The Book of the Prophet Daniel

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar was dreaming dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep was finished on him.

And the king said to call to the horoscopists, and to the conjurers, and to the sorcerers and to the Chaldeans, to tell to the king his dreams. And they came and stood before the king.

And the king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

And the Chaldeans spoke to the king [in] Aramaic: O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will reveal the meaning.

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The word is certainly gone from me. If you will not make known the dream and its meaning to me, you will be made into [mere] members, and your houses shall be made an outhouse.

But if you make known the dream, you shall receive gifts and a present and great honor from before me. Therefore, reveal the dream and its meaning to me.

They again replied and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will reveal its meaning.

The king answered and said, For I know that you buy time, that on account of all, you see the thing is certainly gone from me.

But if you will not make the dream known to me, [there is] one law for you. For you have agreed upon lying and deceiving words to speak before me until the time has changed. Therefore, tell me the dream, then I shall know that you can reveal the meaning to me.

The Chaldeans replied before the king and said, There is not a man on the earth who can reveal the king's matter, because not any king, lord, or ruler has asked such a thing from any horoscopist, or conjurer, or Chaldean.

And the thing that the king asks [is] rare. And there is no other who may reveal it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

Then the king was enraged and angered. And he commanded all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed.

And the law went out that the wise men should be killed. And they looked for Daniel and his companions, to be killed.

Then Daniel answered [with] counsel and insight to Arioch the chief of the king's bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

He answered and said to Arioch, the king's officer, Why [is] the decree so hasty from before the king? And Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

And Daniel went in and asked of the king that he would give him time, and he would show the king the meaning.

Then Daniel went to his house and declared the thing to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,

that they might pray for the mercies of God in Heaven about this secret, that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, and 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 causes to pass away kings, and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who know understanding.

He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what [is] in the darkness, and the light dwells in Him.

I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made me know what we ask of You. For You have revealed to us the king's matter.

Then Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had chosen to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said this to him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will show the meaning to the king.

Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel in before the king and spoke this to him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make the meaning known to the king.

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, Are you able to reveal to me the dream which I have seen, and its meaning?

Daniel replied before the king and said, The secret which the king has demanded cannot be shown to the king by the wise men, the conjurers, the horoscopists, or the fortunetellers.

But there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets, and makes known to king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, [are] these:

As for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed, what should happen after this. And He who reveals secrets makes known to you what shall occur.

But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for [any] wisdom that I have more than any living man, but so that the meaning might be made known to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart.

You, O king, were seeing. And, behold, a certain great image! That great image stood before you with a brilliant brightness, and its form [was] dreadful.

The head of this image [was] of fine gold, its breast and its arms [were] of silver, its belly and its thighs [were] of bronze,

its legs [were] of iron, its feet [were] partly of iron and partly of clay.

You continued until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were together broken to pieces, and [they] became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that no place was found for them. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

This [is] the dream, and we will tell the meaning of it before the king.

You O king [are] the king of kings. For the God of Heaven has given you the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the honor.