1 In the third year of Yehudah’s King Yehoyakim’s reign, Babylon’s King Nevukadnetstsar (Nebuchadnezzar) came to Yerushalem (Jerusalem) and besieged the city.[ref] 2 After two years, the master allowed King Yehoyakim to be defeated by Nevukadnetstsar who then took some of the items out of the temple and took them to Shinar (Babylonia) where he placed them in his god’s temple storerooms.[ref]

3 Some time later, King Nevukadnetstsar commanded his chief official Ashpenaz to bring him some of the young Israeli men, from both their royal family and from some of the prominent families. 4 They had to be good-looking young men without obvious defects, wise and well-educated, who would be competent for future work in the palace. They would be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans, 5 and king assigned a daily portion of food and wine for them from his own table. They would be trained for three years before entering the king’s service. 6 Among the young men from Yehudah who were chosen were Daniel, Hananyah, Misha’el, and Azaryah, 7 but Ashpenaz named them Belteshatstsar, Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego respectively.

8 However Daniel decided that he wouldn’t eat the king’s fancy food or drink his wine because it wasn’t all ‘kosher’, so he requested permission from Ashpenaz to eat an alternative diet. 9 Now God had caused the chief official to like and respect Daniel, 10 but he queried, “I’m afraid of my master the king, who’s assigned your food and drink—if he saw you guys looking worse than the others of your own age then I’d risk losing my head if the king got angry.”

11 So Daniel asked the steward that Ashpenaz had assigned over the four of them, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink, 13 then after that, see how we look compared to the other young men who eat the king’s choice food. Then you can make the best decision from the evidence.”

14 So the steward agreed to that and started the ten-day trial. 15 At the end of the ten days, they looked better and healthier than all the young men who’d been eating the king’s fancy food, 16 so after that, the steward just gave them vegetables to eat instead of the choice food and wine.

17 So God gave those four young men knowledge and insight into all literature, and wisdom, and Daniel was able to interpret any dreams and visions.

18 At the end of the three years[ref] when the king ordered them to be brought in, the chief official Ashpenaz brought them in to King Nevukadnetstsar. 19 The king talked with each of them and realised that none of the others were as capable as Daniel, Hananyah, Misha’el, and Azaryah, so they ended up in the king’s service—20 in every matter of wisdom and understanding which the king asked them about, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers from throughout his entire kingdom. 21 Daniel continued serving there through to the first year of the reign of King Koresh (Cyrus).

2 Back in the second year of King Nevukadnetstsar’s reign, the king had had some dreams that troubled him—leaving him unable to sleep. 2 He summoned the magicians, fortune-tellers, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain the dreams to him, so they came in and stood in front of the king. 3 “I’ve had a dream,” the king told them, “and my spirit is anxious to understand it.” 4 The astrologers spoke to the king in Aramaic, “Long live King Nevukadnetstsar. Tell us what you dreamt, and then we’ll give you the interpretation.”

5 “I’ve already made my decision,” the king replied. “If you all can’t tell me the dream and then give its interpretation, you’ll all be torn limb from limb and your houses made into a rubbish heap. 6 But if you all explain the dream and its interpretation, you’ll receive gifts from me, and a reward and great honour. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

7 “Let the king tell his servants the dream,” they insisted, “and we’ll give the interpretation.”

8 “I know for certain that you’re all trying to gain time,” the king answered. “However, I’ve made up my mind 9 that if you all don’t tell me what my dream was, then your fate is already clear because you’ve obviously agreed together to keep feeding me with lies and made-up stories until I give in. So then, tell me what my dream was, and then I’ll be confident that you can give me its interpretation.”

10 “There’s no one in the whole world who could tell the king that,” the astrologers answered the king. “No great and powerful king has asked any magician or enchanter or astrologer to do that before! 11 What you’re requesting, your majesty, is difficult, and no human can tell you what you dreamt—only the gods.” 12 That angered the king, and he got so furious that he ordered for all the Babylonian wise men to be executed.

13 When the decree went out that all the wise men were to be rounded up to be executed, Daniel and his friends were included. 14 Aryok was the captain of the king’s guards who’d been sent to execute the Babylonian wise men, but Daniel spoke to him with wise and prudent caution.

15 He asked the king’s commander Aryok, “Why did the king come to that sudden decision?” Aryok explained what had happened, 16 so Daniel went to the king and requested some time so he would be able to give the interpretation to him.

