Daniel 2:24-3:12

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.

Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image

3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits^[b] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on ^(BI)the plain of Dura, in ^(BJ)the province of Babylon. ²Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather ^(BK)the satraps, the prefects, and ^(BL)the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ³Then ^(BM)the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴And the herald ^(BN)proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O ^(BO)peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵that when you hear the ^(BP)sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you ^(BQ)are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately ^(BR)be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” ⁷Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all ^(BS)the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

⁸Therefore at that time certain ^(BT)Chaldeans ^(BU)came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹They declared^[c] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰You, O king, ^(BV)have made a decree, that every man who ^(BW)hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, ^(BX)shall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹And whoever does not fall down and worship ^(BY)shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹²There are certain Jews whom you have ^(BZ)appointed over the affairs of ^(CA)the province of Babylon: ^(CB)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, ^(CC)pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”