Daniel 2

The king’s demand

1In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2The king ordered the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans summoned to tell him his dreams. They came and stood before the king. 3The king told them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled. I want to understand the dream.” 4The Chaldeans answered the king in Aramaic, “May the king live forever! Tell your servant the dream, and we will explain its meaning.” 5The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm. If you do not tell me the dream and its meaning, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses reduced to refuse heaps. 6But if you tell me the dream and its meaning, you will receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. So tell me the dream and its meaning.” 7They answered again, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will explain its meaning.” 8The king replied, “I know for certain that you are buying time, because you see that my decision is firm. 9If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one sentence for you. You have agreed to tell me lying, corrupt words until the situation changes. So tell me the dream, and I will know you can explain its meaning.” 10The Chaldeans answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king asks. No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean. 11What the king asks is difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, who do not dwell with flesh.” 12At this the king became furious and ordered all Babylon’s wise men destroyed. 13The decree went out, and the wise men were being put to death. They also sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.

Daniel seeks time and mercy

14Then Daniel responded with counsel and tact to Arioch, the king’s chief executioner, who had gone out to kill Babylon’s wise men. 15He asked Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why is the king’s decree so harsh?” Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. 16Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, so he could explain the dream’s meaning to the king. 17Then Daniel went home and explained the matter to his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 18He urged them to ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.

The mystery revealed

19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel said:
“May God’s name be blessed
from age to age,
for wisdom and power 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 with understanding. 22He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him. 23God of my ancestors, I thank and praise you.
You have given me wisdom and power;
now you have made known to me what we asked of you.
You have made the king’s matter known to us.”

Daniel before the king

24So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy Babylon’s wise men. He told him, “Do not destroy Babylon’s wise men. Bring me before the king, and I will explain the meaning to him.” 25Arioch hurried Daniel before the king and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can explain the meaning to the king.” 26The king asked Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Can you tell me the dream I saw and its meaning?” 27Daniel answered the king, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can reveal to the king the mystery he asks about. 28But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. This was your dream, the visions that passed through your mind as you lay in bed: 29As you lay in bed, O king, thoughts came to you about what would happen afterward. The revealer of mysteries has shown you what will happen. 30This mystery was revealed to me because the king was to be told its meaning and understand the thoughts of his heart, not because I have more wisdom than anyone else alive.

The dream

31“You looked, O king, and there stood a great statue. This immense statue was dazzling, standing before you, terrifying to behold. 32Its head was fine gold; its chest and arms were silver; its belly and thighs were bronze; 33its legs were iron, and its feet partly iron and partly clay. 34As you watched, a stone was cut out without hands. It struck the statue on its iron-and-clay feet and crushed them. 35Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were crushed together and became like chaff on summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, leaving no trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The interpretation

36“That was the dream. Now we will tell the king its meaning. 37You, O king, are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you the kingdom, power, strength, and honor. 38Wherever human beings live, he has given them into your hand, along with the beasts of the field and birds of the sky, making you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. 39After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Then a third kingdom, of bronze, will rule the whole earth. 40A fourth kingdom will be strong as iron. As iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that breaks all these things, it will crush and break them. 41You saw feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron. The kingdom will be divided, yet some of iron’s strength will remain in it, just as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43As you saw iron mixed with clay, they will mingle through human offspring, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed or handed over to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will stand forever. 45That is why you saw a stone cut from the mountain without hands, crushing iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen afterward. The dream is certain, and its meaning is trustworthy.”

The king’s response

46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown and bowed before Daniel. He ordered an offering and incense presented to him. 47The king told Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, a revealer of mysteries, since you could reveal this mystery.” 48Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and appointed him chief over all Babylon’s wise men. 49At Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the affairs of Babylon’s province. Daniel remained at the king’s court.