17 Then Daniel went back to his house and told his companions Hananyah, Misha’el, and Azaryah 18 so they might beg for mercy from the god of the heavens concerning the mystery of the dream, so that all of them might not be executed along with the rest of the Babylonian wise men. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision during the night. Aftewrwards, Daniel blessed the god of the heavens 20 saying, “Let God’s name be blessed forever and ever, because all wisdom and power belong to him. 21 He moves the times and seasons forwards. He removes some kings and gives power to others. It’s him who gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals the deep and hidden things—he knows what is in the darkness, and the light lives with him. 23 Oh God of my ancestors, I thank you and praise you for the wisdom and power you have given to me. Now you’ve revealed to me what we asked you about because you’ve told us what the king is wanting to know.”

24 So Daniel went to Aryok, the man that the king had appointed to execute Babylon’s wise men, and told him, “Don’t hurt the wise men in Babylon. Take me in to the king and I’ll tell him the dream and its interpretation.”

25 Aryok quickly took Daniel in to the king and told him, “I’ve found a man among the exiles from Yehudah who will reveal the interpretation of your dream.”

26 “Are you able to tell me the dream that I saw, and its interpretation?” the king asked Daniel (also called Belteshatstsar).

27 “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to do what the king has demanded,” replied Daniel. 28 “However, there is a god in the heavens who reveals mysteries, and he’s the one who’s shown you, King Nevukadnetstsar, what will happen in the days to come. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while you were in your bed: 29 Oh king, as you lay there your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future, and the one who reveals mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me, not because I’m wiser than anyone else, but so that the interpretation could be revealed to the king, and so that you can understand what you saw in your mind.

31 “What you were looking at, your majesty, was an incredible, huge statue. It was heavy and shone brightly as it stood there in front of you—a terrifying sight. 32 The statue’s head was made of pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were made of iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was supernaturally cut out from a mountain, and it tumbled down and struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and it smashed them to pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like the small pieces of dry straw at harvest time in the summer. Then the wind carried them away so that no trace of them could be found, but the stone that struck the statue became a huge mountain that then filled the whole world.

36 “That was the dream, and now we’ll tell the king its meaning: 37 You, your majesty, are the king of kings who has been given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the splendour by the god of the heavens. 38 Wherever people live, he’s placed you in charge of them, and he’s even put you over the animals in the countryside and the birds in the skies, so you’re the statue’s gold head. 39 But another less prominent kingdom will follow yours, then another kingdom of bronze to rule over all the earth after that. 40 Then there’ll be a fourth kingdom that’s strong as iron—because iron crushes and shatters all things. Like an iron sledge-hammer that smashes things into pieces, it will smash all those others into broken pieces. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, a mixture of iron and potter’s clay, it will be a divided kingdom—some of the iron’s strength will be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 As the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so that kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so various peoples will make alliances with each other, but they won’t stick together just as iron doesn’t integrate with clay. 44 In the days of those kings, the god of the heavens will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed or taken over by others. It will crush all those kingdoms and put an end to them, but it will stand forever. 45 Just as you saw that a stone was supernaturally cut out of the mountain, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the powerful God has revealed to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46 Then King Nevukadnetstsar fell to his knees with his face to the ground to worship Daniel, and he commanded that a burnt offering and incense be offered up to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “It’s true that your god is the god of gods and the master of masters, and the one who reveals mysteries, because you’ve been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honours and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief supervisor over all of Babylon’s wise men. 49 Daniel asked the king to appoint Shadrak (Hananyah), Meyshak (Misha’el), and Avednego (Azaryah) over the administration of the Babylonian province, but Daniel remained at the king’s court.

3 King Nevukadnetstsar (Nebuchadnezzar) had a gold statue made that stood nearly thirty metres high and was almost three metres wide, and it was erected on the Dura plain in the Babylonian province. 2 Then King Nevukadnetstsar sent for the various levels of governors, the counsellors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the provincial officials, to all come to the dedication of the statue that he’d erected. 3 So all those officials assembled in front of the statue that the king had set up, ready for the dedication. 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “You peoples, nations, and languages are commanded 5 that any time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, harps, pipes, and other instruments, you all must bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nevukadnetstsar has erected. 6 Anyone who refuses to bow down and worship it at that time, will be thrown into a blazing furnace.” 7 So when all those people who had gathered heard the sounds made by the musical instruments, they all bowed down to worship the gold statue.

8 But some Chaldean astrologers went to the king to make trouble for the Jews. 9 They reported to King Nevukadnetstsar, “Long live the king. 10 Oh king, you’ve made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the musical instruments, must bow down and worship the gold statue, 11 but anyone who doesn’t bow and worship will be thrown into a fiery furnace. 12 Now, there are certain Jews who you’ve appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon: Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego. These men, your majesty, don’t take any notice of you: they don’t serve your gods, or worship the gold statue that you’ve set up.”

