and might
belong to him. 21He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings
and raises up kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge
to those who know understanding. 22He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him. 23To you, God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me
wisdom and might.
And now you have made known to me
what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us
the king’s matter.”

Daniel Is Brought before the King

24Therefore Daniel went in 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. Bring me in before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.” 25Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel in before the king and said thus to him: “I have found a man from the exiles of Judah who will make the interpretation known to the king.” 26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?” 27Daniel answered before the king and said, “The mystery that the king asks, no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can declare to the king. 28But there is a God in the heavens who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed were these:

The Great Statue

29“As for you, O king, your thoughts upon your bed turned to what would be after this, and the revealer of mysteries made known to you what will be. 30But as for me, this mystery was not revealed to me because of wisdom that is in me more than in any living person, but so that the interpretation may be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 31You, O king, were looking, and look, there was one great statue. This statue was enormous, and its brightness was extraordinary. It stood before you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34You were looking until a stone was cut out, not by hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and shattered them. 35Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

You Are the Head of Gold

36“This was the dream. Now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37You, O king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, power, strength, and glory, 38and into whose hand he has given wherever the children of humanity dwell, the animals of the field, and the birds of the heavens, and has made you ruler over them all—you are the head of gold. 39After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to you, and another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron crushes and shatters everything. Like iron that breaks all these, it will crush and break. 41And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom, but some of the strength of iron will be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43As you saw iron mixed with soft clay, they will mix with the offspring of humanity, but they will not cling to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

The God of Heaven Will Establish a Kingdom

44“And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush and bring all these kingdoms to an end, and it will stand forever, 45just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain, not by hands, and that it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has made known to the king what will happen after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Nebuchadnezzar Honors Daniel

46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, bowed down before Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47The king answered Daniel and said, “Truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” 48Then the king made Daniel great and gave him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained at the king’s court.