2Now^a in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. ²So the king said to call the magicians^b and the conjurers^c 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. ³And the king said to them, “I have had a dream^f and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”

⁴And 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.” ⁵The 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. ⁶But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewards^k and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation.”^l ⁷They answered once more and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make the explanation known.” ⁸The king answered and said, “Certainly^m I know that you are trying to gain timeⁿ because^o you have seen that this matter is firmly decreed by me,^p ⁹for 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.” ¹⁰The 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 magician^u or conjurer^v or astrologer.^w ¹¹And 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

¹²Because of this the king became angry, and he became very much enraged, and he said that all the wise men of Babylon are to be destroyed. ¹³And the decree was issued, and the wise men were on the verge of being executed,^z and they searched for Daniel and his companions to be executed. ¹⁴Then Daniel responded prudently and discretely to Arioch, the commander of the imperial guard of the king, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵He asked^a and said to Arioch, the royal official of the king, “Why^b is the decree from the king so severe?” Then Arioch explained the matter^c to Daniel. ¹⁶And Daniel went in and requested from the king that he would give him time, and he would tell the king^d the explanation.^e

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his home, and he made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions, ¹⁸and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven^f concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions, along with the remainder of the wise men of Babylon, would not be killed.

¹⁹Then in a vision of the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel; then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

²⁰Daniel said:^g

“Let his name, the name of God,^h be blessed throughout the ages,ⁱ

for the wisdom and the power are his.^j

²¹And he changes the times and the seasons,

and he deposes kings and he sets up kings;

he gives wisdom^k to wise men

and knowledge to men who know understanding.

²²He reveals the deep and the hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him.

²³To you, O God of my ancestors,^l

I give thanks and I give praises,

for the wisdom and the power you gave to me,

and now you have made known to me

what we have asked from you,

for you have made known to us the matter of the king.”

Read in Logos

Daniel 2:21: He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding …

Footnotes

aHebrew “And”
bOr “soothsayer-priests”
cOr “enchanters”
dLiterally “Chaldeans”
eLiterally “to the face of”
fLiterally “A dream I have dreamed”
gLiterally “Chaldeans”
hThe text of Daniel is in Aramaic from this point on through Daniel chapter 7. Then the text resumes in Hebrew to the end of the book
iLiterally “Chaldeans”
jOr “interpretation”
kAramaic “reward”
lOr “interpretation”
mLiterally “From a certainty”
nLiterally “the time you are gaining”
oLiterally “all because of that”
pLiterally “that firm from me is the decree”
qLiterally “one is your verdict”
rLiterally “time”
sLiterally “Chaldeans”
tLiterally “all because that”
uOr “soothsayer-priest”
vOr “enchanter”
wLiterally “Chaldean”
xLiterally “there is not another”
yLiterally “concerning their dwelling is not with flesh”
zLiterally “were in the process of being killed”
aLiterally “he answered”
bLiterally “Over what”
cOr “situation”
dLiterally “to tell/reveal to the king”
eOr “interpretation”
fLiterally “from before the God of the heaven”
gLiterally “answered and he said”
hAramaic “the God”
iLiterally “from the age unto the age”
jLiterally “of to him it is”
kAramaic “the wisdom”
lOr “fathers”