DAN C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12

ULT DAN Chapter 2

2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to summon the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O King, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses made a rubbish heap. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts from me, a reward, and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you are trying to gain time because you see that the word from me is firm. 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one sentence for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the times change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can show me its interpretion.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who is able to reveal the matter for the king, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing from any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” 12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and he gave an order to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went out that the wise men were to be killed; and they searched for Daniel and his friends to kill them.

14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch the captain of the guard of the king, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He answered and said to Arioch, the commander of the king, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time so that he might show the interpretation to the king.

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 so that they might seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven 20 Daniel answered and said,

“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever;

for wisdom and power belong to him.

21 He changes the times

and seasons;

he removes kings

and sets up kings.

He 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 dwells with him.

23 O God of my fathers, I thank you and praise you

for the wisdom and power you have given to me.

Now you have made known to me what we asked of you,

for you have made known to us the matter that concerns the king.”

24 Therefore 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 show the king the interpretation.”

25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel in haste before the king and said thus to him, “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king said to Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar), “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered before the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to show to the king the mystery that the king has asked. 28 However, there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions of your head while on your bed. 29 As for you, O king, your thoughts on your bed turned to what would happen after this, and he who reveals mysteries has made known to you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and so that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

31 You, O King, were looking and behold, a great statue. This statue, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you. Its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out, although not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and it crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 This was the dream. Now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, the animals of the fields and the birds of the heavens, he has given them into your hand, and he has made you rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 After you will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron crushes and shatters all things. And like iron that breaks into pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of the clay of a potter and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; some of the firmness of iron will be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will the kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. 45 Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain by no human hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen after this. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel, and he commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and the one who reveals mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the court of the king.

◄ DAN 2 ► ║ ©

DAN C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12