Daniel

Daniel 2 ©

1 Nebuchadnezzar forgetting his dream requireth of the Chaldeans by threats and promises to make it known to him. 10 They acknowledge their inability; all the wise men are sentenced to die. 14 Daniel obtaineth some respite; the dream is revealed to him; he blesseth God: 24 he stayeth the decree, and is brought to the king. 31 The dream, and the interpretation. 46 The honours paid to Daniel; his own and his friends' advancement.

1

AND ain the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar bdreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

2

cThen the king commanded to call dthe magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and ethe Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

c ch. 4.6.
e ch. 1.4.
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 fSyriack, 1O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, gand 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 2cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

6

But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, hye shall receive of me gifts and 3rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

7

iThey 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 4gain 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 jone decree for you: kfor ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the ltime be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I mshall 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 nthere is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose odwelling is not with flesh.

o Is. 66.1,2.
12

For this cause pthe king was angry and very furious, and commanded to qdestroy all rthe wise men of Babylon.

r ch. 4.6,18; 5.7,8.
13

And sthe decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they tsought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

14

uThen Daniel 5answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the 6captain 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 vof 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 wHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

w ch. 1.6.
18

xThat they would desire mercies 7of the God of heaven concerning this secret; 8that Daniel and his fellows yshould not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19

zThen was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20

Daniel answered and said, aBlessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for bwisdom and might are his:

21

And che changeth the times and the seasons: he dremoveth kings, and setteth up kings: ehe giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

22

fHe revealeth the deep and secret things: ghe knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

23

hI thank thee, and praise thee, O thou iGod of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and jhast 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 kwent in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; lDestroy 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, 9I 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, mArt 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 ncannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the *soothsayers, shew unto the king;

28

But othere is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and 10maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be pin the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

29

As for thee, O king, thy thoughts 11came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and qhe that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

30

But as for me, rthis secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, 12but sfor 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, 13sawest, and behold ta great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

32

This image's head was uof fine gold, vhis breast and his arms of silver, whis belly and his 14thighs of brass,

33

xHis legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

34

Thou sawest till ythat a stone was cut out 15without 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 zlike the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that ano place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image bbecame a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36

¶This is the dream; and cwe will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

c v.18,23.
37

Thou, O king, art da king of kings: efor 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 fhead of gold.

f v.32.
39

gAnd after thee shall arise hanother kingdom inferior to thee, and ianother third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40

And the jfourth 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 kthe 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 16broken.

43

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave 17one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

44

And in 18the days of these kings shall the God of heaven lset up a kingdom, mwhich shall never be destroyed: and the 19kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall nbreak in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

45

Forasmuch as thou sawest that othe stone was cut out of the mountain 20without 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 21hereafter: and the dream is pcertain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

46

¶Then the king Nebuchadnezzar qfell 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, rOf a truth it is, that your sGod is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a trevealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

48

Then the king made Daniel ua great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole vprovince of Babylon, and wchief of the governors over all xthe wise men of Babylon.

x v.12.
49

Then Daniel requested of the king, and yhe set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel zsat in the gate of the king.