Dan 2 | NASB2020 | 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 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 ^fsoothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ^{▼▼Probably master astrologers, diviners, etc., and so throughout the ch}Chaldeans, to ^{▼▼Lit explain 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: “ ^oO king, live forever! ^pTell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command ^{▼▼Another reading is is issued by me}from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^{▼▼Lit turned into limbs
,} ^storn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into 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 trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command ^{▼▼See note 1 v 5}from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^wone ^{▼▼Or verdict}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, so that I may ^aaknow that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered ^{▼▼Lit before the}the king and said, “There is no person on earth who could declare the matter ^{▼▼Lit of}to the king, because no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^adsoothsayer priest, sorcerer, or Chaldean. 11 Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^{▼▼Lit before}to the king except ^afgods, whose ^agdwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

12 Because of this, the king became ^ahangry and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the ^{▼▼Or law}decree was issued that the wise men be killed; and they looked for ^ajDaniel and his friends, to ^{▼▼Lit be killed}kill them.

14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^alArioch, the captain of the king’s ^{▼▼Or executioners}bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s officer, “For what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch informed Daniel of the matter. 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him a grace period, so that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

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

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night ^aqvision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20 Daniel said,

“May the name of God be ^arblessed forever and ever,
For ^aswisdom and power belong to Him.
21 “It is He who ^atchanges the times and the periods;
He ^auremoves kings and appoints kings;
He gives ^avwisdom to wise men,
And knowledge to ^{▼▼Lit knowers of}people of understanding.
22 “It is He who ^axreveals the profound and hidden things;
^ayHe knows what is in the darkness,
And the ^azlight dwells with Him.
23 “To You, ^baGod of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me ^bbwisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we ^bcrequested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
24 Thereupon, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: “ ^bdDo not kill 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 ^bfbrought 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
,} ^biexiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26 The king said to Daniel, whose name was ^bjBelteshazzar, “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 secret about which the king has inquired, neither ^bkwise men, sorcerers, soothsayer priests, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28 However, there is a ^blGod in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ^{▼▼Lit end of the days
,} ^bnlatter days. This was your dream and the ^bovisions ^{▼▼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 ^bsHe who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me ^{▼▼Or through}for any ^buwisdom ^{▼▼Lit which is}residing in me more than in any other living person, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the ^bwthoughts of your ^{▼▼Lit heart}mind.

The King’s Dream

31 “You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and ^{▼▼Lit its radiance was extraordinary}of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was ^{▼▼Or dreadful
,} ^caawesome. 32 The ^cbhead of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You ^{▼▼Lit were}continued watching until a ^cdstone was broken off ^cewithout hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and ^cfcrushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces ^{▼▼Lit as one}all at the same time, and they were ^chlike chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ^cinot a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ^cjmountain and filled the entire earth.

The Interpretation--Babylon the First Kingdom

36 “This was the dream; and now we will tell ^ckits interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the ^clking of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the ^{▼▼Or sovereignty}kingdom, the ^cnpower, the strength, and the honor; 38 and wherever the sons of mankind live, or the ^coanimals of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has handed them over to you and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

Medo-Persia and Greece

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

Rome

40 Then there will be a ^cpfourth kingdom as strong as iron; just as iron smashes and crushes everything, so, like iron that crushes, it will smash and crush all these things. 41 And 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 within it some of the toughness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with ^{▼▼Lit wet clay}common clay. 42 And just 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 fragile. 43 In that you saw the iron mixed with ^{▼▼Lit wet clay}common clay, they will combine with one another ^{▼▼Or with}in ^{▼▼Lit the seed of men}their descendants; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery.

The Divine Kingdom

44 And in the days of those kings the ^cuGod of heaven will ^cvset up a ^cwkingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be ^{▼▼Or passed on to}left for another people; it will ^cycrush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Just as you saw that a ^czstone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the ^dagreat God has made known to the king what ^dbwill take place ^{▼▼Lit after this}in the future; so the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid ^ddhumble respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and ^deincense. 47 The king responded to Daniel and said, “ ^dfYour God truly is a ^dgGod of gods and a Lord of kings and a ^dhrevealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” 48 Then the king ^{▼▼Lit made Daniel great
,} ^djpromoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire ^dkprovince of Babylon, and chief ^{▼▼Lit of the prefects}prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^dmappointed ^dnShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ^{▼▼Lit gate
,} ^dpcourt.