Daniel 2
[The Dream]
And in the second year of the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled,
and his sleep brake from him. 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. And the king said unto them, I
have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 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. 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. 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. They
answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will
shew the interpretation of it. The king answered and said, I know of certainty
that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 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. 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. 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. For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise men
should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 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: 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. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king
that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah, his companions: 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. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a
night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel
answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and
might are his: 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: He revealeth the deep
and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth
with him. 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.
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. 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. 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?
[Dream's Interpretation]
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; 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; 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. 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. 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. This image's head was of fine gold, his
breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of
iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 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. 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. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation
thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of
heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 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.
[Babylon]
Thou art this head of gold.
[Persia]
And after thee shall arise another kingdom
inferior to thee,
[Greece]
and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over
all the earth.
[Roman Empire]
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.
[Revived Roman Empire of the end-times]
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. 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. 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.
[Millennium]
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. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands,
[Christ, the
Rock] 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.
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped
Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto
him. 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. 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. 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.
