1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar was dreaming dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.

2 And the king commanded to call the magicians, and the conjurers, and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they came and stood before the king.

3 And the king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.

4 And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will explain the interpretation.

5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The command is gone from me. If you will not make known the dream and its interpretation to me, you will be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an outhouse.

6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore, declare the dream and its interpretation to me.

7 They again replied and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will explain its interpretation.

8 The king answered and said, I know that you would buy time, because you see that the command is gone from me.

9 But if you will not make the dream known to me, there is one law for you. For you have agreed upon lying and deceiving words to speak before me until the time has changed. Therefore, tell me the dream, then I shall know that you have the ability to explain the interpretation to me.

10 The Chaldeans replied before the king and said, There is not a man on the earth who can declare the king’s matter, because not any king, lord, or ruler has asked such a thing from any magician, or conjurer, or Chaldean.

11 And the thing that the king asks is rare. And there is no other who can declare it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

12 Because of all this the king was enraged and angered. And he commanded all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed.

13 And the law went out that the wise men should be killed. And they searched for Daniel and his companions, to be killed.

14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and discretion to Arioch the chief of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

15 He answered and said to Arioch, the king’s officer, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? And Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

16 And Daniel went in and asked of the king that he would give him time, and he would declare to the king the interpretation.

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,

18 that they might pray for the mercies of God in Heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, and Daniel blessed the God of Heaven.

20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.

21 And He 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.

22 He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells in Him.

23 I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known to me what we asked of You. For You have made known to us the king’s matter.

24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said this to him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.

25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and spoke this to him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make the interpretation known to the king.

26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?

27 Daniel replied before the king and said, The secret which the king has demanded cannot be declared to the king by the wise men, the conjurers, the magicians, or the fortunetellers.

28 But there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets, and makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:

29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to you on your bed, about what should come to pass after this. And He who reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass.

30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart.

31 You, O king, were watching, and behold, a certain great image! This great image stood before you with extraordinary brightness, and its form was dreadful.

32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest 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 watched until it happened that a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.

35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were together broken to pieces, and they became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that they could not be found anywhere. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.

37 You O king are a king of kings. For the God of Heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and honor.

38 And wherever the sons of men, the animals of the field, and the birds of the sky dwell, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.

39 And in your place shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. Inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things, and like iron that crushes all these, it will break in pieces and crush.

41 And whereas you saw the feet and the toes, partly of potters’ clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken.

43 And as you saw the iron mixed with the miry clay, they shall become mixed with the seed of men. But they shall not cleave to one another, even as iron does not fellowship with clay.

44 And in the days of these kings, the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and bring all these kingdoms to an end, and it shall stand forever.

45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold in pieces, the Great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass after this. And the dream is certain, and the interpretation of it is sure.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face prostrate before Daniel. And he commanded that they present an offering to him with incense.

47 The king answered Daniel and said, Your God truly is a God of gods and a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.

48 Then the king made Daniel great and gave him many great gifts. And he made him ruler over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

49 And Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.