Dan 2 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar , Nebuchadnezzar had dreams ; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

Daniel 2

The King’s Forgotten Dream

1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ^{▼▼ Lit dreamed dreams
,} ^bhad dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his ^csleep ^{▼▼ Lit was gone upon him}left him. 2 Then the king ^{▼▼ Lit said to call}gave orders to call in the ^{▼▼ Or soothsayer priests
,} ^gmagicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the ^{▼▼ Or master astrologers, and so throughout the ch}Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I ^{▼▼ Lit dreamed
,} ^jhad a dream and my spirit ^{▼▼ Lit was troubled}is anxious to ^{▼▼ Lit know}understand the dream.”

4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^{▼▼ The text is in Aramaic from here through 7:28
,} ⁿAramaic: ^o“O king, live forever! ^pTell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, ^{▼▼ Another reading is The word has gone from me}“The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^{▼▼ Lit made into limbs
,} ^storn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 “But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^tgifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king ^utell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are ^{▼▼ Lit buying}bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that ^{▼▼ V 5, note 1}the command from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^xone ^{▼▼ Or law}decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ^{▼▼ Lit word}words before me until the ^{▼▼ Lit time}situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may ^abknow that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered ^{▼▼ Lit before the}the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter ^{▼▼ Lit of}for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^{▼▼ Or soothsayer priest
,} ^afmagician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11 “Moreover, the thing which the king demands is ^{▼▼ Or rare}difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^{▼▼ Lit before}to the king except ^aigods, whose ^ajdwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

12 Because of this the king became ^akindignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the ^{▼▼ Or law}decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for ^amDaniel and his friends to ^{▼▼ Lit be killed}kill them.

14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^aoArioch, the captain of the king’s ^{▼▼ Or executioners}bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the ^{▼▼ Or law}decree from the king so ^{▼▼ Or harsh}urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would ^{▼▼ Or appoint a time for him}give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, ^atHananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, 18 so that they might ^aurequest compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^avdestroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night ^awvision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be ^axblessed forever and ever,
For ^aywisdom and power belong to Him.
21 “It is He who ^azchanges the times and the epochs;
He ^baremoves kings and ^{▼▼ Or sets up}establishes kings;
He gives ^bcwisdom to wise men
And knowledge to ^{▼▼ Lit knowers}men of understanding.
22 “It is He who ^bereveals the profound and hidden things;
^bfHe knows what is in the darkness,
And the ^bglight dwells with Him.
23 “To You, O ^bhGod of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me ^biwisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we ^bjrequested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

24 Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: ^bk“Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me ^{▼▼ Lit in before the king}into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

25 Then Arioch hurriedly ^bmbrought Daniel ^{▼▼ Lit in before the king}into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the ^{▼▼ Lit sons of the exile of
,} ^bpexiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26 The king said to Daniel, whose name was ^bqBelteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither ^brwise men, conjurers, ^{▼▼ Or soothsayer priests}magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28 “However, there is a ^btGod in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ^{▼▼ Lit end of the days
,} ^bvlatter days. This was your dream and the ^bwvisions ^{▼▼ Lit of your head}in your mind while on your bed. 29 “As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts ^{▼▼ Lit came up}turned to what would take place ^{▼▼ Lit after this}in the future; and ^caHe who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 30 “But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any ^cbwisdom ^{▼▼ Lit which is}residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may ^{▼▼ Lit know}understand the ^cethoughts of your ^{▼▼ Lit heart}mind.

The King’s Dream

31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and ^{▼▼ Lit its splendor was surpassing}of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was ^chawesome. 32 “The ^cihead of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 “You ^{▼▼ Lit were}continued looking until a ^ckstone was cut out ^clwithout hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and ^cmcrushed them. 35 “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed ^{▼▼ Lit like one}all at the same time and became ^colike chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ^cpnot a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ^cqmountain and filled the whole earth.

The Interpretation— Babylon the First Kingdom

36 “This was the dream; now we will tell ^crits interpretation before the king. 37 “You, O king, are the ^csking of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the ^{▼▼ Or sovereignty}kingdom, the ^cupower, the strength and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the ^cvbeasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.

Medo-Persia and Greece

39 “After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

Rome

40 “Then there will be a ^cwfourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 “In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with ^{▼▼ Lit clay of mud}common clay. 42 “As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 “And in that you saw the iron mixed with ^{▼▼ Lit clay of mud}common clay, they will combine with one another ^{▼▼ Or with}in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.

The Divine Kingdom

44 “In the days of those kings the ^daGod of heaven will ^dbset up a ^dckingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be ^{▼▼ Or passed on to}left for another people; it will ^decrush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 “Inasmuch as you saw that a ^dfstone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the ^dggreat God has made known to the king what ^dhwill take place ^{▼▼ Lit after this}in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did ^djhomage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and ^{▼▼ Lit sweet odors
,} ^dlfragrant incense. 47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely ^dmyour God is a ^dnGod of gods and a Lord of kings and a ^dorevealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king ^{▼▼ Lit made great
,} ^dqpromoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole ^drprovince of Babylon and chief ^{▼▼ Lit of the prefects}prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel made request of the king, and he ^dtappointed ^duShadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ^{▼▼ Lit gate
,} ^dwcourt.