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the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his mind, and he could not sleep. 2 So the king commanded the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to be summoned to him to tell the kings his dreams. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me, and I am anxious to know what it means.
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not what the dream was and its interpretation, you will be torn in pieces and your houses will reduced to rubble. 6 But if you can make the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
7 They answered a second time, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are trying to gain time, because you see this if firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me lying and misleading things, hoping the situation will change. So tell me the dream, and I will know you can give me its interpretation.”
10 The Chaldeans answered the king, “There is not a man on earth who can reveal what the king demands! No king, however great or powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among mortals.”
12 When the king heard their reply, he became so angry and furious that he ordered all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed. 13 So the decree was issued for all the wise men to be executed, and men were sent to search for Daniel and his friends, to execute them.
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, went out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and discretion. 15 He asked Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked that he be given some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation of his dream.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the situation to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azairah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends might not perish along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven, 20 and said:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
for wisdom and power are His.
21 He changes times and seasons;
He removes kings and sets up kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
23 I thank you and praise You, O God of my fathers,
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have revealed to me what we asked of You,
You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”
25 Then Arioch took Daniel to the king immediately and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king the interpretation of his dream.
26 The king asked Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in the dream I had and its interpretation?”
27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the mystery that the king is asking, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. You dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
29 “As you were laying on your bed, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries has showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone else living, but so that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and you may understand what passed through your mind.
31 “As you were looking, O king, there before you a great statue appeared—an enormous, dazzling statue, standing before you, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was of pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, 33 Its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory, 38 and in your hands He has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, and made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom of bronze that will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally there will be a fourth kingdom, as strong as iron; for as iron crushes and smashes everything, so it will crush and shatter all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this kingdom will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength or iron will be in it, even as you saw the iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with the clay, so the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, 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, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever; 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain, but not by human hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown before Daniel and paid homage to him. Then he ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
48 Then the king promoted Daniel and lavished many generous gifts on him. He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 What is more, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the king’s court.