Zion, the City of Our God

A Song. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^(A)his spirit was troubled, and ^(B)his sleep left him. ² Then the king commanded that ^(C)the magicians, ^(D)the enchanters, the ^(E)sorcerers, and ^(F)the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^(G)stood before the king. ³ And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^(H)my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” ⁴ Then ^(I)the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{[a] (J)}“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” ⁵ The king answered and said to ^(K)the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^(L)torn limb from limb, ^(M)and your ^(N)houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶ But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^(O)you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^(P)Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” ⁸ The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^(Q)gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— ⁹ if you do not make the dream known to me, ^(R)there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^(S)the times change. ^(T)Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” ^10 (U)The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^(V)Chaldean. ¹¹ The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^(W)the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹² Because of this the king was angry and ^(X)very furious, and ^(Y)commanded that all ^(Z)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(AA)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(AB)Arioch, the ^(AC)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He declared^[b] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^(AD)so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(AE)Hananiah, ^(AF)Mishael, and ^(AG)Azariah, his companions, ^18 (AH)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(AI)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(AJ)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(AK)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(AL)blessed the ^(AM)God of heaven. ²⁰ Daniel answered and said:

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to ^(BA)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 ^(BB)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(BC)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(BD)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, ^(BE)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(BF)“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, ^(BG)enchanters, ^(BH)magicians, or ^(BI)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸ but ^(BJ)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(BK)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(BL)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, ^(BM)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ But ^(BN)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 ^(BO)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 (BP)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(BQ)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(BR)thighs of bronze, ^33 (BS)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(BT)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(BU)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 ^(BV)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(BW)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(BX)a great mountain ^(BY)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(BZ)the king of kings, to whom ^(CA)the God of heaven ^(CB)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, ^(CC)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(CD)the head of gold. ^39 (CE)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(CF)of bronze, ^(CG)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(CH)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(CI)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(CJ)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(CK)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(CL)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,^[c] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(CM)the God of heaven will set up ^(CN)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(CO)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(CP)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(CQ)you saw that ^(CR)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(CS)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(CT)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 ^(CU)fell upon his face and ^(CV)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(CW)an offering and ^(CX)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(CY)God is God of gods and ^(CZ)Lord of kings, and ^(DA)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(DB)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(DC)province of Babylon and ^(DD)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(DE)appointed ^(DF)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(DG)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(DH)remained at the king's court.

Taming the Tongue

3 ^(A)Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ² For ^(B)we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ^(C)he is a perfect man, ^(D)able also to bridle his whole body. ³ If we put ^(E)bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet ^(F)it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And ^(G)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^(H)staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,^[a] and set on fire by hell.^{[b] 7} For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^(I)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(J)who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[c] these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? ^(K)By his good conduct let him show his works ^(L)in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter ^(M)jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not ^(N)the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^(O)demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But ^(P)the wisdom from above is first pure, then ^(Q)peaceable, gentle, open to reason, ^(R)full of mercy and good fruits, ^(S)impartial and ^(T)sincere. ¹⁸ And ^(U)a harvest of righteousness ^(V)is sown in peace by those who make peace.