Daniel
Chapter 2
1 In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, he had dreams that upset his mind, and he could not sleep.
2 Then the king ordered the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to be called to tell him his dreams. So they came and stood in front of the king.
3 The king said to them, “I had a dream that troubled me and I want to understand it.”
4 The Chaldeans said to the king in their language, “King, may you live forever. Tell us your dream, and we will explain its meaning.”
5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “I have forgotten the dream. If you do not tell me what I dreamed and what it means, you will be chopped up, and your homes will be turned into piles of rubbish.”
6 If you tell the dream and its meaning, you will get gifts, rewards, and great honor from me: so tell me the dream and its meaning.
7 They replied and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will explain its meaning.”
8 The king replied, “I am sure that you are trying to buy time because you realize I have forgotten the dream.”
9 If you don’t tell me the dream, there is only one punishment for you: you have planned to tell me lies and twisted words until things change. So tell me the dream, then I’ll know you can explain its meaning to me.
10 The Chaldeans spoke to the king and said, “No one on earth can explain the king’s dream. That’s why no king, leader, or ruler has ever asked for such things from a magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.”
11 The king asks for something unusual, and no one else can reveal it to the king except for God, who does not live among humans.
12 Because of this, the king was very angry and ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be killed.
13 The order was given to kill the wise men, and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them too.
14 Then Daniel spoke carefully and wisely to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had set out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
15 He replied to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the king’s order so urgent?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.
16 Daniel went to the king and asked for more time to explain the dream’s meaning to him.
17 Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter.
18 They hoped for mercy from the God of heaven about this secret, so Daniel and his friends would not die like Babylon’s other wise men.
19 Daniel learned the secret in a dream at night. Then he praised the God of heaven.
20 Daniel said, “Praise be to God’s name forever and ever, for all wisdom and power belong to him.”
21 He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He uncovers deep and hidden things: he knows what lies in darkness, and light is with him.
23 I thank you and praise you, God of my ancestors, for giving me wisdom and strength, and for telling me what we asked of you: you have let us know the king’s issue.
24 So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had ordered to kill the wise men of Babylon. He said to him, “Do not kill the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will explain the meaning to the king.”
25 Arioch quickly brought Daniel to the king and said, “I have found a man from the captives of Judah who can explain the dream to the king.”
26 The king said to Daniel, also known as Belteshazzar, “Can you tell me the dream I had and explain its meaning?”
27 Daniel spoke to the king and said, “The mystery the king asked about is something that wise men, astrologers, magicians, and fortune tellers cannot explain to the king.”
28 There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Your dream and the visions you had in your bed are about these events.
29 O king, while in bed, you wondered what the future holds. The one who shows secrets has told you what will happen.
30 But for me, I wasn’t told this secret because I am wiser than anyone else. Instead, it was so I could explain it to the king and so you could understand what’s in your heart.
31 You, O king, saw a huge statue. This huge statue, very shiny and bright, stood in front of you; and it looked frightening.
32 The statue’s head was made of pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and hips were bronze.
33 His legs are made of iron, his feet are a mix of iron and clay.
34 You saw until a stone was cut out, not by hands, which hit the statue on its feet made of iron and clay, and shattered them.
35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold all broke into pieces at once and turned into dust like what you find at the threshing place in summer. The wind blew it all away without leaving a trace. And the stone that hit the statue grew into a big mountain that filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream, and we will explain its meaning to the king.
37 You, O king, are a king of kings because God in heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and might, and honor.
38 Wherever people live, God has given you power over all the animals on the land and birds in the sky. You are the ruler of them all. You are like the head of gold.
39 After you, another less powerful kingdom will rise, followed by a third kingdom of bronze that will rule the whole earth.
40 The fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron. Just as iron crushes and dominates everything, this kingdom will crush and bruise all.
41 And as you saw the feet and toes made partly of clay and partly of iron, the kingdom will be split. Yet some of its strength will be like iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay.
42 The toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 You saw iron mixed with wet clay, they will mix with people, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.
44 During the time of these kings, God from heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. This kingdom won’t be given to others. Instead, it will crush and end all these kingdoms and last forever.
45 Because you saw a stone cut from the mountain without hands, and it smashed the iron, brass, clay, silver, and gold to pieces, God has shown the king what will happen in the future: the dream is certain, and its meaning is reliable.
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell to the ground, honored Daniel, and ordered that they give offerings and pleasant smells to him.
47 The king said to Daniel, “It’s true, your God is the most powerful God, the ruler of kings, and shows deep secrets because you could show this secret.”
48 The king made Daniel very important, gave him lots of gifts, and put him in charge of all of Babylon and the leaders of Babylon’s wise men.
49 Daniel asked the king, and he put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the tasks in Babylon. But Daniel stayed working at the king’s entrance.