2 And ain the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith bhis spirit was troubled, and chis sleep brake from him. 2 ccThen the king commanded to call dthe magicians, and dthe astrologers, and ethe sorcerers, and fthe Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and gstood before the king. 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and bmy spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake fthe Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, *ggO king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5 The king answered and said to fthe Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall hbe †cut in pieces, and hiyour houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But kif ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me lgifts and ||rewards and great honour: mtherefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would †ngain the time, nnbecause ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, othere is but one decree for you: for ye have pprepared lying and qcorrupt words to speak before me, ntill the time be changed: mtherefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10 fThe Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: rtherefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any dmagician, or dastrologer, or fChaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, sexcept tthe gods, uwhose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 uuFor this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all vthe wise men of Babylon. 13 And the decree went forth that vthe wise men should be slain; and they sought wDaniel and his fellows to be slain.

14 Then Daniel †answered with counsel and xwisdom to Arioch the ||†captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay vthe wise men of Babylon: 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so xxhasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to yHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 zThat they would desire mercies †of athe God of heaven concerning this bsecret; ||that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of ccthe wise men of Babylon.

19 Then was bthe secret revealed unto Daniel din a night vision. Then Daniel eblessed athe God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said,

fBlessed be the name of God for ever and ever:

For gwisdom and might are his:

21  And hhe changeth ithe times and the seasons:

He klremoveth kings, and lsetteth up kings:

He giveth wisdom unto the wise,

And mknowledge to them that know understanding:

22  nHe revealeth the deep and secret things:

oHe knoweth what is in the darkness,

And pthe light dwelleth with him.

23  qI thank thee, and praise thee, O thou rGod of my fathers,

Who hast given me gwisdom and might,

And hast made known unto me now what swe desired of thee:

For thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

24 uuTherefore Daniel went in unto tArioch, whom the king had uordained to destroy ccthe wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king vin haste, and said thus unto him, †I have found a man of the †captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, wwhose name was Belteshazzar, xArt thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, bThe secret which the king hath demanded xxcannot bbthe wise men, ythe astrologers, ythe magicians, zthe soothsayers, shew unto the king; 28 But there is aa God in heaven that revealeth bsecrets, and †maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be bin the latter days. bbThy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts †came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and ahe that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30 But cas for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, ||but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

31 Thou, O king, †sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose ddbrightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 eThis image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his ||thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out ||fwithout hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and gbrake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became hlike the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that ino place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image iibecame a great mountain, and jfilled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art ka king of kings: for lmthe God of heaven mhath given thee a kingdom, npower, and ostrength, and nglory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, othe beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. pThou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise qanother kingdom pinferior to thee, and ranother third kingdom pof brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And sthe fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: tforasmuch as iron gbreaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it gbreak in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest uthe feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but sthere shall be in it of the strength of the iron, tforasmuch as thou sawest vthe iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly ||broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest viron mixed with miry clay, wthey shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave †one to another, veven as iron is not mixed with clay. 44 And in †the days of these kings shall lthe God of heaven set up xya kingdom, ywhich shall never be destroyed: and the †kingdom shall not be left to other people, but zit shall gbreak in pieces and zzconsume all these kingdoms, and xit shall stand for ever. 45 tForasmuch as athou sawest that bthe stone was cut out of the mountain ||without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; cthe great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass †hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar dfell upon his face, and deworshipped Daniel, and fcommanded that they should offer an oblation and gsweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your hGod is a God of gods, and ia Lord of kings, and ja revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great kgifts, and made him ruler over the whole lprovince of Babylon, and mchief of nthe governors over all othe wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he pset qShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of lthe province of Babylon: but Daniel rsat in the gate of the king.