Daniel 2–7

2And ^ain the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith ^bhis spirit was troubled, and ^chis sleep brake from him. ^2ccThen the king commanded to call ^dthe magicians, and ^dthe astrologers, and ^ethe sorcerers, and ^fthe Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and ^gstood before the king. ³And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and ^bmy spirit was troubled to know the dream. ⁴Then spake ^fthe Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, ^*ggO king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. ⁵The king answered and said to ^fthe Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall ^hbe ^†cut in pieces, and ^hiyour houses shall be made a dunghill. ⁶But ^kif ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me ^lgifts and ^||rewards and great honour: ^mtherefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. ⁷They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. ⁸The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would ^†ngain the time, ⁿⁿbecause ye see the thing is gone from me. ⁹But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, ^othere is but one decree for you: for ye have ^pprepared lying and ^qcorrupt words to speak before me, ⁿtill the time be changed: ^mtherefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. ^10fThe Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: ^rtherefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any ^dmagician, or ^dastrologer, or ^fChaldean. ¹¹And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, ^sexcept ^tthe gods, ^uwhose dwelling is not with flesh. ^12uuFor this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all ^vthe wise men of Babylon. ¹³And the decree went forth that ^vthe wise men should be slain; and they sought ^wDaniel and his fellows to be slain.

¹⁴Then Daniel ^†answered with counsel and ^xwisdom to Arioch the ^||†captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay ^vthe wise men of Babylon: ¹⁵He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so ^xxhasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. ¹⁶Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. ¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to ^yHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: ^18zThat they would desire mercies ^†of ^athe God of heaven concerning this ^bsecret; ^||that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of ^ccthe wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹Then was ^bthe secret revealed unto Daniel ^din a night vision. Then Daniel ^eblessed ^athe God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel answered and said,

^fBlessed be the name of God for ever and ever:

For ^gwisdom and might are his:

²¹And ^hhe changeth ⁱthe times and the seasons:

He ^klremoveth kings, and ^lsetteth up kings:

He giveth wisdom unto the wise,

And ^mknowledge to them that know understanding:

²²ⁿHe revealeth the deep and secret things:

^oHe knoweth what is in the darkness,

And ^pthe light dwelleth with him.

^23qI thank thee, and praise thee, O thou ^rGod of my fathers,

Who hast given me ^gwisdom and might,

And hast made known unto me now what ^swe desired of thee:

For thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

^24uuTherefore Daniel went in unto ^tArioch, whom the king had ^uordained to destroy ^ccthe wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. ²⁵Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^vin haste, and said thus unto him, ^†I have found a man of the ^†captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. ²⁶The king answered and said to Daniel, ^wwhose name was Belteshazzar, ^xArt thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? ²⁷Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, ^bThe secret which the king hath demanded ^xxcannot ^bbthe wise men, ^ythe astrologers, ^ythe magicians, ^zthe soothsayers, shew unto the king; ²⁸But there is ^aa God in heaven that revealeth ^bsecrets, and ^†maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be ^bin the latter days. ^bbThy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; ²⁹As for thee, O king, thy thoughts ^†came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and ^ahe that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. ³⁰But ^cas for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, ^||but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

³¹Thou, O king, ^†sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose ^ddbrightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. ^32eThis image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his ^||thighs of brass, ³³His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. ³⁴Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out ^||fwithout hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and ^gbrake them to pieces. ³⁵Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became ^hlike the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that ⁱno place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image ⁱⁱbecame a great mountain, and ^jfilled the whole earth.

³⁶This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. ³⁷Thou, O king, art ^ka king of kings: for ^lmthe God of heaven ^mhath given thee a kingdom, ⁿpower, and ^ostrength, and ⁿglory. ³⁸And wheresoever the children of men dwell, ^othe beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. ^pThou art this head of gold. ³⁹And after thee shall arise ^qanother kingdom ^pinferior to thee, and ^ranother third kingdom ^pof brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And ^sthe fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: ^tforasmuch as iron ^gbreaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it ^gbreak in pieces and bruise. ⁴¹And whereas thou sawest ^uthe feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but ^sthere shall be in it of the strength of the iron, ^tforasmuch as thou sawest ^vthe iron mixed with miry clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly ^||broken. ⁴³And whereas thou sawest ^viron mixed with miry clay, ^wthey shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave ^†one to another, ^veven as iron is not mixed with clay. ⁴⁴And in ^†the days of these kings shall ^lthe God of heaven set up ^xya kingdom, ^ywhich shall never be destroyed: and the ^†kingdom shall not be left to other people, but ^zit shall ^gbreak in pieces and ^zzconsume all these kingdoms, and ^xit shall stand for ever. ^45tForasmuch as ^athou sawest that ^bthe stone was cut out of the mountain ^||without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; ^cthe great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass ^†hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

⁴⁶Then the king Nebuchadnezzar ^dfell upon his face, and ^deworshipped Daniel, and ^fcommanded that they should offer an oblation and ^gsweet odours unto him. ⁴⁷The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your ^hGod is a God of gods, and ⁱa Lord of kings, and ^ja revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. ⁴⁸Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great ^kgifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^lprovince of Babylon, and ^mchief of ⁿthe governors over all ^othe wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Then Daniel requested of the king, and he ^pset ^qShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of ^lthe province of Babylon: but Daniel ^rsat in the gate of the king.

3^*Nebuchadnezzar the king made ^aan image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in ^bthe plain of Dura, in ^cthe province of Babylon. ²Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together ^dethe princes, ^dfthe governors, and ^dgffthe captains, ^gthe judges, ^gthe treasurers, ^gthe counsellers, ^gthe sheriffs, and all ^fthe rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ^3ggThen the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴Then an herald cried ^†aloud, To you ^†it is commanded, ^hO people, nations, and languages, ⁵That at what time ⁱye hear ^jthe sound of ^kthe cornet, ^lflute, ^lmharp, sackbut, psaltery, ^||†dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ⁿye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: ⁶And whoso ⁿfalleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour ^obe cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. ^7pTherefore at that time, when all the people heard ^jthe sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all ^hthe people, the nations, and the languages, ⁿfell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

^8pWherefore at that time certain ^qChaldeans ^rcame near, and ^saccused the Jews. ⁹They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, ^tO king, live for ever. ¹⁰Thou, O…