1 And in the second year of the reign of Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar, Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar had dreams. And his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
2 And the sovereign gave orders to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the practisers of witchcraft, and the Kasdites to declare to the sovereign his dreams. So they came and stood before the sovereign.
3 And the sovereign said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
4 And the Kasdites spoke to the sovereign in Aramaic, “O sovereign, live forever! Relate the dream to your servants, and we shall reveal the interpretation.”
5 The sovereign answered and said to the Kasdites, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream and its interpretation to me, your limbs shall be taken from you, and your houses made dunghills.
6 “But if you reveal the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive gifts, and rewards, and great esteem from me. So reveal to me the dream and its interpretation.”
7 They answered again and said, “Let the sovereign relate to his servants the dream, and we shall reveal its interpretation.”
8 The sovereign answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
9 “If you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. So relate the dream to me, then I shall know that you shall reveal its interpretation for me.”
10 The Kasdites answered the sovereign and said, “There is no one on earth who is able to reveal the matter of the sovereign. Because no sovereign, master, or ruler has ever asked a matter like this of any magician, or astrologer, or Kasdite.
11 “And the matter that the sovereign is asking is difficult, and there is no other who is able to reveal it to the sovereign except the mighty ones, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
12 Because of this the sovereign was enraged and very wroth, and gave orders to destroy all the wise ones of Baḇel.
13 So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise ones. And they sought Dani’ĕl and his companions, to kill them.
14 Then with counsel and wisdom Dani’ĕl answered Aryoḵ, the chief of the sovereign’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise ones of Baḇel –
15 he answered and said to Aryoḵ the sovereign’s officer, “Why is the decree from the sovereign so urgent?” So Aryoḵ made the decision known to Dani’ĕl.
16 And Dani’ĕl went in and asked the sovereign to give him time, and he would show the sovereign the interpretation.
17 Then Dani’ĕl went to his house, and made the decision known to Ḥananyah, Misha’ĕl, and Azaryah, his companions,
18 to seek compassion from the Elah of the shamayim concerning this secret, so that Dani’ĕl and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise ones of Baḇel.
19 Then the secret was revealed to Dani’ĕl in a night vision, and Dani’ĕl baraḵ the Elah of the shamayim.
20 Dani’ĕl responded and said, “Baruḵ be the Name of Elah forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.
21 “And He changes the times and the seasons. He removes sovereigns and raises up sovereigns. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who possess understanding.
22 “He reveals deep and secret matters. He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.
23 “I thank You and praise You, O Elah of my fathers. You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the sovereign’s matter.”
24 So Dani’ĕl went to Aryoḵ, whom the sovereign had appointed to destroy the wise ones of Baḇel. He went and said this to him, “Do not destroy the wise ones of Baḇel. Bring me in before the sovereign, and I shall show the interpretation to the sovereign.”
25 Then Aryoḵ brought Dani’ĕl in a hurry before the sovereign, and said thus to him, “I have found a man among the sons of the exile of Yahuḏah, who makes known to the sovereign the interpretation.”
26 The sovereign answered and said to Dani’ĕl, whose name was Bĕlteshatstsar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?”
27 Dani’ĕl answered before the sovereign, and said, “The secret which the sovereign is asking – the wise ones, the astrologers, the magicians, and the diviners are unable to show it to the sovereign.
28 “But there is an Elah in the shamayim who reveals secrets, and He has made known to Sovereign Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar what is to be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
29 “As for you, O sovereign, on your bed your thoughts came up: What is going to take place after this. And He who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall be.
30 “As for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the sovereign, and that you should know the thoughts of your heart.
31 “You, O sovereign, were looking on, and saw a great image! This great image, and its brightness excellent, was standing before you, and its form was awesome.
32 “This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its abdomen and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 “You were looking on, until a stone was cut out without hands, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing-floors. And the wind took them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled all the earth.
36 “This is the dream, and its interpretation we declare before the sovereign.
37 “You, O sovereign, are a sovereign of sovereigns. For the Elah of the shamayim has given you a reign, power, and strength, and esteem,
38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the shamayim, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 “And after you rises up another reign lower than yours, and another third reign of bronze that rules over all the earth.
40 “And the fourth reign is as strong as iron, because iron crushes and shatters all. So, like iron that breaks in pieces, it crushes and breaks all these.
41 “Yet, as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the reign is to be divided. But some of the strength of the iron is to be in it, because you saw the iron mixed with muddy clay.
42 “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the reign is partly strong and partly brittle.
43 “And as you saw iron mixed with muddy clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men, but they are not clinging to each other, even as iron does not mix with clay.
44 “And in the days of these sovereigns the Elah of the shamayim shall appoint a reign which shall never be destroyed, nor the reign pass on to other people – it crushes and puts to an end all these reigns, and it shall stand forever.
45 “Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great Elah has made known to the sovereign what shall be after this. And the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then Sovereign Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar fell on his face, and did obeisance before Dani’ĕl, and gave orders to present to him an offering and incense.
47 The sovereign answered Dani’ĕl, and said, “Truly your Elah is the Elah of elahin, the Aḏon of sovereigns, and a revealer of secrets, since you were able to reveal this secret.”
48 Then the sovereign made Dani’ĕl great and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over all the province of Baḇel, and chief of the nobles, over all the wise ones of Baḇel.
49 And Dani’ĕl asked of the sovereign, and he appointed Shaḏraḵ, Mĕyshaḵ, and Aḇĕḏ-Neḡo over the work of the province of Baḇel, and Dani’ĕl in the gate of the sovereign.