DanielChapter 2

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¹In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had dreams. They troubled his spirit, and he couldn't sleep. ²So the king called for his magicians, spell-casters, sorcerers, and astrologers. He wanted them to explain his dreams. They came and stood in front of the king. ³He said to them, "I've had a dream. My spirit is troubled, and I want to know what it means." ⁴Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic. "O king, may you live forever! Tell us your servants the dream. Then we'll tell you what it means."a ⁵The king answered the astrologers, "I have made up my mind. You must tell me the dream and what it means. If you don't, you'll be cut into pieces. And your houses will be turned into piles of rubble. ⁶But if you tell me the dream and what it means, I'll give you gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and what it means." ⁷They answered again, "Let the king tell his servants the dream. Then we'll tell what it means." ⁸The king answered, "I know for sure what you're doing. You're trying to buy more time. You see that I have made up my mind. ⁹If you don't tell me the dream, there's only one punishment for you. You've agreed together to tell me lies and tricks. You hope things will change. So tell me the dream. Then I'll know you can tell me what it means." ¹⁰The astrologers answered the king, "No one on earth can do what the king asks! No king has ever asked such a thing of any magician, spell-caster, or astrologer. Not even the greatest and strongest king has done that. ¹¹What the king asks is too hard. No one can tell it to the king except the gods. And they don't live among people." ¹²This answer made the king very angry. He was so furious that he ordered all the wise men of Babylon to be killed. ¹³So the order went out that the wise men were to be put to death. Men went looking for Daniel and his friends to kill them too. ¹⁴Arioch was the captain of the king's guard. He went out to kill the wise men of Babylon. Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and good sense. ¹⁵Daniel asked him, "Why did the king give such a harsh order?" Then Arioch explained to Daniel what had happened. ¹⁶So Daniel went in to see the king. He asked the king to give him some time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. ¹⁷Then Daniel went back home. He told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what was going on. ¹⁸He urged them to beg the God of heaven for mercy about this secret, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹During the night, the secret was shown to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel said,
"Praise the name of God forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him. ²¹He changes the times and the seasons.
He takes kings away, and he sets kings up.
He gives wisdom to the wise.
He gives knowledge to those who understand. ²²He shows deep and hidden things.
He knows what is in the darkness.
And light lives with him. ²³God of my fathers, I thank you and praise you,
because you have given me wisdom and power.
Now you have shown me what we asked of you.
For you have shown us the king's dream." ²⁴So Daniel went to Arioch. The king had chosen Arioch to kill the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, "Don't kill the wise men of Babylon! Take me to the king. I'll tell him what his dream means." ²⁵Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king. He said, "I've found a man among the captives from Judah. He will tell the king what the dream means." ²⁶The king spoke to Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar. He asked, "Can you tell me what I saw in my dream? And can you tell me what it means?" ²⁷Daniel answered the king, "The king is asking about a secret. No wise man, spell-caster, medium, or magician can explain it to the king. ²⁸But there is a God in heaven who shows secrets. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the last days. Here is your dream. Here are the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed. ²⁹O king, as you lay on your bed, you began to think about the future. Then the One who shows secrets showed you what will happen. ³⁰This secret has been shown to me too. But it's not because I'm wiser than anyone else alive. It's so that the king can know what the dream means. It's so you can understand the thoughts of your mind. ³¹O king, as you were watching, you saw a huge statue. It was large and bright, and it stood in front of you. It looked terrifying. ³²The statue's head was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms were silver. Its belly and thighs were bronze. ³³Its legs were iron. Its feet were partly iron and partly clay. ³⁴As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It hit the statue on its feet of iron and clay. It crushed them. ³⁵Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold all broke into pieces. They became like chaff on a threshing floor in summer. The wind blew them away. Not a trace of them was left. But the stone that hit the statue became a huge mountain. It filled the whole earth. ³⁶That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. ³⁷O king, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you a kingdom. He has given you power, strength, and glory. ³⁸He has put people, wild animals, and birds into your hands, wherever they live. He has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. ³⁹After you, another kingdom will rise. It will not be as great as yours. Next, a third kingdom will rule the whole earth. It is the one made of bronze. ⁴⁰Last, there will be a fourth kingdom. It will be as strong as iron, because iron breaks and smashes everything. And like iron that smashes everything, this kingdom will break and crush all the others. ⁴¹You saw that the feet and toes were partly baked clay and partly iron. So this will be a divided kingdom. Still, it will have some of the strength of iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴²The toes were partly iron and partly clay. In the same way, this kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak and easy to break. ⁴³You saw the iron mixed with clay. In the same way, the peoples will mix with each other. But they will not stay together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. It will never be destroyed. It will never be given to another people. It will break all these kingdoms into pieces and bring them to an end. But it will last forever. ⁴⁵You saw a stone cut out of the mountain, but not by human hands. It broke the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. This is how the great God has shown the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true. What it means can be trusted." ⁴⁶When King Nebuchadnezzar heard this, he fell on his face. He bowed down to honor Daniel. He ordered that an offering and incense be given to him. ⁴⁷The king said to Daniel, "Your God really is the God of gods and the Lord of kings! He shows secrets. I know this because you were able to show me this secret." ⁴⁸Then the king gave Daniel a high position. He gave him many rich gifts. He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon. He also put him in charge of all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel asked the king for a favor. So the king chose Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to run the province of Babylon. But Daniel stayed at the king's court.