Daniel 2
1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar
dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then 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.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream,
and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the
dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The
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.
6 But 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.
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell
his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because
ye see the thing is gone from me.
9 But
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.
10 The 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.
11 And 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.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious,
and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his
fellows to be slain.
14 Then
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:
15 He
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.
16 Then
Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing
known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That 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.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed
the God of heaven.
20 Daniel
answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And 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:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth
what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I 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.
24 Therefore 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.
25 Then 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.
26 The 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?
27 Daniel 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;
28 But
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;
29 As 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.
30 But 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.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent,
stood before thee; and the form thereof 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, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou 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.
35 Then 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.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof
before the king.
37 Thou,
O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And 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.
39 And
after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all
the earth.
