Dan 1-2 | ESV | STEP | In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it .

1 In the third year of ^athe reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of ^bthe vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to ^cthe land of Shinar, to the house of his god, ^dand placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ^ehis chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family ^{▼▼Hebrew of the seed of the kingdom} and of ^gthe nobility, 4 youths without ^hblemish, of good appearance and ⁱskillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to ^jteach them the literature and language of the ^kChaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of ^lthe food that the king ate, and of ^mthe wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ⁿthree years, and at the end of that time they were to ^ostand before the king. 6 Among these were ^pDaniel, ^qHananiah, ^rMishael, and ^sAzariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And ^tthe chief of the eunuchs ^ugave them names: ^vDaniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel’s Faithfulness

8 But Daniel ^wresolved that he would not ^xdefile himself with ^ythe king’s food, or with ^zthe wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^aadefile himself. 9 ^abAnd God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ^acten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^adthe king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^aethe king’s food. 16 ^afSo the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^agvegetables.

17 As for these four youths, ^ahGod gave them learning and ^aiskill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^ajunderstanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of ^akthe time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^althey stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^amthe magicians and ^anenchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel ^aowas there until the first year of ^apKing Cyrus.

Daniel 2

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^aqhis spirit was troubled, and ^arhis sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that ^asthe magicians, ^atthe enchanters, the ^ausorcerers, and ^avthe Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^awstood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^axmy spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then ^aythe Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, ^{▼▼The text from this point to the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic} ^ba“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to ^bbthe Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^bctorn limb from limb, ^bdand your ^behouses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^bfyou shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^bgTherefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^bhgain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, ^bithere is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^bjthe times change. ^bkTherefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 ^blThe Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^bmChaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^bnthe gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12 Because of this the king was angry and ^bovery furious, and ^bpcommanded that all ^bqthe wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^brDaniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^bsArioch, the ^btcaptain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared ^{▼▼Aramaic answered and said; also verse 26} to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^bvso urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^bwHananiah, ^bxMishael, and ^byAzariah, his companions, 18 ^bzand told them to seek mercy from the ^caGod of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^cbbe destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^cca vision of the night. Then Daniel ^cdblessed the ^ceGod of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:

^cf“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
^cgto whom belong wisdom and might.
21 ^chHe changes times and seasons;
^cihe removes kings and sets up kings;
^cjhe gives wisdom to the wise
^ckand knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 ^clhe reveals deep and hidden things;
^cmhe knows what is in the darkness,
^cnand the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O ^coGod of my fathers,
^cpI give thanks and praise,
for ^cqyou have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what ^crwe asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
24 Therefore Daniel went in to ^csArioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

25 Then ^ctArioch brought in Daniel before the king ^cuin haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^cvamong the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, ^cwwhose name was Belteshazzar, ^cx“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^cyenchanters, ^czmagicians, or ^daastrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but ^dbthere is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^dcwhat will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^ddthe visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^deand he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But ^dfas for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^dgyou may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 ^dhThe head of this image was of fine gold, ^diits chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^djthighs of bronze, 33 ^dkits legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out ^dlby no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^dmbroke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^dnlike the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^donot a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^dpa great mountain ^dqand filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, ^drthe king of kings, to whom ^dsthe God of heaven ^dthas given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^duthe beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^dvthe head of gold. 39 ^dwAnother kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^dxof bronze, ^dywhich shall rule over all the earth. 40 And ^dzthere shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^eabreaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^ebbreak and crush all these. 41 And as you saw ^ecthe feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^edfirmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, ^{▼▼Aramaic by the seed of men} but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings ^efthe God of heaven will set up ^ega kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^ehIt shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^eiit shall stand forever, 45 just as ^ejyou saw that ^eka stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^elit broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^emgreat God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^enfell upon his face and ^eopaid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^epan offering and ^eqincense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^erGod is God of gods and ^esLord of kings, and ^eta revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^eugifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^evprovince of Babylon and ^ewchief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^exappointed ^eyShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^ezthe province of Babylon. But Daniel ^faremained at the king’s court.