Daniel 2:24-49

English Standard Version

²⁴Therefore Daniel went in to ^(A)Arioch, 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; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

²⁵Then ^(B)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(C)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(D)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶The king declared to Daniel, ^(E)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(F)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(G)enchanters, ^(H)magicians, or ^(I)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸but ^(J)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(K)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(L)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(M)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰But ^(N)as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^(O)you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²^(P)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(Q)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(R)thighs of bronze, ³³^(S)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(T)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(U)broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(V)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(W)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(X)a great mountain ^(Y)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, ^(Z)the king of kings, to whom ^(AA)the God of heaven ^(AB)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(AC)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(AD)the head of gold. ³⁹^(AE)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(AF)of bronze, ^(AG)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And ^(AH)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(AI)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(AJ)break and crush all these. ⁴¹And as you saw ^(AK)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(AL)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,^[a] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings ^(AM)the God of heaven will set up ^(AN)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(AO)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(AP)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵just as ^(AQ)you saw that ^(AR)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(AS)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(AT)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(AU)fell upon his face and ^(AV)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(AW)an offering and ^(AX)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(AY)God is God of gods and ^(AZ)Lord of kings, and ^(BA)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(BB)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(BC)province of Babylon and ^(BD)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(BE)appointed ^(BF)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(BG)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(BH)remained at the king's court.