Daniel 4

CHAPTER 4

Nebuchadnezzar Declares the Most High God

¹¹Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue that inhabit all the earth: “May your ^2apeace abound!

²“It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the ^aMost High God has done for me.

³“How great are His ^asigns,

And how strong are His wonders!

His ^bkingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And His ¹dominion is from generation to generation.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree

⁴“¹I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ^aflourishing in my palace.

⁵“I saw a ^adream, and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the ^bvisions in my head kept alarming me.

⁶“So I gave a decree to ^abring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

⁷“Then the ^1amagicians, the conjurers, the ²Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and I said the dream ³to them, but they could not make its ^binterpretation known to me.

⁸“But at last Daniel came in before me, whose name is ^aBelteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ^1ba spirit of the holy gods; and I said the dream ²to him:

⁹‘O Belteshazzar, ^achief of the magicians, since I know that ^ba spirit of the holy gods is in you, and ^cno mystery is difficult for you, ^dsay to me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

¹⁰‘Now these were the ^avisions in my head as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a ^btree in the midst of the ¹earth, and its height was great.

¹¹‘The tree grew large and became strong,

And its height ^areached to the sky,

And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

¹²‘Its foliage was ^abeautiful and its fruit abundant,

And in it was food for all.

The ^bbeasts of the field found ^cshade under it,

And the ^dbirds of the sky inhabited its branches,

And all flesh fed itself from it.

¹³‘I was looking in the ^avisions in my head as I lay on my bed, and behold, ^ba ¹watcher, a ^choly one, descended from heaven.

¹⁴‘He called out loudly and said thus:

“^aChop down the tree and cut off its branches,

Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit;

Let the ^bbeasts flee from under it

And the birds from its branches.

¹⁵“Yet ^aleave the stump ¹with its roots in the earth,

But with a band of iron and bronze around it

In the new grass of the field;

And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,

And let ²him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

¹⁶“Let his heart be changed from that of a man,

And let the heart of a beast be given to him,

And let ^aseven ¹periods of time pass over him.

¹⁷“This edict is by the resolution of the watchers,

And the decision is a command of the holy ones,

In order that the living may ^aknow

That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind

And ^bgives it to whom He wishes

And sets up over it the ^clowliest of men.”

¹⁸‘This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, say to me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the ^awise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a ^bspirit of the holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Interprets the Dream

¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ^athoughts were alarming him. The king answered and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not ^blet the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar answered and said, ‘^cMy lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to ^dyour adversaries!

²⁰‘The ^atree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth,

²¹and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field inhabited, and in whose branches the birds of the sky dwelt—

²²it is ^ayou, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your greatness has become even greater and reached to the sky and your ^1bdominion to the end of the earth.

²³‘But in that the king saw a watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “^aChop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump ¹with its roots in the earth, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let ²him share with the beasts of the field until ^bseven ³periods of time pass over him,”

²⁴this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the resolution of the Most High, which has ^areached my lord the king:

²⁵that you be ^adriven away from mankind and your place of habitation be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven ¹periods of time will pass over you, until you know that the ^bMost High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and ^cgives it to whomever He wishes.

²⁶‘And in that they said to ^aleave the stump ¹with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will endure for you after you know that it is ^bHeaven that rules with power.

²⁷‘Therefore, O king, may my ^aadvice seem good to you: ^1bbreak away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by ^cshowing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a ^dprolonging of your prosperity.’

The Dream Is Accomplished

²⁸“All this ^areached Nebuchadnezzar the king.

²⁹“^aAt the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.

³⁰“The king answered and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the ^agreat, which I myself have built as a royal house by the strength of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’

³¹“While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice ¹came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is said: the kingdom has been removed from you,

³²and ^ayou will be driven away from mankind, and your place of habitation will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and ^bseven ¹periods of time will pass over you until you know that the ^cMost High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes.’

³³“Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was accomplished; and he was ^adriven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴“But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward heaven, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the ^aMost High and praised and honored ^bHim who lives forever;

For His ¹dominion is an ^ceverlasting ²dominion,

And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

³⁵“^aAnd all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,

But ^bHe does according to His will in the host of heaven

And among the inhabitants of earth;

And ^cno one can strike against His hand

Or say to Him, ‘^dWhat have You done?’

³⁶“At that time my ^aknowledge returned to me. And my majesty and ^bsplendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my high officials and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my kingdom, and extraordinary ^cgreatness was added to me.

³⁷“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of ^aheaven, for ^ball His works are ¹true and His ways ²just, and He is able to humble those who ^cwalk in pride.”