Daniel 2:1–11
2 Nowa in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 So the king said to call the magiciansb and the conjurersc and the sorcerers and the ⌊astrologers⌋d to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood ⌊before⌋e the king. 3 And the king said to them, “⌊I have had a dream⌋f and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”
4 And the ⌊astrologers⌋g said to the king in Aramaic,h “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants and we will reveal the explanation.” 5 The king answered and said to the ⌊astrologers⌋,i “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its explanation,j then you will be broken into pieces and your houses will be laid in ruins. 6 But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewardsk and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation.”l 7 They answered once more and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make the explanation known.” 8 The king answered and said, “⌊Certainly⌋m I know that ⌊you are trying to gain time⌋n ⌊because⌋o you have seen ⌊that this matter is firmly decreed by me⌋,p 9 for if you do not make the dream known to me, ⌊your verdict is fixed⌋,q and you have conspired to say a lying and deceitful word to me until the ⌊circumstances⌋r will change. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can tell me its explanation.” 10 The ⌊astrologers⌋s answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth that is able to reveal the word of the king; ⌊in fact⌋,t no great and powerful king has ever asked a thing like this of any magicianu or conjurerv or ⌊astrologer⌋.w 11 And the thing that the king is asking is too difficult and ⌊there is no one who⌋x can reveal it to the king except the gods ⌊whose dwelling is not with mortals⌋.”y