Daniel 2:1–23

¹And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed hath Nebuchadnezzar dreams, and his spirit doth move itself, and his sleep hath been against him; ²and the king saith to call for scribes, and for enchanters, and for sorcerers, and for Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they come in and stand before the king; ³and the king saith to them, ‘A dream I have dreamed, and moved is my spirit to know the dream.’ ⁴And the Chaldeans speak to the king in Aramaean, ‘O king, to the ages live, tell the dream to thy servants, and the interpretation we do shew.’ ⁵The king hath answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘The thing from me is gone; if ye do not cause me to know the dream and its interpretation, pieces ye are made, and your houses are made dunghills; ⁶and if the dream and its interpretation ye do shew, gifts, and fee, and great glory ye receive from before me, therefore the dream and its interpretation shew ye me.’ ⁷They have answered a second time, and are saying, ‘Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and the interpretation we do shew. ⁸The king hath answered and said, ‘Of a truth I know that time ye are gaining, because that ye have seen that the thing is gone from me, ⁹so that, if the dream ye do not cause me to know—one is your sentence, seeing a word lying and corrupt ye have prepared to speak before me, till that the time is changed, therefore the dream tell ye to me, then do I know that its interpretation ye do shew me.’ ¹⁰The Chaldeans have answered before the king, and are saying, ‘There is not a man on the earth who is able to shew the king’s matter; therefore, no king, chief, and ruler, hath asked such a thing as this of any scribe, and enchanter, and Chaldean; ¹¹and the thing that the king is asking is precious, and others are there not that do shew it before the king, save the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.’ ¹²Therefore the king hath been angry and very wroth, and hath said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon; ¹³And the sentence hath gone forth, and the wise men are being slain, and they have sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

¹⁴Then Daniel hath replied with counsel and discretion to Arioch chief of the executioners of the king, who hath gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵He hath answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, ‘Wherefore is the sentence so urgent from before the king?’ Then Arioch hath made the thing known to Daniel, ¹⁶and Daniel hath gone up, and sought of the king that he would give him time to shew the interpretation to the king. ¹⁷Then Daniel to his house hath gone, and to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, he hath made the thing known, ¹⁸and to seek mercies from before the God of the heavens concerning this secret, that they destroy not Daniel and his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹Then to Daniel, in a vision of the night, the secret hath been revealed. Then hath Daniel blessed the God of the heavens. ²⁰Daniel hath answered and said, ‘Let the name of God be blessed from age even unto age, for wisdom and might—for they are His. ²¹And He is changing times and seasons, He is causing kings to pass away, and He is raising up kings; He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding. ²²He is revealing deep and hidden things; He hath known what is in darkness, and light with Him hath dwelt. ²³Thee, O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising, for wisdom and might Thou hast given to me; and now, Thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from Thee, for the king’s matter Thou hast caused us to know.’