 REV Bible |   |   |
| REV Bible | | |
1In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him.
2Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
3The king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Aramaic language, “O king, live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
5The king answered the Chaldeans, “This is what I have decided: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut in pieces and your houses will be made a dunghill.
6But if you show the dream and its interpretation you will receive gifts and rewards from me, and great honor. So show me the dream and its interpretation.”
7They answered the second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
8The king answered, “I know for certain that you are trying to gain some time because you see that this is what I have decided.
9But if you do not make known to me the dream, there is but one sentence for you, for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me until time has changed things. Therefore tell me the dream and then I will know that you can show me its interpretation.”
10The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can declare the matter for the king, so no king, lord, or ruler has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.
11The king is asking a very difficult thing, and there is no one else who can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
12Because of this the king was violently angry, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13So the decree went out and the wise men were about to be slain; and they searched for Daniel and his companions to kill them.
14Then Daniel replied with counsel and prudence to Arioch the commander of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;
15he answered Arioch the king’s commander, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time so that he could show the king the interpretation.
17Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18so that they could request the mercy of the God of heaven concerning this secret so that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20Daniel answered, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his.
21He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
23I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has now made known to me what we asked of you; for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
24So Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and spoke to him as follows: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king and I will show the interpretation to the king.”
25Then Arioch brought Daniel in before the king in haste and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
26The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?”
27Daniel answered before the king and said, “The secret that the king has asked about cannot be explained to the king by the wise men, enchanters, magicians, or soothsayers;
28but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
29as for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind on your bed about what should happen in the future, and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will happen.
30But as for me, this secret was not revealed to me because of any wisdom that I have more than any other living person, but so that its interpretation may be made known to the king, and so that you may understand the thoughts of your heart.
31You were looking, O king, and behold, there was a large statue. This statue, which was mighty and of exceeding brightness, was standing before you and its appearance was frightening.
32As for this statue, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,
33its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay.
34As you looked a stone was cut out, but not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king.
37You, O king, are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
38and wherever the children of men live—or the animals of the field or the birds of the heavens—he has given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
39After you will arise another kingdom inferior to you, and another third kingdom of bronze that will rule over all the earth.
40The fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these will it break in pieces and crush.
41Whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay and part of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but there will be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.
42As the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong, and partly broken.
43Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they will mix themselves with the seed of men; but they will not cling to one another, even as iron does not mingle with clay.
44In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people; but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.
45Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future; and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and prostrated himself before Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him.
47The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.”
48Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
49Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was in the gate of the king.
| top | |