The King’s Troubling Dream

¹ Now¹ in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

1. Hebrew “And”

² So the king said to call the magicians¹ and the conjurers² and the sorcerers and the ⌞astrologers⌟³ to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood ⌞before⌟⁴ the king.

1. Or “soothsayer-priests”
2. Or “enchanters”
3. Literally “Chaldeans”
4. Literally “to the face of”

³ And the king said to them, “⌞I have had a dream⌟¹ and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”

1. Literally “A dream I have dreamed”

⁴ And the ⌞astrologers⌟¹ said to the king in Aramaic,² “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants and we will reveal the explanation.”

1. Literally “Chaldeans”
2. The text of Daniel is in Aramaic from this point on through Daniel chapter 7. Then the text resumes in Hebrew to the end of the book

⁵ The king answered and said to the ⌞astrologers⌟,¹ “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its explanation,² then you will be broken into pieces and your houses will be laid in ruins.

1. Literally “Chaldeans”
2. Or “interpretation”

⁶ But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewards¹ and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation.”²

1. Aramaic “reward”
2. Or “interpretation”

⁷ They answered once more and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make the explanation known.”

⁸ The king answered and said, “⌞Certainly⌟¹ I know that ⌞you are trying to gain time⌟² ⌞because⌟³ you have seen ⌞that this matter is firmly decreed by me⌟,⁴

1. Literally “From a certainty”
2. Literally “the time you are gaining”
3. Literally “all because of that”
4. Literally “that firm from me is the decree”

⁹ for if you do not make the dream known to me, ⌞your verdict is fixed⌟,¹ and you have conspired to say a lying and deceitful word to me until the ⌞circumstances⌟² will change. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can tell me its explanation.”

1. Literally “one is your verdict”
2. Literally “time”

¹⁰ The ⌞astrologers⌟¹ answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth that is able to reveal the word of the king; ⌞in fact⌟,² no great and powerful king has ever asked a thing like this of any magician³ or conjurer⁴ or ⌞astrologer⌟.⁵

1. Literally “Chaldeans”
2. Literally “all because that”
3. Or “soothsayer-priest”
4. Or “enchanter”
5. Literally “Chaldean”

¹¹ And the thing that the king is asking is too difficult and ⌞there is no one who⌟¹ can reveal it to the king except the gods ⌞whose dwelling is not with mortals⌟.”²

1. Literally “there is not another”
2. Literally “concerning their dwelling is not with flesh”

¹² Because of this the king became angry, and he became very much enraged, and he said that all the wise men of Babylon are to be destroyed.

¹³ And the decree was issued, and the wise men ⌞were on the verge of being executed⌟,¹ and they searched for Daniel and his companions to be executed.

1. Literally “were in the process of being killed”

¹⁴ Then Daniel responded prudently and discretely to Arioch, the commander of the imperial guard of the king, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁵ ⌞He asked⌟¹ and said to Arioch, the royal official of the king, “⌞Why⌟² is the decree from the king so severe?” Then Arioch explained the matter³ to Daniel.

1. Literally “he answered”
2. Literally “Over what”
3. Or “situation”

¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested from the king that he would give him time, and ⌞he would tell the king⌟¹ the explanation.²

1. Literally “to tell/reveal to the king”
2. Or “interpretation”

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his home, and he made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions,

¹⁸ and told them to seek mercy ⌞from the God of heaven⌟¹ concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions, along with the remainder of the wise men of Babylon, would not be killed.

1. Literally “from before the God of the heaven”

¹⁹ Then in a vision of the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel; then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

²⁰ Daniel ⌞said⌟:¹ “Let his name, the name of God,² be blessed ⌞throughout the ages⌟,³ for the wisdom and the power ⌞are his⌟.⁴

1. Literally “answered and he said”
2. Aramaic “the God”
3. Literally “from the age unto the age”
4. Literally “of to him it is”

²¹ And he changes the times and the seasons, and he deposes kings and he sets up kings; he gives wisdom¹ to wise men and knowledge to men who know understanding.

1. Aramaic “the wisdom”

²² He reveals the deep and the hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

²³ To you, O God of my ancestors,¹ I give thanks and I give praises, for the wisdom and the power you gave to me, and now you have made known to me what we have asked from you, for you have made known to us the matter of the king.”

1. Or “fathers”

Daniel Praises God and Interprets the King’s Dream

²⁴ ⌞Therefore⌟¹ Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed² to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and thus he said to him: “You must not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me in before the king and I will give the explanation³ to the king.”

1. Literally “Now because this”
2. Aramaic “has appointed”
3. Or “interpretation”

²⁵ Then Arioch ⌞quickly⌟¹ brought Daniel in before the king and thus he said to him: “I have found a man among ⌞the exiles⌟² of Judah³ who ⌞can relate⌟⁴ the explanation⁵ to the king.

1. Literally “in haste”
2. Literally “the children of exiles”
3. Aramaic “Jehud”
4. Literally “he will make known”
5. Or “interpretation”

²⁶ ⌞The king then asked⌟¹ and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its explanation?”²

1. Literally “The king answered”
2. Or “interpretation”

²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, “The mystery that the king asks, no wise men, conjurers,¹ magicians,² or diviners are able to make known to the king.

1. Or “enchanters”
2. Or “soothsayer-priests”

²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what it is that will be at the end of days. This is your dream and the visions of your head on your bed.

²⁹ “As for you, king,¹ your thoughts on your bed ⌞turned to⌟² what it was that would be ⌞in the future⌟,³ and the revealer of mysteries has made known to you what that would be.

1. Aramaic “the king”
2. Literally “they went up”
3. Literally “after this”

³⁰ And as for me, it is not because of wisdom that is in me more than ⌞any other living person⌟¹ that this mystery is revealed to me, but ⌞in order that⌟² the explanation³ may be made known to the king and you will ⌞understand⌟⁴ the thoughts of your ⌞mind⌟.⁵

1. Literally “all of living beings”
2. Literally “concerning the matter of”
3. Or “interpretation”
4. Literally “know”
5. Literally “heart”

³¹ “You, O king, were looking and, look, there was one great statue. This statue was huge and its brilliance extraordinary, standing there before you, and its appearance was frightening.¹

1. Or “dreadful”

³² The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

³³ its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron and part of them of clay.

³⁴ You were looking on ⌞until⌟¹ a stone was chiseled out²—that not by hands—and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and it broke them in pieces.

1. Literally “until that”
2. Or “became loose”

³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold ⌞all at once⌟¹ broke into pieces² and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away and any trace of them could not be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and it filled the whole earth.

1. Literally “like one”
2. Or “were crushed”

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will tell its interpretation to the king.

³⁷ You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the might and the glory,

³⁸ and also ⌞human beings wherever they dwell⌟,¹ the animals of the field and the birds² of heaven³—he has given into your hand and made you ruler over all of them—you are the head of gold.