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And in the secondyear of the reign of NebuchadnezzarNebuchadnezzardreameddreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleepbrake from him.
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Then the kingcommanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stoodbefore the king.
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And the kingsaid unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
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Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
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The kinganswered 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.
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But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receiveofmegifts and rewards and greathonour: thereforeshewme the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
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They answeredagain and said, Let the kingtell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
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The kinganswered and said, Iknowofcertainty that ye would gain the time, becauseyesee the thing is gonefrom me.
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But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but onedecree for you: for ye have preparedlying and corruptwords to speakbefore me, till the time be changed: thereforetell me the dream, and I shall knowthat ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
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The Chaldeansansweredbefore the king, and said, There isnot a manupon the earth that canshew the king's matter: therefore there isnoking, lord, nor ruler, that askedsuchthings at anymagician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
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And it is a rarething that the kingrequireth, and there isnoneother that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwellingisnotwithflesh.
12Forthiscause the king was angry and veryfurious, and commanded to destroyall the wise men of Babylon.
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And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they soughtDaniel and his fellows to be slain.
14ThenDanielanswered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captainof the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men ofBabylon:
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He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hastyfrom the king?ThenArioch made the thingknown to Daniel.
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Then Daniel went in, and desiredof the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17ThenDanielwent to his house, and made the thingknown to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
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That they would desiremerciesof the Godofheavenconcerningthissecret; that Daniel and his fellows should notperishwith the restof the wise men ofBabylon.
19Then was the secretrevealed unto Daniel in a nightvision. ThenDanielblessed the God of heaven.
20Danielanswered and said, Blessedbe the name of Godforever and ever: forwisdom and mightare his:
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And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removethkings, and setteth upkings: he givethwisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that knowunderstanding:
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He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knowethwhat is in the darkness, and the lightdwelleth with him.
23Ithankthee, and praisethee, 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.
24ThereforeDanielwentinuntoArioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and saidthusunto him; Destroynot the wise men of Babylon: bring me inbefore the king, and I will shewunto the king the interpretation.
25ThenArioch brought inDanielbefore the kinginhaste, and saidthus unto him, I have found a manof the captivesofJudah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
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The kinganswered 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?
27Danielanswered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demandedcannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28But there is a God in heaven that revealethsecrets, and maketh known to the kingNebuchadnezzarwhat shall be in the latterdays. Thy dream, and the visions of thy headupon thy bed, are these;
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As for thee, O king, thy thoughtscame into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to passhereafter: and he that revealethsecrets maketh known to theewhat shall come to pass.
30But as for me, thissecret is notrevealed to me for anywisdomthat I have more thananyliving, but for their sakesthat shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a greatimage. Thisgreatimage, whose brightness was excellent, stoodbefore thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
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This image's head was of finegold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
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His legs of iron, his feetpart of iron and part of clay.
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Thou sawesttill that a stone was cut outwithouthands, which smote the imageupon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brakethem to pieces.
35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to piecestogether, and became like the chaffof the summerthreshingfloors; and the windcarriedthemaway, thatnoplace was found for them: and the stonethatsmote the imagebecame a greatmountain, and filled the wholeearth.
36This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
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And wheresoever the children of mendwell, 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.
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And afterthee shall ariseanotherkingdominferior to thee, and anotherthirdkingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
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And the fourthkingdom shall bestrongasiron: forasmuch asironbreaketh in pieces and subduethall things: and asiron that breakethallthese, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
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And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, partofpotters' clay, and partofiron, the kingdom shall bedivided; but there shall be in it of the strengthof the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the ironmixed with miryclay.
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And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall bepartlystrong, and partlybroken.
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And whereas thou sawestironmixed with miryclay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shallnotcleaveonetoanother, even as iron is notmixed with clay.
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And in the days of thesekings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to otherpeople, but it shall break in pieces and consumeallthesekingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
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Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountainwithouthands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the greatGod hath made known to the kingwhat shall come to passhereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46Then the kingNebuchadnezzarfellupon his face, and worshippedDaniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
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The kinganswered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a Godofgods, and a Lordofkings, and a revealerofsecrets, seeing thou couldestrevealthissecret.
48Then the kingmadeDaniel a greatman, and gave him manygreatgifts, and made him rulerover the wholeprovince of Babylon, and chief of the governorsoverall the wise men of Babylon.
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Then Danielrequestedof the king, and he setShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairsof the provinceofBabylon: but Daniel sat in the gateof the king.