And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed
dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep break from him.
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers,
and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams.
So they came and stood before the king.
And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was
troubled to know the dream.
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live forever, tell thy
servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me.
If ye will not make known unto me the dream with the interpretation thereof,
ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive
of me gifts and rewards and great honor.
Therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof.
They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will
show the interpretation of it.
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time,
because ye see the thing is gone from me.
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you,
for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be
changed.
Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the
interpretation thereof.
The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth
that can show the king's matter.
Therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler that ask such things at any
magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that
can show it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the
wise men of Babylon.
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain, and they sought
Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Ariok the captain of the king's
guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.
He answered and said to Ariok the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from
the king?
Then Ariok made the thing known to Daniel.
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time,
and that he would show the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah his companions, that they would desire mercies of the God
of heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his fellows should not
perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision.
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever.
For wisdom and might are his, and he changeth the times and the seasons.
He removeth kings and setteth up kings.
He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know
understanding.
He revealeth the deep and secret things.
He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given
me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee.
For thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
Therefore Daniel went in unto Ariok, whom the king had ordained to destroy the
wise men of Babylon.
He went and said thus unto him, Destroy not the wise men of Babylon.
Bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.
Then Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him,
I have found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king
the interpretation.
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able
to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king
hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians,
the soothsayers show unto the king.
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the
king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these.
As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed what should
come to pass hereafter.
And he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than
any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king,
and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Thou, O king, sawest and behold a great image.
This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form
thereof was terrible.
This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron
and part of clay.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces
together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors.
And the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them.
And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole
earth.
This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a
kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of
the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all.
Thou art this head of gold.
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in
pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these shall
it break in pieces and bruise.
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of potter's clay and part of iron,
the kingdom shall be divided.
But there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, for as much as thou sawest
the iron mixed with miry clay, and as the toes of the feet were part of
iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken.
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves
with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not
mixed with clay.
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall
never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
For as much as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands,
and that it break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver,
and the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass
hereafter, and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded
that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him.
The king answered unto Daniel and said, O, the truth it is that your God is a God
of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets.
Seeing thou couldst reveal this secret.
Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts,
and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors
over all the wise men of Babylon.
Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
over the affairs of the province of Babylon.
But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.