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.”