Daniel 2:1–12

¹And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him. ²And the king commanded to call the scribes, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to shew the king his dreams; and they came and stood before the king. ³And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. ⁴And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live for ever! tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. ⁵The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The command is gone forth from me: If ye do not make known unto me the dream, and its interpretation, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. ⁶But if ye shew the dream and its interpretation, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour; therefore shew me the dream and its interpretation. ⁷They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. ⁸The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would gain time, because ye see the word is gone forth from me; ⁹but if ye do 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 its interpretation. ¹⁰The 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, however great and powerful, that hath asked such a thing of any scribe, or magician, or Chaldean. ¹¹For the thing that the king demandeth is extraordinary, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. ¹²For this cause the king was irritated and very wroth, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.