Daniel 2:1–24

Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream

¹Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ^1ahad dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his ^bsleep ²left him.

²Then the king said to call in the ^1amagicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ²Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

³Then the king said to them, “I ^1ahad a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”

⁴Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^1aAramaic: “^bO king, live forever! ^cSay the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”

⁵The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^1atorn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.

⁶“But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^agifts and a reward and great glory; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”

⁷They answered a second time and said, “Let the king ^asay the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”

⁸The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you are buying time, inasmuch as you have seen that the word from me is firm,

⁹that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^aone law for you. Indeed, you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ¹words before me until the time is changed; therefore say the dream to me, that I may ^bknow that you can declare to me its interpretation.”

¹⁰The Chaldeans answered ¹the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who is able to declare the matter ²for the king, inasmuch as no great king or powerful ruler has ever asked about a matter like this of any ^3amagician, conjurer, or Chaldean.

¹¹“Moreover, the matter which the king asks is ¹difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ²to the king except ^agods, whose ^bdwelling place is not with flesh.”

¹²Because of this the king became ^aindignant and very furious and said for them to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³So the law went forth that the wise men were to be killed; and they sought out ^aDaniel and his friends to ¹kill them.

¹⁴Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^aArioch, the captain of the king’s ¹bodyguard, who had gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon;

¹⁵he answered and said to Arioch, a powerful ¹official for the king, “For what reason is the law from the king so ²urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.

¹⁶So Daniel went in and sought from the king that he would ¹give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to his friends, to ^aHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

¹⁸so that they might ^aseek compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^bdestroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

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

²⁰Daniel answered and said,

“Let the name of God be ^ablessed forever and ever,

For ^bwisdom and might belong to Him.

²¹“And He ^achanges the times and the seasons;

He ^bremoves kings and ¹establishes kings;

He gives ^cwisdom to wise men

And knowledge to ²men of understanding.

²²“He ^areveals the deep and hidden things;

^bHe knows what is in the darkness,

And the ^clight dwells with Him.

²³“To You, O ^aGod of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,

For You have given me ^bwisdom and might;

Even now You have made known to me what we ^csought from You,

For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

²⁴Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: “^aDo not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”