Daniel 2:1–24

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn’t sleep, ²so he sent for his fortune tellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, ³he said to them, “I’m worried about a dream I have had. I want to know what it means.”

⁴They answered the king in Aramaic,^a “May Your Majesty live for ever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you.”

⁵The king said to them, “I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can’t, I’ll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. ⁶But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honour. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means.”

⁷They answered the king again, “If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it.”

⁸At that, the king exclaimed, “Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind ⁹to give all of you the same punishment if you don’t tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means.”

¹⁰The advisers replied, “There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortune tellers, magicians, and wizards. ¹¹What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings.”

¹²At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. ¹³So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends.

God Shows Daniel What the Dream Means

¹⁴Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king’s bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, ¹⁵he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened.

¹⁶Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. ¹⁷Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ¹⁸He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. ¹⁹Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven:

²⁰“God is wise and powerful!

Praise him for ever and ever.

²¹He controls the times and the seasons;

he makes and unmakes kings;

it is he who gives wisdom and understanding.

²²He reveals things that are deep and secret;

he knows what is hidden in darkness, and he himself is surrounded by light.

²³I praise you and honour you, God of my ancestors.

You have given me wisdom and strength;

you have answered my prayer

and shown us what to tell the king.”

Daniel Tells the King the Dream and Explains It

²⁴So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, “Don’t put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”