Daniel 2

2 ¹ In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. ² So the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. They came in and stood before the king. ³ And the king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled — I need to know this dream."

⁴ Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, "King, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will reveal its interpretation."

⁵ The king answered the Chaldeans, "This is my firm decree: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be laid in ruins." ⁶ "But if you reveal the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation."

⁷ They answered a second time, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will reveal its interpretation."

⁸ The king replied, "I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you see that my decree is firm: ⁹ if you do not make known to me the dream, there is but one sentence for you. You have conspired to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the times change. So tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can reveal its interpretation."

¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered the king, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks. No great and powerful king has ever demanded 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, who do not live among mortals."

¹² At this the king became angry and greatly enraged, and he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the decree went out that the wise men were to be killed, and they searched for Daniel and his companions to put them to death.

Our Father Reveals the Mystery

¹⁴ Then Daniel responded wisely and carefully to Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He asked Arioch, the king's officer, "Why is the decree from the king so harsh?" Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. ¹⁶ So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, so that he might reveal the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹⁸ urging them to plead for mercy from our Father in heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed our Father in heaven. ²⁰ Daniel said: "Blessed be the name of our Father forever and ever for wisdom and might belong to him. ²¹ He changes times and seasons he removes kings and sets up kings he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. ²² He reveals deep and hidden things he knows what lies in darkness and the light dwells with him. ²³ "To you, our Father of my fathers, I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and might and now you have made known to me what we asked of you you have made known to us the king's matter."

Daniel Brings the Answer

²⁴ So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He said to him, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will reveal the interpretation to him."

²⁵ Then Arioch brought Daniel before the king in haste and said, "I have found among the exiles of Judah a man who can tell the king the interpretation."

²⁶ The king said to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?"

²⁷ Daniel answered the king, "No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can reveal to the king the mystery he has asked about. ²⁸ "But there is our Father in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions in your mind as you lay on your bed were these: ¹ 1 v28 "The latter days" refers to the final era of history before God establishes his eternal kingdom.

²⁹ "As you lay on your bed, O king, your thoughts turned to what would be hereafter, and the one who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ "But 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 may be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your heart.

³¹ "You looked, O king, and behold, a great statue. This statue, enormous and dazzling in brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was terrifying. ³² "The head of the statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ "As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and shattered them. ² 2 v34 The stone cut out by no human hand becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth — the kingdom our Father sets up through Jesus, which will never be destroyed and never pass to anyone else. ³⁵ "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were all broken in pieces together and became like chaff on a summer threshing floor. The wind swept them away, and no trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ "This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom our Father in heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory. ³⁸ "Into your hand he has placed the children of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky, wherever they dwell, and he has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

³⁹ "After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours; then a third kingdom, one of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ "And there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron — for iron breaks and shatters everything — and as iron crushes all these, so it will break and crush them. ⁴¹ "And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; yet some of the strength of iron will be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay. ⁴² "And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ "As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so the people will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

⁴⁴ "In the days of those kings our Father in heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people. It will break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it will stand forever. ⁴⁵ "This is the meaning of the vision of the stone cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — the stone that broke to pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. Our great Father has made known to the king what will happen after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy."

A King Humbled Before Our Father

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel, and he commanded 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, a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."

⁴⁸ Then the king promoted Daniel to high honor and gave him many great gifts. He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all its wise men. ⁴⁹ And Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel remained at the king's court.