13 “I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. 14 He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him. 17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’

13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16 Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

13 “ ‘Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 The messenger shouted,

“Cut down the tree and lop off its branches!

Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit!

Chase the wild animals from its shade

and the birds from its branches.

15 But leave the stump and the roots in the ground,

bound with a band of iron and bronze

and surrounded by tender grass.

Now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,

and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the field.

16 For seven periods of time,

let him have the mind of a wild animal

instead of the mind of a human.

17 For this has been decreed by the messengers;

it is commanded by the holy ones,

so that everyone may know

that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.

He gives them to anyone he chooses—

even to the lowliest of people.”

13 “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said thus:

‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,

Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.

Let the beasts get out from under it,

And the birds from its branches.

15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth,

Bound with a band of iron and bronze,

In the tender grass of the field.

Let it be wet with the dew of heaven,

And let him graze with the beasts

On the grass of the earth.

16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man,

Let him be given the heart of a beast,

And let seven times pass over him.

17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers,

And the sentence by the word of the holy ones,

In order that the living may know

That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men,

Gives it to whomever He will,

And sets over it the lowest of men.’

13 “As I was looking at those things in the vision while lying on my bed, I saw an observer, a holy angel coming down from heaven. 14 He spoke very loudly and said, ‘Cut down the tree and cut off its branches. Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals under the tree run away, and let the birds in its branches fly away. 15 But leave the stump and its roots in the ground with a band of iron and bronze around it; let it stay in the field with the grass around it.

“ ‘Let the man become wet with dew, and let him live among the animals and plants of the earth. 16 Let him not think like a human any longer, but let him have the mind of an animal for seven years.

17 “ ‘The observers gave this command; the holy ones declared the sentence. This is so all people may know that the Most High God rules over every kingdom on earth. God gives those kingdoms to anyone he wants, and he chooses people to rule them who are not proud.’

13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven: and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16 let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the lowest of men.

13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from the heavens; 14 he cried aloud, and said thus: Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the birds from its branches. 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be bathed with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the decision by the word of the holy ones: that the living may know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

13 “I was seeing these visions as I was asleep. I saw a guardian, a holy being, come down from heaven. 14 He shouted loudly, ‘Cut down the oak tree! Cut off its branches! Strip off its leaves! Scatter its fruit! Make the animals under it run away, and make the birds fly from its branches. 15 But leave the stump and its roots in the ground. Secure it with an iron and bronze chain in the grass in the field. Let it get wet with the dew from the sky. And let it get its share of the plants on the ground with the animals. 16 Let its human mind be changed, and give it the mind of an animal. Let it remain like this for seven time periods. 17 The guardians have announced this decision. The holy ones have announced this so that every living creature will know that the Most High has power over human kingdoms. He gives them to whomever he wishes. He can place the lowest of people in charge of them.’ ” 

13 “As I was lying in my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind an observer, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He called out loudly:

Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;

strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.

Let the animals flee from under it,

and the birds from its branches.

15 But leave the stump with its roots in the ground,

and with a band of iron and bronze around it,

in the tender grass of the field.

Let him be drenched with dew from the sky

and share the plants of the earth

with the animals.

16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man,

and let him be given the mind of an animal

for seven periods of time.

17 This word is by decree of the observers;

the matter is a command from the holy ones.

This is so the living will know

that the Most High is ruler

over the kingdom of men.

He gives it to anyone He wants

and sets the lowliest of men over it.

13 I continued looking, in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and there was a holy watcher, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said:

‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches,

strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit.

Let the animals flee from beneath it

and the birds from its branches.

15 But leave its stump and roots in the ground,

with a band of iron and bronze,

in the tender grass of the field.

Let him be bathed with the dew of heaven,

and let his lot be with the animals of the field

in the grass of the earth.

16 Let his mind be changed from that of a human,

and let the mind of an animal be given to him.

And let seven times pass over him.

17 The sentence is rendered by decree of the watchers,

the decision is given by order of the holy ones,

in order that all who live may know

that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals;

he gives it to whom he will

and sets over it the lowliest of human beings.’

13 “ ‘I was looking in the vision of my head as I lay on my bed, and look, a watcher, and a holy one, came down from heaven.

14 He cried aloud and so he said:

“Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;

shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit.

Let the animals flee from under it,

and the birds from its branches.

15 But the stump of its roots

leave in the earth,

along with a band of iron and bronze;

leave it in the grass of the field.

And in the dew of heaven

let it be watered,

and with the animals

let his lot be in the grass of the earth.

16 Let his mind be changed from that of a human,

and let the mind of an animal be given to him,

and let seven times pass over him.

17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers,

and the decision by the command of the holy ones,

in order that the living will know

that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind,

and to whomever he wills he gives it,

and he even sets the humblest of men over it.”

13 “While I was still lying on my bed, I looked up. In my visions, I saw a holy messenger. He was coming down from heaven. 14 He called out in a loud voice. He said, ‘Cut the tree down. Break off its branches. Strip its leaves off. Scatter its fruit. Let the animals that are under it run away. Let the birds that are in its branches fly off. 15 But leave the stump with its roots in the ground. Let it stay in the field. Put a band of iron and bronze around it.

“ ‘Let King Nebuchadnezzar become wet with the dew of heaven. Let him live like the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let him no longer have the mind of a man. Instead, let him be given the mind of an animal. Let him stay that way until seven periods of time pass by.

17 “ ‘The decision is announced by holy messengers. So all who are alive will know that the Most High God is King. He rules over all of the kingdoms of men. He gives them to anyone he wants. Sometimes he puts the least important men in charge of them.’

13 ‘I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.

14 ‘He shouted out and spoke as follows:

“Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,

Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit;

Let the beasts flee from under it

And the birds from its branches.

15 “Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,

But with a band of iron and bronze around it

In the new grass of the field;

And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,

And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

16 “Let his mind be changed from that of a man

And let a beast’s mind be given to him,

And let seven periods of time pass over him.

17 “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers

And the decision is a command of the holy ones,

In order that the living may know

That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind,

And bestows it on whom He wishes

And sets over it the lowliest of men.”