Daniel 4

4 ¹ King Nebuchadnezzar, to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: May your peace be multiplied.

² I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. ³ How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion is from generation to generation.

The Dream of the Great Tree

⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. ⁵ I saw a dream that made me afraid; the visions I had as I lay in bed and the images in my mind terrified me. ⁶ So I decreed that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me, so they could tell me what the dream meant. ⁷ Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in. I described the dream to them, but they could not tell me what it meant. ⁸ At last Daniel came before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods—and I described the dream to him: ⁹ "Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and its interpretation. ¹⁰ The visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked and saw a tree standing in the middle of the earth, and it was very tall. ¹¹ The tree grew and became strong and its top reached to heaven and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. ¹² Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant and in it was food for all. Wild animals found shade under it and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches and all flesh was fed from it.

¹³ In the visions I saw while lying in bed, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. ¹ 1 v13 A "watcher" is one of God's holy angels, here sent to carry out the decree over the king — a heavenly messenger, not God himself. ¹⁴ He shouted and said this: 'Cut down the tree and chop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the wild animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and let his portion be with the wild animals in the grass of the earth. ¹⁶ Let his human mind be taken away and a beast's mind be given to him and let seven periods of time pass over him. ¹⁷ The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones so that the living may know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.'

¹⁸ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, O Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

Daniel Speaks the Hard Truth

¹⁹ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!"

²⁰ The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, whose top reached to heaven and was visible to all the earth, ²¹ whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which wild animals lived, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— ²² it is you, king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.

²³ And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the wild animals, till seven periods of time pass over him'—

²⁴ this is the interpretation, my king: It is a decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king, ²⁵ that you shall be driven away from people, and your dwelling shall be with wild animals. You will be made to eat grass like an ox, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time will pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. ²⁶ And as for the command to leave the stump and its roots in the ground, your kingdom shall be restored to you once you acknowledge that Heaven rules. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity."

Pride Brought Low

²⁸ All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ and the king said, "Is this not great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?"

³¹ While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, this is declared to you: The kingdom has departed from you, ³² and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with wild animals. You will be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time will pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will."

³³ Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven away from people and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails were like birds' claws.

Nebuchadnezzar Restored and Humbled

³⁴ At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my sanity returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever: for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. ³⁵ All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can hold back his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"

³⁶ At that same time my sanity returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me out, and I was reestablished in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of Heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.