Daniel 2

MLV(i) 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams. And his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians and the enchanters and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them, I have dreamed a dream and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever. Tell your servants the dream and we will show the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing has gone from me. If you* do not make the dream and the interpretation of it known to me, you* will be cut in pieces and your* houses will be made a dunghill. 6 But if you* show the dream and the interpretation of it, you* will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore show the dream and the interpretation of it to me.
7 They answered the 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 of a certainty that you* would gain time, because you* see the thing has gone from me. 9 But if you* do not make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you*, for you* have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me till the time is changed. Therefore tell me the dream and I will know that you* can show me the interpretation of it.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth who can show the king's matter. Inasmuch as no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requires and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this reason the king was angry and very angry and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went forth and the wise men were to be slain. And they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
14 Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who went forth to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 And Daniel went in and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time and he would show the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions, 18 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his companions should nor perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the secret was shown to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Praise the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. 21 And he changes the times and the 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 secret things. He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him.
23 I thank you and praise you, O you, God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might and has now made known to me what we desired of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter.
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 to the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought Daniel in before the king in haste and said thus to him: I have found a man of the sons of the captivity of Judah, who will make known the interpretation to the king.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation of it?
27 Daniel answered before the king and said, The secret which the king has demanded, neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, can show to the king, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. And he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.
Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed, are these: 29 As for you, O king, your thoughts came upon your bed, what should happen hereafter. And he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will happen.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
31 You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you and the appearance of it was fearful. 32 As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, 33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 You looked until a stone was cut out without hands, which killed* the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold, was broken in pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them. And the stone that killed* the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream and we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the strength and the glory. 38 And wherever the sons of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, he has given into your hand and has made you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 And after you will arise another kingdom inferior to you and another third kingdom of brass, which will bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things. And as iron that crushes all these, it will break in pieces and crush. 41 And in what you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay and part of iron, it will be a divided kingdom. But there will be of the strength of the iron in it, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly broken. 43 And in what you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they will mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they will not cling one to another, even as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will the sovereignty of it be left to another people, but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it will stand forever.
45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen hereafter. And the dream is certain and the interpretation of it sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him. 47 The king answered to Daniel and said, Of a truth your* God is the God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel great and gave him many great gifts and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel requested of the king and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon, but Daniel was in the gate of the king.