God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(A)Hananiah, ^(B)Mishael, and ^(C)Azariah, his companions, ^18 (D)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(E)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(F)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(G)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(H)blessed the ^(I)God of heaven. ²⁰ Daniel answered and said:

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to ^(W)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.”

²⁵ Then ^(X)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(Y)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(Z)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, ^(AA)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(AB)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(AC)enchanters, ^(AD)magicians, or ^(AE)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸ but ^(AF)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(AG)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(AH)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹ To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(AI)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ But ^(AJ)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 ^(AK)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 (AL)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(AM)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(AN)thighs of bronze, ^33 (AO)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(AP)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(AQ)broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(AR)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(AS)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(AT)a great mountain ^(AU)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(AV)the king of kings, to whom ^(AW)the God of heaven ^(AX)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸ and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(AY)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(AZ)the head of gold. ^39 (BA)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(BB)of bronze, ^(BC)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(BD)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(BE)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(BF)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(BG)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(BH)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ As 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. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(BI)the God of heaven will set up ^(BJ)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(BK)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(BL)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(BM)you saw that ^(BN)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(BO)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(BP)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(BQ)fell upon his face and ^(BR)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(BS)an offering and ^(BT)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(BU)God is God of gods and ^(BV)Lord of kings, and ^(BW)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(BX)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(BY)province of Babylon and ^(BZ)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(CA)appointed ^(CB)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(CC)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(CD)remained at the king's court.