Chapter 2. Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's Reign Nebuchadnezzar Had dreams And his Spirit was so troubled that his Sleep left him Then the king gave the command to call The Magicians the astrologers the Sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the King his dreams So they came and stood before the king And the King said to them I have had a dream and my spirit is Anxious to know the dream Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic O King live forever Tell your servants the dream and we will Give the interpretation The king answered and said to the Chaldeans My decision is firm If you do not make known the dream to me And its interpretation you shall be cut In pieces and your houses shall be made An ash Heap However if you tell the dream and its Interpretation you shall receive from me Gifts rewards and great honor Therefore tell me the dream and its Interpretation They answered again and said Let the king tell his servants the dream And we will give its interpretation
The king answered and said I know for certain that you would gain Time because you see that my decision is Firm If you do not make known the dream to me There is only one decree for you For you have agreed to speak lying and Corrupt words before me till the time Has changed Therefore tell me the dream and I shall Know that you can give me its Interpretation The Chaldeans answered the king and said There is not a man on Earth who can tell The king's matter Therefore no King Lord or ruler has ever Asked such things of any magician Astrologer or Chaldean It is a difficult thing that the king Requests and there is no other who can Tell it to the king except the gods Whose dwelling is not with flesh For this reason the King was angry and Very Furious and gave the command to Destroy all the wise men of Babylon So the decree went out and they began Killing the wise men And they sought Daniel and his Companions to kill them Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel Answered ariok the captain of the King's Guard who had gone out to kill the wise Men of Babylon He answered and said to ariok the king's
Captain Why is the decree from the king so Urgent Then ariok made the decision known to Daniel So Daniel went in and asked the king to Give him time That he might tell the king the Interpretation Then Daniel went to his house and made The decision known to hananiah Michelle And Azariah his companions that they Might seek mercies from the god of Heaven concerning this Secret So that Daniel and his companions might Not perish with the rest of the wise men Of Babylon Then the secret was revealed to Daniel In a night vision So Daniel blessed the god of Heaven Daniel answered and said Blessed be the name of God forever and Ever For wisdom and might are his And he changes the times and the seasons He removes Kings and raises up Kings he Gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge To those who have understanding He reveals deep and secret things He knows what is in the Darkness and Light dwells with him I thank you and Praise You O God of my Fathers you have given me wisdom and Might
And have now made known to me what we Asked of you For you have made known to us the king's Demand Therefore Daniel went to aryok whom the King had appointed to destroy the wise Men of Babylon He went and said thus to him Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon Take me before The King and I will tell The king the interpretation Then ariok quickly brought Daniel before The king and said thus to him I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known to the king The interpretation The king answered and said to Daniel Whose name was beltashaza Are you able to make known to me the Dream which I have seen and its Interpretation Daniel answered in the presence of the King and said The secret which the King has demanded The wise men the astrologers The Magicians and the soothsayers cannot Declare to the king But there is a God in heaven who reveals Secrets And he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the Latter days Your dream and the visions of your head Upon your bed were these
As for You O King Thoughts came to your mind while on your Bed about what would come to pass after This And he who reveals Secrets has made Known to you what will be But as for me this secret has not been Revealed to me because I have more Wisdom than anyone living But for our sakes who make known the Interpretation to the king And that you may know the thoughts of Your heart You O King were watching And behold a great image This great image whose Splendor was Excellent stood before you and its form Was awesome This image's head was a fine gold Its chest and arms of silver its belly And thighs of bronze its legs of iron Its feet partly of iron and partly of Clay You watched while a stone was cut out Without hands which struck the image on Its feet of iron and clay and broke them In pieces Then the iron the clay the bronze the Silver and the gold were crushed Together And it became like chaff from the summer Threshing floors The wind carried them away so that no Trace of them was found
And the stone that struck the image Became a great mountain and filled the Whole Earth This is the dream Now we will tell the interpretation of It before the king You O King are a king of kings For the god of Heaven has given you a Kingdom power strength and Glory And wherever the children of men dwell Or the beasts of the field and the birds Of the heaven he has given them into Your hand and has made you ruler over Them all You are this head of gold But after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior to yours Then another a third Kingdom of bronze Which shall rule over all the Earth And the fourth Kingdom shall be as Strong as iron Inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and Shatters everything And like iron that crushes that Kingdom Will break in pieces and Crush all the Others Whereas you saw the feet and Toes partly Of Potter's clay and partly of iron the Kingdom shall be divided Yet the strength of the iron shall be in It just as you saw the iron mixed with Ceramic clay And as the toes of the feet were partly Of iron and partly of clay
So the kingdom shall be partly strong And partly fragile As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay They will mingle with the seed of men But they will not adhere to one another Just as iron does not mix with clay And in the days of these Kings the god Of heaven will set up a kingdom which Shall never be destroyed And the kingdom shall not be left to Other people It shall break in pieces and consume all These kingdoms and it shall stand Forever Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was Cut out of the mountain without hands And that it broke in pieces the iron the Bronze the clay the silver and the gold The great God has made known to the king What will come to pass after this The dream is certain and its Interpretation is sure Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his Face prostrate before Daniel and Commanded that they should present an Offering and incense to him The king answered Daniel and said Truly your God is the god of gods the Lord of kings and a revealer of Secrets Since you could reveal this Secret Then the king promoted Daniel and gave Him many great gifts And he made him ruler over the whole Province of Babylon and chief
Administrator over all the wise men of Babylon Also Daniel petitioned the king and he Set Shadrach Meshach and Abednego over The Affairs of the province of Babylon But Daniel sat in the gate of the king