Daniel 2

Revised Geneva Translation

2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams which troubled his spirit, and broke his sleep.

² Then the king commanded to call the enchanters, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to interpret the king’s dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

³ And the king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream. And my spirit was troubled to know the dream.”

⁴ Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in the Aramite’s language, “O king, live forever. Show your servants your dream, and we shall show the interpretation.”

⁵ And the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The thing is spoken. If you will not make me understand the dream, with the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.

⁶ “But, if you declare the dream and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore, show me the dream and the interpretation of it.”

⁷ They answered again, and said, “Let the king show his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.”

⁸ Then the king answered, and said, “I know certainly that you would like more time, because you see the thing is spoken.

⁹ “But if you will not declare to me the dream, there is but one judgment for you. For you have prepared lying and corrupt words, to speak before me till the time changes. Therefore, tell me the dream, that I may know if you can declare to me the interpretation thereof.”

¹⁰ Then the Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is no man upon earth who can declare the king’s matter. Yea, there is neither king nor prince nor lord who asked such things of an enchanter, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

¹¹ For it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can declare it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹² For this reason, the king was angry and in a great fury, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babel.

¹³ And when sentence was given, the wise men were killed. And they sought Daniel and his friends, to be put to death.

¹⁴ Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch, the king’s chief steward, who had gone forth to put to death the wise men of Babel.

¹⁵ “Yea,” he answered and said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the sentence so severe from the king?” Then Arioch explained it to Daniel.

¹⁶ So Daniel went and asked the king if he would give him time to show the king the interpretation thereof.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and shared the matter with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,

¹⁸ in order that they should ask the God of heaven for grace in this secret, so that Daniel and his friends should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babel.

¹⁹ Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision by night. Therefore, Daniel praised the God of heaven.

²⁰ And Daniel answered and said, “The Name of God be praised forever and ever. For wisdom and strength are his.

²¹ “And he changes the times and seasons. He takes away kings. He sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and understanding to those who understand.

²² “He reveals the deep and secret things. He knows what is in darkness, and the light dwells with him.

²³ “I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers, that you have given me wisdom and strength, and have shown me now the thing that we desired of you. For you have declared to us the king’s matter.”

²⁴ Therefore, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babel. He went and said to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babel. But bring me before the king, and I will declare to the king the interpretation.”

²⁵ Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said, “I have found a man of the children of Judah, who were brought as captives, and who will declare to the king the interpretation.”

²⁶ Then answered the king, and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to show me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?”

²⁷ Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, can neither the wise, nor the astrologers, nor the enchanters, nor the soothsayers declare to the king.

²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and shows the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the things which you have seen in your head upon your bed, is this:

²⁹ “O king, when you were in your bed, thoughts came into your mind, showing what should come to pass hereafter. And he who reveals secrets, tells you what shall come.

³⁰ “As for me, this secret is not shown to me because I have more wisdom than any other living, but only to show the king the interpretation, that you might know the thoughts of your heart.

³¹ “O king, you saw, and behold, there was a great image. This great image, whose glory was so excellent, stood before you. And the form, therefore, was terrible.

³² “This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

³³ “His legs of iron. And his feet were part iron and part clay.

³⁴ “You beheld it till a stone was cut without hands, which struck the image upon his feet, made of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.

³⁵ “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken all together. And they became like the chaff of the summer flowers. 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.

³⁶ “This is the dream, and we will declare before the king the interpretation thereof.

³⁷ “O king, you are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

³⁸ “And in all places where the children of men dwell, he has given into your hand the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

³⁹ “And after you shall rise another kingdom, inferior to you, of silver. And another, third kingdom shall be of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰ “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron. For as iron breaks in pieces, and subdues all things, and as iron bruises all these things, so shall it break in pieces, and bruise all.

⁴¹ “Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay, and partly of iron: the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it the strength of the iron, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay and earth.

⁴² “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron, and partly of clay, so shall the kingdom be partly strong and partly broken.

⁴³ “And just as you saw iron mixed with clay and earth, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not join one with another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.

⁴⁴ “And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And this kingdom shall not be given to another people. But it shall break and destroy all these kingdoms. And it shall stand forever.

⁴⁵ “Just as you saw that the stone was cut from the mountain without hands. And that it broke in pieces the iron, and the brass, and the clay, and the silver, and the gold. So the great God has shown the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is true. And the interpretation thereof is sure.”

⁴⁶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and bowed himself to Daniel, and commanded that they should offer meat offerings and sweet odors to him.

⁴⁷ Also, the king answered Daniel, and said, “I know truly that your God is a God of gods; and the Lord of kings; and the revealer of secrets; because I see you can open this secret.”

⁴⁸ So the king made Daniel a great man; and gave him many and great gifts. He made him governor over the whole province of Babel, and chief of the rulers; and above all the wise men of Babel.

⁴⁹ Then Daniel made a request of the king, that he may set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the province of Babel, while Daniel remained in the gate of the king.