13 Then Nevukadnetstsar in a furious rage commanded that Shadrak (Hananyah), Meyshak (Misha’el), and Avednego (Azaryah) be arrested. Then they were brought to the king 14 who questioned them, “Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego, is it true that you won’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue that I set up? 15 Now if you’re ready, as soon as you hear the musical instruments of music, if you all bow down and worship the statue I erected, everything will be okay. But if you don’t, you’ll immediately be thrown into a blazing hot furnace. Then what god could rescue you from my punishment?”

16 “Oh Nevukadnetstsar,” the three of them answered the king, “we don’t need to answer that last question. 17 If that’s what happens to us, the god that we serve is able to rescue us from the blazing fire and from your punishment. He will save us, your majesty. 18 But just so it’s clear your majesty, even if he doesn’t, we won’t serve your gods or worship that gold statue.”

19 That made Nevukadnetstsar absolutely furious and it could be seen in his face. He ordered that the furnace be made seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of his top warriors to tie up Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego and then to throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So while still fully dressed even with their turbans still on, they were tied up and thrown into the middle of the furnace where the fire was blazing. 22 Unfortunately, because of the king’s insistent command, the furnace was extremely hot and the flames killed the men who threw them in, 23 but Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego fell into the roaring flames while still securely tied up.

24 Then King Nevukadnetstsar was startled and jumped up and asked his counsellors, “Wasn’t it three who were tied up that were thrown there into the middle of the fire?

“Certainly, your majesty,” they replied.

25 “Look there, then!” he responded. “I can see four men walking in the middle of the fire, and they’re not tied up and they’re not hurt, and the fourth one looks like a young god.”

26 Then Nevukadnetstsar went over by the furnace door and called out, “Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come over here!” Then the three men walked out from the middle of the fire. 27 All the king’s officials gathered around them and saw that the fire hadn’t harmed them—their hair wasn’t even singed, their cloaks weren’t damaged, and they didn’t even smell like smoke.

28 Nevukadnetstsar spoke, “Praise the god of Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego. He sent his angel and rescued his servants who had put their trust in him. They took objection to the king’s command at the cost of their own lives, rather than serve or worship any god except their god. 29 I hereby make a decree that any people, nation, or language that speaks anything offensive against the god of Shadrak, Meyshak, and Avednego will have their houses made into rubbish heaps and they’ll be torn limb from limb, because there’s no other god who’s able to save people like that.”

30 Then the king gave Shadrak (Hananyah), Meyshak (Misha’el), and Avednego (Azaryah) more important positions in Babylon province than they had before.

4 King Nevukadnetstsar (Nebuchadnezzar) sent this message to all people groups, nations, and languages that live all over the world:

May you have peace and prosperity. 2 It seemed good to me to let you all know about the amazing miracles that the supreme God has done for me.

3 The miracles he does are incredible,

≈ and his acts of creation are powerful.

His kingdom will last forever,

≈ and his authority goes from one generation to another.

4 I, Nevukadnetstsar, was doing well at home, and prospering at my work in my palace, 5 but one night as I lay in bed, I had a dream that scared me—the images and visions in my head terrified me. 6 So I summoned all of Babylon’s wise men to come and tell me the interpretation of the dream. 7 When those magicians, fortune-tellers, sorcerers and astrologers arrived, I told them the dream, but they didn’t know the interpretation.

8 Finally, Daniel came in—he’d been named Belteshatstsar (Belteshazzar) after my god’s name. The spirit of the holy gods is in him, and I told him the dream: 9 “Oh Belteshatstsar, chief of the magicians, since I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, go through the visions of my dream and tell me their interpretation.

10 This is the vision that was in my mind as a lay in bed: I was looking and was surprised to see a very tall tree growing in the middle of a field. 11 The tree kept growing taller and stronger until its top reached the sky and it could be seen from all over the world. 12 It had beautiful leaves were beautiful and lots of fruit on it. It provided food for everything, the animals in the countryside found shade under it, and the birds of the sky lived in its branches. Every living thing benefitted from it.

13 I was looking at the visions in my mind as I lay in bed, and then, wow, a holy sentinel came down from the heavens. 14 He shouted loudly, ‘Chop that tree down and cut its branches off, strip off its leaves, and scatter its fruit. Let the animals run away from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and bind it with a band of iron and bronze. Let it become wet with the dew in the tender grass of the field, accompanied only by those animals that live in the grass. 16 Let his mind[fn] be changed from a man to an animal as seven periods pass over him. 17 That sentence is by the decree of the sentinels, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, so that the living may know that the highest one is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whoever he wants—even to those who seem unimportant.’