Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream, and tells his wise men to say what it was. Only Daniel, after praying, can tell him: a great statue with a golden head, silver chest, bronze middle, iron legs and feet of iron and clay, destroyed by a stone that becomes a mountain. The stone is God's kingdom.
1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams , wherewith his spirit was troubled , and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians , and the astrologers , and the sorcerers , and the Chaldeans , for to shew the king his dreams . So they came and stood before the king .
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream , and my spirit was troubled to know the dream .
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack , O king , live for ever : tell thy servants the dream , and we will shew the interpretation .
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans , The thing is gone from me : if ye will not make known unto me the dream , with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces , and your houses shall be made a dunghill .
6 But if ye shew the dream , and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour : therefore 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 gain the time , because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream , there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed : therefore tell me the dream , and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king , and said , There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter : therefore there is no king , lord , nor ruler , that asked such things at any magician , or astrologer , or Chaldean .
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth , and there is none other that can shew it before the king , except the gods , whose dwelling is not with flesh .
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious , and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon .
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain ; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain .
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard , which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon :
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain , Why is the decree so hasty 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 Hananiah , Mishael , and Azariah , his companions :
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret ; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon .
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision . Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven .
20 Daniel answered and said , Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever : for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons : he removeth kings , and setteth up kings : he giveth wisdom unto the wise , and knowledge to them that know understanding :
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things : he knoweth what is in the darkness , and the light dwelleth with him .
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers , who hast given me wisdom and might , and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee : for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter .
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch , whom the king had ordained to destroy the 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 in 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 , whose name was Belteshazzar , Art 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 , The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers , the magicians , the soothsayers , shew unto the king ;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets , and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days . Thy 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 he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee 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 , 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 brightness was excellent , stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible .
32 This 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 without hands , which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay , and brake them to pieces .
35 Then was the iron , the clay , the brass , the silver , and the gold , broken to pieces together , and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors ; and the wind carried them away , that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain , and filled the whole earth .
36 This is the dream ; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king .
37 Thou , O king , art a king of kings : for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom , power , and strength , and glory .
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell , the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand , and hath made thee ruler over them all . Thou art this head of gold .
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee , and another third kingdom of brass , which shall bear rule over all the earth .
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these , shall it break in pieces and bruise .
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes , part of potters ' clay , and part of iron , the kingdom shall be divided ; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron , forasmuch as thou sawest the 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 iron mixed with miry clay , they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men : but they shall not cleave one to another , even as iron is not mixed with clay .
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom , which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other people , but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms , and it shall stand for ever .
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the 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 ; the 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 fell upon his face , and worshipped Daniel , and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel , and said , Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods , and a Lord of kings , and a revealer of secrets , seeing thou couldest reveal this secret .
48 Then the king made Daniel a great man , and gave him many great gifts , and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon , and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon .
49 Then Daniel requested of 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 .