17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.f 18 He urged them to plead for mercyg from the God of heavenh concerning this mystery,i so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mysteryj was revealed to Daniel in a vision.k Then Daniel praised the God of heavenl 20 and said:

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;m

wisdom and powern are his.

21 He changes times and seasons;o

he deposesp kings and raises up others.q

He gives wisdomr to the wise

and knowledge to the discerning.s

22 He reveals deep and hidden things;t

he knows what lies in darkness,u

and lightv dwells with him.

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

You have given me wisdomx and power,

you have made known to me what we asked of you,

you have made known to us the dream of the king.y”

Daniel Interprets the Dream

24 Then Daniel went to Arioch,z whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exilesa from Judahb who can tell the king what his dream means.”

26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar),c “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,d 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.e He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.f Your dream and the visions that passed through your mindg as you were lying in bedh are these:i

29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.j 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealedk to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue,l awesomem in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.n It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashedo them.p 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them awayq without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountainr and filled the whole earth.s

36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.t 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.u The God of heaven has given you dominionv and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.w You are that head of gold.

39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.x 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.y 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crushz all those kingdomsa and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.b 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rockc cut out of a mountain, but not by human handsd—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.e The dream is truef and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrateg before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offeringh and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of godsi and the Lord of kingsj and a revealer of mysteries,k for you were able to reveal this mystery.l”

48 Then the king placed Daniel in a highm position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.n 49 Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon,o while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.p