Daniel 2:24–49

²⁴Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, ^jwhom the king had assigned to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He came and said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.” ^k

²⁵Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the Judean exiles ^lwho can let the king know the interpretation.”

²⁶The king said in reply to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, ^m“Are you able to tell me the dream I had and its interpretation?” ⁿ

²⁷Daniel answered the king: “No wise man, medium, diviner-priest, or astrologer ^ois able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about. ²⁸But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days. ^pYour dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay in bed ^qwere these: ²⁹Your Majesty, while you were in your bed, thoughts came to your mind about what will happen in the future. ^rsThe revealer of mysteries ^thas let you know what will happen. ³⁰As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, ^unot because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind. ^v

The Dream’s Interpretation

³¹“My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. ³²The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, ³³its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. ³⁴As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, ^wxstruck the statue ^yon its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. ^z35Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff ^afrom the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled ^bthe whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷Your Majesty, you are king of kings. ^cThe God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, ^dstrength, and glory. ³⁸Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the air—He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. ^eYou are the head of gold.

³⁹“After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. ^f40A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others. ^gh41You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, ⁴²and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. ⁴³You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another ⁱbut will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.

⁴⁴“In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, ^jand this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms ^kand bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵You saw a stone ^lbreak off from the mountain without a hand touching it, ^mnand it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. ^opThe dream is true, and its interpretation certain.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s Response

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell down, paid homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense to him. ^q47The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, ^rand a revealer of mysteries, ^ssince you were able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. ^t49At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ^uto manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court. ^v