Daniel 2
1And
in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his
sleep brake from him.
2Then the king commanded
to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they
came and stood before the king.
3And the king
said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy
servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5The
king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the
interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of
me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we
will shew the interpretation of it.
8The king
answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you:
for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and
I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10The
Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore
there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that
can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of
Babylon.
13And the decree went forth that
the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was
gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15He
answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known
to Daniel.
16Then Daniel went in, and desired
of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah, his companions:
18That they would
desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of
the wise men of Babylon.
19Then was the secret
revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are
his:
21And he changeth the times and the seasons:
he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
22He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness,
and the light dwelleth with him.
23I thank
thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what
we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
24Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon:
he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the
king the interpretation.
25Then Arioch brought
in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known
unto the king the interpretation.
26The king
answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen,
and the interpretation thereof?
27Daniel answered
in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians,
the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28But
there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
29As
for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth
secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30But
as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall
make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of
brass,
33His legs of iron, his feet part of
iron and part of clay.
34Thou sawest till
that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to
pieces.
35Then was the iron, the clay, the
brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the
wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth.
36This is the dream;
and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37Thou,
O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls
of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41And
whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall
be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom
shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43And
whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave
one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44And
in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall
not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands,
and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the
king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded
that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
47The
king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer
of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
48Then
the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and
chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
49Then
Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but
Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
