1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, on account of which his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
2Then the king commanded to call the scribes, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldaeans, that they might show the king his dreams; and they came and stood before the king.
3And the king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
4And the Chaldaeans said to the king in Aramaean, O king, live forever! Tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
5The king answered and said to the Chaldaeans: The word has gone from me. If ye will not make known to me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive from me gifts, and rewards, and great honor. Therefore show me the dream, and its interpretation!
7They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.
8The king answered and said, I know of a certain, that ye seek to gain time, because ye see that the word hath gone forth from me.
9For if ye do not make known to me the dream, this alone is your purpose, and ye have prepared lying and deceitful words to speak before me till the time be changed. Tell me therefore the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.
10The Chaldaeans answered before the king, and said: There is not a man upon the earth who can show what the king requireth; on which account no king, however great and powerful, hath asked such things of any scribe, or magician, or Chaldaean.
11It is a hard thing which the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with men.
12For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows, to slay them.
14Then Daniel answered with understanding and wisdom to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.
15He answered and said to Arioch, the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.
17Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions;
18that 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.
19Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20Daniel spake and said: Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever! for wisdom and might are his.
21And he changeth times and seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding.
22He revealeth deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in darkness, and light dwelleth with him.
23I thank thee and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known to me now what we desired of thee; for thou hast now made known to us the king's matter.
24Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.
25Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him: I have found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known to the king the interpretation.
26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, the wise men, the scribes, the magicians, the astrologers cannot show to the king;
28but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the days to come. Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed were these.
29Thy thoughts, O king, came into thy mind, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me through any wisdom which I have more than all the living, but to the end that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31Thou, O king, sawest, and behold, a great image. This image, which was high and of surpassing brightness, stood before thee; and its form was terrible.
32The head of this image was of fine gold; his breast and his arms of silver; his belly and his thighs of brass;
33his legs of iron; his feet, part of iron and part of clay.
34Thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.
35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36This is the dream, and now we will tell the interpretation of it 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.
38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art the head of gold.
39And after thee shall arise another kingdom, inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40And a fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; even as iron, that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of potter's clay and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken.
43And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves by marriage, but they shall not cleave to each other, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44But in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall be left to no other people but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever;
45even as thou sawest that the 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 hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him.
47The king answered Daniel and said, Of a truth, your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and the revealer of secrets, since thou couldst reveal this secret.
48Then 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.
49Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was in the gate of the king.