Daniel 4:10–27

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.’