Daniel 2–7

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2During Nebuchadnezzar’s second year as king, he had dreams that bothered him and kept him awake at night. ²So the king called for his fortune-tellers, magicians, wizards, and wise men, because he wanted them to tell him what he had dreamed. They came in and stood in front of the king.

³Then the king said to them, “I had a dream that bothers me, and I want to know what it means.”

⁴The wise men answered the king in the Aramaic language, “O king, live forever! Please tell us, your servants, your dream. Then we will tell you what it means.”

⁵King Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “I meant what I said. You must tell me the dream and what it means. If you don’t, I will have you torn apart, and I will turn your houses into piles of stones. ⁶But if you tell me my dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. So tell me the dream and what it means.”

⁷Again the wise men said to the king, “Tell us, your servants, the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

⁸King Nebuchadnezzar answered, “I know you are trying to get more time, because you know that I meant what I said. ⁹If you don’t tell me my dream, you will be punished. You have all agreed to tell me lies and wicked things, hoping things will change. Now, tell me the dream so that I will know you can tell me what it really means!”

¹⁰The wise men answered the king, saying, “No one on earth can do what the king asks! No great and powerful king has ever asked the fortune-tellers, magicians, or wise men to do this; ¹¹the king is asking something that is too hard. Only the gods could tell the king this, but the gods do not live among people.”

¹²When the king heard their answer, he became very angry. He ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be killed. ¹³So King Nebuchadnezzar’s order to kill the wise men was announced, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to kill them.

¹⁴Arioch, the commander of the king’s guards, was going to kill the wise men of Babylon. But Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and skill, ¹⁵saying, “Why did the king order such a terrible punishment?” Then Arioch explained everything to Daniel. ¹⁶So Daniel went to King Nebuchadnezzar and asked for an appointment so that he could tell the king what his dream meant.

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and explained the whole story to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ¹⁸Daniel asked his friends to pray that the God of heaven would show them mercy and help them understand this secret so he and his friends would not be killed with the other wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹During the night God explained the secret to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel said:

“Praise God forever and ever,

because he has wisdom and power.

²¹He changes the times and seasons of the year.

He takes away the power of kings

and gives their power to new kings.

He gives wisdom to those who are wise

and knowledge to those who understand.

²²He makes known secrets that are deep and hidden;

he knows what is hidden in darkness,

and light is all around him.

²³I thank you and praise you, God of my ancestors,

because you have given me wisdom and power.

You told me what we asked of you;

you told us about the king’s dream.”

The Meaning of the Dream

²⁴Then Daniel went to Arioch, the man King Nebuchadnezzar had chosen to kill the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t put the wise men of Babylon to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”

²⁵Very quickly Arioch took Daniel to the king and said, “I have found a man among the captives from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”

²⁶The king asked Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I dreamed and what it means?”

²⁷Daniel answered, “No wise man, magician, or fortune-teller can explain to the king the secret he has asked about. ²⁸But there is a God in heaven who explains secret things, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at a later time. This is your dream, the vision you saw while lying on your bed: ²⁹O king, as you were lying there, you thought about things to come. God, who can tell people about secret things, showed you what is going to happen. ³⁰God also told this secret to me, not because I have greater wisdom than any other living person, but so that you may know what it means. In that way you will understand what went through your mind.

³¹“O king, in your dream you saw a huge, shiny, and frightening statue in front of you. ³²The head of the statue was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made of silver. Its stomach and the upper part of its legs were made of bronze. ³³The lower part of the legs were made of iron, while its feet were made partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴While you were looking at the statue, you saw a rock cut free, but no human being touched the rock. It hit the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold broke to pieces at the same time. They became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summertime; the wind blew them away, and there was nothing left. Then the rock that hit the statue became a very large mountain that filled the whole earth.

³⁶“That was your dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. ³⁷O king, you are the greatest king. God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. ³⁸Wherever people, wild animals, and birds live, God made you ruler over them. King Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold on that statue.

³⁹“Another kingdom will come after you, but it will not be as great as yours. Next a third kingdom, the bronze part, will rule over the earth. ⁴⁰Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. In the same way that iron crushes and smashes things to pieces, the fourth kingdom will smash and crush all the other kingdoms.

⁴¹“You saw that the statue’s feet and toes were partly baked clay and partly iron. That means the fourth kingdom will be a divided kingdom. It will have some of the strength of iron in it, just as you saw iron was mixed with clay. ⁴²The toes of the statue were partly iron and partly clay. So the fourth kingdom will be partly strong like iron and partly breakable like clay. ⁴³You saw the iron mixed with clay, but iron and clay do not hold together. In the same way the people of the fourth kingdom will be a mixture, but they will not be united as one people.

⁴⁴“During the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up another kingdom that will never be destroyed or given to another group of people. This kingdom will crush all the other kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will continue forever.

⁴⁵“King Nebuchadnezzar, you saw a rock cut from a mountain, but no human being touched it. The rock broke the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold to pieces. In this way the great God showed you what will happen. The dream is true, and you can trust this explanation.”

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown on the ground in front of Daniel. The king honored him and commanded that an offering and incense be presented to him. ⁴⁷Then the king said to Daniel, “Truly I know your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord of all the kings. He tells people about things they cannot know. I know this is true, because you were able to tell these secret things to me.”

⁴⁸Then the king gave Daniel many gifts plus an important position in his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar made him ruler over the whole area of Babylon and put him in charge of all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel asked the king to make Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego leaders over the area of Babylon, so the king did as Daniel asked. Daniel himself became one of the people who stayed at the royal court.

The Gold Idol and Blazing Furnace

3King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the area of Babylon. ²Then he called for the leaders: the governors, assistant governors, captains of the soldiers, people who advised the king, keepers of the treasury, judges, rulers, and all other officers in his kingdom. He wanted them to come to the special service for the statue he had set up. ³So they all came for the special service and stood in front of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴Then the man who made announcements for the king said in a loud voice, “People, nations, and those of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: ⁵When you hear the sound of the horns, flutes, lyres, zithers, ⁿ harps, pipes, and all the other musical instruments, you must bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶Anyone who doesn’t bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

⁷Now people, nations, and those who spoke every language were there. When they heard the sound of the horns, flutes, lyres, zithers, pipes, and all the other musical instruments, they bowed down and worshiped the gold statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

⁸Then some Babylonians came up to the king and began speaking against the men of Judah. ⁹They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰O king, you gave a command that everyone who heard the horns, lyres, zithers, harps, pipes, and all the other musical instruments would have to bow down and worship the gold statue. ¹¹Anyone who wouldn’t do this was to be thrown into a blazing furnace. ¹²O king, there are some men of Judah whom you made officers in the area of Babylon that did not pay attention to your order. Their names are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They do not serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”

¹³Nebuchadnezzar became very angry and called for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they were brought to the king, ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my gods nor worship the gold statue I have set up? ¹⁵In a moment you will again hear the sound of the…