Daniel 4–6

Nebuchadnezzar Declares What the Most High God Has Done for Him

4^a Nebuchadnezzar the king to all of the nations, the peoples and languages that live in the whole earth: “May your prosperity increase! ²It is pleasing to me to recount the signs and wonders that the Most High God worked for me. ³How great are his signs and wonders, how strong is his kingdom, an everlasting kingdom;^b and his sovereignty is from generation to generation.

The Dream and the King’s Search for an Interpreter

⁴“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was content in my house and prospering in my palace. ⁵And I saw a dream and a revelation on my bed and it frightened me, and the visions of my head terrified me. ⁶And a decree was sent out,^c ordering that all the wise men of Babylon were to be brought in before me so that they may make known to me the explanation of the dream. ⁷Then the magicians,^d the conjurers,^e the astrologers^f and the diviners came in and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its explanation.^{g 8}Then at last^h Daniel came before me whose name wasⁱ Belteshazzar, according to^j the name of my god, and in whom was the spirit of the holy gods,^k and I related the dream to him.^l

⁹“ ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians,^m I myself know that the spiritⁿ of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult^o for you. Now tell me the visions of my dream that I saw, and its explanation.^{p 10}Now these were the visions of my head as I was lying on my bed: I was gazing^q and, look, a tree was in the midst of the earth, and its height was exalted.

¹¹The tree grew and it became strong,

and its height reached to heaven,^r

and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.^s

¹²Its foliage was beautiful,

and its fruit abundant,

and in it was provision for all.

Under it the animals^t of the field sought shade,

and in its branches the birds of heaven^u nested,

and from it all the living beings were fed.

¹³“ ‘I was looking in the vision of my head as I lay on my bed, and look, a watcher,^v and a holy one, came down from heaven.

¹⁴He cried aloud^w and so he said:

“Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;

shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit.

Let the animals flee from under it,

and the birds from its branches.

¹⁵But the stump of its roots

leave in the earth,

along with^x a band of iron and bronze;

leave it in the grass of the field.

And in^y the dew of heaven

let it^z be watered,

and with the animals^a

let his lot be in the grass of the earth.

¹⁶Let his mind be changed from that of a human,^b

and let the mind of an animal be given to him,

and let seven times pass over him.

¹⁷The sentence is by the decree of the watchers,

and the decision by the command of the holy ones,

in order that^c the living will know

that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind,

and to whomever^d he wills he gives it,

and he even sets the humblest of men over it.”

¹⁸“ ‘This is the dream that I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, saw. Now^e you, Belteshazzar, declare its explanation, for^f all of the wise men of my kingdom were not able to make the explanation known to me, but you are able because the spirit of holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Relates and Interprets the Dream

¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was distressed for some time,^g and his thoughts disturbed him. The king answered and he said, ‘Belteshazzar, let the dream and its explanation not disturb you.’ Belteshazzar answered and said, ‘My lord, may the dream and its explanation be for those who hate you and for your enemies. ²⁰The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong and its height reached to heaven^h and it was visible to the end of the whole earth,^{i 21}and its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and so there was provision for all in it, and the animals^j of the field lived under it and in its branches nest the birds of heaven,^{k 22}—it is you, O king, who have grown great and you have grown strong, and so your greatness has increased and it has reached to heaven^l and your sovereignty to the end of the earth. ²³And inasmuch that the king saw the watcher, a holy one coming down from heaven^m and he said, “Cut down the tree and destroy it, but the stump of its root in the earth leave with a band of iron and bronze in the grass of the field, and let it be watered with the dew of heaven and let his lot be with the animals of the field until seven times have passed over him.”^{n 24}This is the explanation, O king, and it is a decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king: ²⁵you will be driven away from human society^o and you will dwell^p with the animals^q of the field, and you will be caused to graze grass like the oxen yourself,^r and you will be watered with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time will pass over you until that you have acknowledged that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and to whom he wills^s he gives it. ²⁶And in that^t they said to leave alone the stump of the tree’s root, so your kingdom will be restored for you when^u you acknowledge that heaven is sovereign. ²⁷Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you and your sin remove^v with righteousness and your iniquity with having mercy on the oppressed, in case there might be a prolongation of your prosperity.’ ”^w

God Judges the King for His Hubris

²⁸All this happened^x to Nebuchadnezzar the king. ²⁹At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace^y of Babylon. ³⁰And the king answered and said, “Is this not the great Babylon which I have built as a royal palace by the strength of my own power, and for the glory of my own majesty?” ³¹While the words were still in the mouth of the king, a voice from heaven came, saying, ‘To you, King Nebuchadnezzar, it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you, ³²and you will be driven away from human society^z and your dwelling will be with the animals^a of the field and they will cause you to graze the grass like oxen, and seven times will pass over you, until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind and that he gives it to whom he wills.’ ³³Immediately^b the word was fulfilled concerning^c Nebuchadnezzar, and he was expelled from human society^d and he ate grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven until his hair was like the hair of an eagle and his nails grew like a bird’s claws.

The King Praises and Extols the Most High God

³⁴“But at the end of that period,^e I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and then my reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and the one who lives forever^f I praised and I honored.

“For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty,

and his kingdom continues from generation to generation.

³⁵And all the dwellers of the earth

are regarded as nothing,

and he does according to^g his desire

in the host of heaven and among the dwellers of earth,

and there is not one who can hold back his hand,

or ask him,^h ‘What are you doing?’

³⁶“At that timeⁱ my reason returned to me, and also the glory of my kingdom and my majesty and splendor returned to me, and my advisers and my lords^j searched me out, and I was established over my kingdom and abundant greatness was added to me. ³⁷Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the king of heaven, for all his works are truth,^k and his ways are justice and that he is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

The Mysterious Writing on the Wall

5Belshazzar the king made a great festival for a thousand of his lords,^a and in the presence of^b the thousand lords he was drinking wine.^{c 2}When he tasted the wine,^d Belshazzar commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his predecessor^e had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords,^f his wives and his concubines may drink from them. ³Then they brought in the vessels of gold that they took from the temple, the house of God that was in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords,^g his wives and his concubines drank from them. ⁴They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.^h

⁵Immediatelyⁱ human fingers^j appeared and they wrote opposite^k the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching^l the palm of the hand that was writing. ⁶Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and his hip joints gave way^m and his knees knocked together.^{n 7}The king cried aloud^o to bring in the conjurers,^p the astrologers^q and the diviners; the king spoke^r and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed in purple and will have a necklace of gold hung around his neck and he will rule as third in authority in the kingdom.” ⁸Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation.^{s 9}Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and his facial features^t changed upon him, and his lords^u were perplexed.

¹⁰Because of the words of the king and his lords,^v the queen came into the banqueting hall^w and the queen spoke up^x and said, “O king, live forever,^y and let not your thoughts terrify you and do not let your facial expressions grow pale.^{z 11}There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.^a And in the days of your predecessor,^b enlightenment and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him; and, O king, Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor^c appointed him as chief of the magicians,^d the conjurers,^e the astrologers,^f and the diviners. Your predecessor^g the king did this ¹²because^h there was found in him an excellent spirit and understanding and insight for interpreting dreams and explaining riddles and solving riddles; that is, in Daniel whom the king namedⁱ Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell the explanation.”^j

Daniel Deciphers and Interprets the Writing

¹³Then Daniel was brought…