Daniel 4–6

¹‘Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the earth: Your peace be great! ²The signs and wonders that God Most High hath done with me, it is good before me to shew. ³His signs how great! and His wonders how mighty! His kingdom is a kingdom age-during, and His rule is with generation and generation.

⁴‘I, Nebuchadnezzar, have been at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace: ⁵a dream I have seen, and it maketh me afraid, and the conceptions on my bed, and the visions of my head, do trouble me. ⁶And by me a decree is made, to cause all the wise men of Babylon to come up before me, that the interpretation of the dream they may cause me to know. ⁷Then coming up are the scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and the dream I have told before them, and its interpretation they are not making known to me. ⁸And at last come up before me hath Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar—according to the name of my god—and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and the dream before him I have told:

⁹‘O Belteshazzar, master of the scribes, as I have known that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret doth press thee, the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation, tell. ¹⁰As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height is great: ¹¹become great hath the tree, yea, strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to the end of the whole land; ¹²its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it: under it take shade doth the beast of the field, and in its boughs dwell do the birds of the heavens, and of it fed are all flesh.

¹³‘I was looking, in the visions of my head on my bed, and lo, a sifter, even a holy one, from the heavens is coming down. ¹⁴He is calling mightily, and thus hath said, Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its budding, move away let the beast from under it, and the birds from off its branches; ¹⁵but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens is it wet, and with the beasts is his portion in the herb of the earth; ¹⁶his heart from man’s is changed, and the heart of a beast is given to him, and seven times pass over him; ¹⁷by the decree of the sifters is the sentence, and by the saying of the holy ones the requirement, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it, and the lowest of men He doth raise up over it.

¹⁸‘This dream I have seen, I king Nebuchadnezzar; and thou, O Belteshazzar, the interpretation tell, because that all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to cause me to know the interpretation, and thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

¹⁹‘Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him; the king hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My lord, the dream—to those hating thee, and its interpretation—to thine enemies! ²⁰The tree that thou hast seen, that hath become great and strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to all the land, ²¹and its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it, under it dwell doth the beast of the field, and on its boughs sit do the birds of the heavens.

²²‘Thou it is, O king, for thou hast become great and mighty, and thy greatness hath become great, and hath reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth; ²³and that which the king hath seen—a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he hath said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field is his portion, till that seven times pass over him.

²⁴‘This is the interpretation, O king, and the decree of the Most High it is that hath come against my lord the king: ²⁵and they are driving thee away from men, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, and the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and by the dew of the heavens they are wetting thee, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it. ²⁶And that which they said—to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom for thee abideth, after that thou knowest that the heavens are ruling.

²⁷‘Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and thy sins by righteousness break off, and thy perversity by pitying the poor, lo, it is a lengthening of thine ease.

²⁸‘All—hath come on Nebuchadnezzar the king.

²⁹‘At the end of twelve months, on the palace of the kingdom of Babylon he hath been walking; ³⁰the king hath answered and said, Is not this that great Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength, and for the glory of mine honour?

³¹‘While the word is in the king’s mouth a voice from the heavens hath fallen: To thee they are saying: O Nebuchadnezzar the king, the kingdom hath passed from thee, ³²and from men they are driving thee away, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it.

³³‘In that hour the thing hath been fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and from men he is driven, and the herb as oxen he eateth, and by the dew of the heavens his body is wet, till that his hair as eagles’ hath become great, and his nails as birds.’

³⁴‘And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, mine eyes to the heavens have lifted up, and mine understanding unto me returneth, and the Most High I have blessed, and the Age-during Living One I have praised and honoured, whose dominion is a dominion age-during, and His kingdom with generation and generation; ³⁵and all who are dwelling on the earth as nothing are reckoned, and according to his will He is doing among the forces of the heavens and those dwelling on the earth, and there is none that doth clap with his hand, and saith to Him, What hast Thou done?

³⁶‘At that time my understanding doth return unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honour and my brightness doth return unto me, and to me my counsellors and my great men do seek, and over my kingdom I have been made right, and abundant greatness hath been added to me.

³⁷‘Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honouring the King of the heavens, for all His works are truth, and His paths judgment, and those walking in pride He is able to humble.’

Chapter 5

¹Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine; ²Belshazzar hath said—while tasting the wine—to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that is in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king, and his great men, his wives, and his concubines. ³Then they have brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and drunk with them have the king and his great men, his wives and his concubines; ⁴they have drunk wine, and have praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. ⁵In that hour come forth have fingers of a man’s hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing; ⁶then the king’s countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another. ⁷Call doth the king mightily, to bring up the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Answered hath the king, and said to the wise men of Babylon, that, ‘Any man who doth read this writing, and its interpretation doth shew me, purple he putteth on, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and third in the kingdom he doth rule.’ ⁸Then coming up are all the wise men of the king, and they are not able to read the writing, and the interpretation to make known to the king; ⁹then the king Belshazzar is greatly troubled, and his countenance is changing in him, and his great men are perplexed.

¹⁰The queen, on account of the words of the king and his great men, to the banquet-house hath come up. Answered hath the queen, and said, ‘O king, to the ages live; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance be changed: ¹¹there is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and, in the days of thy father, light, and understanding, and wisdom—as the wisdom of the gods—was found in him; and king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, chief of the scribes, enchanters, Chaldeans, soothsayers, established him—thy father, O king— ¹²because that an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of enigmas, and loosing of knots was found in him, in Daniel, whose name the king made Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and the interpretation he doth show.’ ¹³Then Daniel hath been caused to come up before the king; answered hath the king, and said to Daniel, ‘Thou art that Daniel who art of the sons of the Removed of Judah, whom the king my father brought in out of Judah? ¹⁴And I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee.

¹⁵‘And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me…