Daniel 2:1-49

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had an ominous dream. It left him so disturbed that he could not sleep. So the king called for his magicians, enchanters, wizards, and wise men to tell him what he had dreamed. And they all came and stood before the unsettled king. He told them, “I’ve had a dream, and my heart is troubled. I want to know what my dream means.” The wise men answered him in Aramaic: “May you live forever, O king! Tell your servants the dream you had, and we will gladly reveal its meaning for you.” “My decision is final,” the king answered. “If you cannot tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will have you torn limb from limb and turn your homes into garbage dumps. But if you can tell me what I dreamed and its interpretation, I will reward you with wonderful gifts and high honor in my kingdom. So now, tell me my dream and what it means.” They again replied, “Let the king tell his dream to us his servants, and we will gladly reveal its meaning.” But the king retorted, “I know what you’re doing; you’re just stalling for time! My decision is firm. If you do not interpret my dream for me, you will all receive the same punishment. You have conspired to continue deceiving me with your lies, hoping something will change. So, tell me now what I dreamed so that I can be assured that you are able to interpret it for me.” The wise men answered the king, “There is no one on earth who could do what Your Majesty commands. Furthermore, no king great or small has ever requested such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer. Your Majesty, what you ask is difficult, and it is impossible for anyone to reveal it except the gods, and they do not live with mortals.” At this the king flew into a violent rage and ordered all the wise men of Babylon to be executed. When the king’s decree was issued to have all the wise men killed, a search was also made for Daniel and his companions to have them put to death. As Arioch, captain of the royal bodyguard, set out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel cautiously and tactfully approached this royal official and asked him, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” When Arioch explained all that had transpired, Daniel immediately went off to plead with the king for more time so that he could seek the interpretation of the king’s dream. Daniel then went home and explained everything to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. He urged them to beg the God of heaven for mercy to help them unravel the mysterious secret of the king’s dream so that Daniel and his friends would not be executed with the other Babylonian wise men. That night, God clearly revealed to Daniel in a night vision the mystery of the dream. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven, saying, “May the blessed name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his alone. He alone controls the changes of times and seasons. He enthrones and dethrones kings, he imparts wisdom to the wise, and he pours out revelation-knowledge to those with understanding. He alone reveals deep secrets and mysteries and knows what lies in darkness, for he radiates glory-light all around him. You are the God worshiped by all my ancestors; I give you thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and power! You have revealed to us the king’s dream and unraveled to me its meaning.” Then Daniel went back to see Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not kill the wise men. Take me into the king’s presence, and I will reveal the dream’s meaning to the king.” Without wasting a moment, Arioch escorted Daniel to see the king. Arioch said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Your Majesty, I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can reveal the meaning of your troublesome dream.” The king said to Daniel (whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?” Daniel replied, “None of the wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to unveil the mystery you have asked about, but there is an all-knowing God in heaven who reveals the deepest mysteries. Your Majesty, he is the one who has revealed to you what is to take place in the last days. Here is your dream, the vision that filled your mind as you lay in your bed: “Your Majesty, as you were going to sleep, your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future. The Revealer of Mysteries has disclosed future events to you. This mystery has been revealed to me not because I am wiser than anyone else but for one divine purpose: so that you, the king, should learn what it means and that you would understand your innermost thoughts. “Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge statue of a man. It was both dazzling and terrifying to behold! The head of this statue was of purest gold, its chest and arms were of gleaming silver, its belly and hips of polished bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay. While you were staring at this statue, a boulder broke off from a mountain but not by the instrument of human hands. The boulder struck the statue at its base and shattered its feet of iron and clay into pieces. Then, all at once, the entire statue collapsed into a heap of rubble. The iron and clay, bronze, silver, and gold were all pulverized as fine as chaff on the summer threshing-floor. The wind blew the shattered pieces away, leaving not a trace behind. But the boulder that hit the statue grew into a massive mountain that covered the whole earth. This was your dream. And now, we will explain to the king what it means. “Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has bestowed upon you royal authority, power, might, and honor. He has handed over to you people, beasts, and birds, wherever they live, making you king of them all. You, O king, are the golden head. “And after you are gone, another kingdom will arise, a kingdom not as great as yours. And then a third kingdom will arise to rule the land, a kingdom of bronze. “And there will be a fourth kingdom, strong and hard as iron. It will shatter all things in its way. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the other kingdoms. “The feet and toes you saw, partly of iron and partly of clay, represent a divided kingdom that will retain some of the iron’s strength, just as you saw the iron and the clay mixed together. That its feet and toes were partly iron and partly clay means that this kingdom will be both strong and fragile. And just as you saw the iron and the clay mingled together, so the people of this kingdom will seek to be united, but they will not bond any more than iron will permanently bond with clay. “In the days of those kings of iron and clay, the God of heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed nor ruled by other people. It will shatter and bring all other kingdoms to an end, and it will stand forever! This is the meaning of what you saw in your vision: a rock cut out of a mountain—but not by human hands—a rock that shattered the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold to pieces is his eternal kingdom. The Great God has revealed to you, the king, what will take place after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation trustworthy.” Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low to the ground in awe of Daniel. Then he gave orders for incense to be burned and a sacrifice of grain to be offered in Daniel’s honor. The king said to Daniel, “Your god is without question the God of all gods, the Master of all kings, and the Revealer of all mysteries since he has given you the revelation of this mystery.” Then the king promoted Daniel and made him great in the kingdom and gave him many wonderful gifts. He also made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief of all the wise men of Babylon. At Daniel’s request, the king delegated the affairs of the province of Babylon to his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel remained in the king’s palace.