What Nebuchadnezzar dreamed

2 One night during the second year that Nebuchadnezzar ruled, he had a dream. The dream worried him very much; and as a result he could not sleep. 2 The next morning he summoned his men who worked magic, fortune-tellers, those who worked sorcery, and those who studied the stars. Because he had forgotten what he had dreamed, he insisted that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood there in front of the king, 3 he said, “I had a dream last night that worries me. Tell me what I dreamed, because I want to know what the dream means.”

4 The men who studied the stars replied to the king, speaking in the Aramaic language. They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we hope that you will live a long time! Tell us what you dreamed, and then we will tell you what it means!”

5 But the king replied, “I have firmly decided that you must tell me the dream, and also tell me what it means. If you do not do that, I will order my soldiers to cut you into pieces, and to cause your houses to become only piles of stones! 6 But if you tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will reward you. I will give you wonderful gifts and greatly honor you. So tell me what I dreamed and what it means!”

7 But again they said, “Tell us what you dreamed, and then we will tell you what it means.”

8 The king replied, “I know that you are just trying to get more time, because you know that I will do to you what I said that I would do. 9 If you do not tell me what I dreamed, you will be punished. I think that you have all agreed to tell me lies and other wicked things, because you hope that I will change ◄my mind/what I am thinking►. But tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means.”

10 The men who studied the stars replied, “There is no one on the earth who can do what you ask! There is no king, even a great and mighty king, who has ever asked his men who work magic or his fortune-tellers or men who study the stars to do something like that! 11 What you are asking us to do is impossible. Only the gods can tell you what you dreamed, and they do not live among us!”

12 The king was very angry when he heard that, so he commanded his soldiers that they execute all such wise men in Babylon. 13 And because of what the king commanded, they sent some men to find me and my three friends, to execute us also.

14 Arioch, the commander of the king’s guards, came to kill us. But I spoke to him very wisely and tactfully/skillfully. 15 I asked Arioch, “Why has the king made such a harsh/terrible decree?” So Arioch told me all that had happened because of the king’s dream. 16 I immediately went to talk to the king and requested that the king give me some time, so that I could find out what the dream was and what the dream meant.

17 Then I went home, and I told my friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, what had happened. 18 I urged them to ask God, who lives/rules in heaven, to have mercy on us by telling us the secret meaning of what the king dreamed, in order that we and the other wise men in Babylon would not be executed. 19 And that night God gave to me a vision in which he revealed the secret. Then I praised God, 20 saying,

“We should praise God [MTY] forever,

because only he truly is wise and powerful.

21 He determines what events will happen through the years.

He removes some kings and gives their authority to new kings.

He is the one who causes people to become wise

and enables those who study to understand many things.

22 He reveals things that are very mysterious;

he is surrounded by light,

but he knows things that are hidden as though they were in the darkness.

23 God, whom my ancestors worshiped,

I thank you and I praise you,

because you have caused me to be wise and made me strong.

You have told me what my friends and I asked you to tell us;

and you have revealed to us what the king demanded to know.”