One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. ²He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king, ³he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”

⁴Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

⁵But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble! ⁶But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”

⁷They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

⁸The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say, ⁹‘If you don’t tell me the dream, you are doomed.’ So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.”

¹⁰The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer! ¹¹The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.”

¹²The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed.

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