Daniel 2 In the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream, and his spirit was amazed, and his sleep departed from him.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ In the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream, and his spirit was amazed, and his sleep departed from him. ² So the king said to call the magicians and the conjurers and the sorcerers and the astrologers to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood before the king. ³ The king said: "I had a dream that troubles me and I want to understand what the dream means." ⁴ Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. ⁵ The king answered the Chaldees, The subject is gone from me. If you do not tell me the dream and the interpretation you shall be put to death and your houses shall be exposed to plunder. ⁶ "But if you tell me the dream and what it means you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore tell me the dream and the interpretation of it." ⁷ They replied again, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we'll disclose its meaning." ⁸ The king answered, “I know of a certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see the thing has gone from me. ⁹ "If you do not tell me my dream, the law will apply to you. You are stalling by speaking lies to me until I change my requirements. Tell me the dream, and I will know that you can show me the interpretation of it." ¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered: »There is no man on earth who can do what the king requires. No king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean. ¹¹ Furthermore, what the king is asking is so difficult that no one can reveal it except the gods and they don't live with human beings." ¹² Upon this the king in furious wrath gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the order went out that the wise men were to be put to death; and they were looking for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. ¹⁴ and Daniel had then addressed Arioch, the king's marshal, who was going out to slay the wise men of Babylon, ¹⁵ He asked Arioch the king's captain: "Why is the decree so urgent from the king?" Then Arioch explained it to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel intreated the king to give him time, and that he might thus declare to the king its interpretation. ¹⁷ And Daniel went to his house and gave his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah the news: ¹⁸ And they sought mercies from the God of heaven concerning this mystery; that Daniel and his friends might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ When the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision later that night, Daniel blessed the God of heaven ²⁰ Daniel said: "Praise be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. ²¹ "He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to the discerning. ²² "He reveals the deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. ²³ "I thank you, and praise you, O God of my fathers. You have given me wisdom and might. You have made known to me what we desired from you. For you have made known to us the king's situation." ²⁴ Then Daniel went to Arioch whom the king had appointed to slay the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; but introduce me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning. ²⁵ Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said: I have found a man among the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation. ²⁶ The king said to Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar: "Are you able to tell me about my dream and interpret it?" ²⁷ Daniel answered: »Wise men, enchanters, magicians, and soothsayers cannot show the secret the king demanded. ²⁸ But there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets and makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed are these. ²⁹ O king, thou didst cast in thy mind, what should come hereafter: So he that is the opener of mysteries, telleth thee what is for to come. ³⁰ But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man, but so that the meaning might be known to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart. ³¹ Thou king sawest, and behold: there stood before thee a great Image, whose figure was marvelous great, and his visage grim. ³² The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of baked clay. ³⁴ you see until a stone is cut - not by hands which strikes the image on his feet of iron and clay and pulverizes them: ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together and became like chaff from a summer threshing floor that the breeze carries away without leaving a trace. Then the rock that struck the statue grew into a huge mountain and filled the entire earth. ³⁶ "This was the dream! We will interpret it for the king. ³⁷ You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. ³⁸ »He gave the children of men, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens to your hand. He made you the ruler over them all! You are the head of gold. ³⁹ "After you, another kingdom will arise that is inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom of bronze will arise to rule all the earth. ⁴⁰ Then there will be a fourth kingdom, as strong as iron. Just as all things are broken to pieces and shattered by iron, so it will shatter and crush everything. ⁴¹ Whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but there will be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. ⁴² 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 that you saw the iron was mixed with wet clay, so they will mix in marriage and they will not cling 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 which will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people; but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. ⁴⁵ »You saw a stone cut out of the mountain without hands. It broke the iron, brass, clay, silver, and the gold to pieces. The great God made known to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and the interpretation of it is sure.« ⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel, paid honor to him, and commanded that an offering and incense be presented on his behalf. ⁴⁷ The king answered Daniel and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and he reveals mysteries, for you are able to reveal this mystery." ⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and lavished many great gifts on him, including making him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over the advisors of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Moreover, Daniel requested that the king appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained in the royal court.