¹ In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

² Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

³ The king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream."

⁴ Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in the Syrian language, "O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation."

⁵ The king answered the Chaldeans, "The thing is gone from me: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a rubbish heap.

⁶ But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and its interpretation."

⁷ They answered the second time and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation."

⁸ The king answered, "I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you see the thing is gone from me.

⁹ But if you do not make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until such time that things might change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation."

¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, "There is not a man on the earth who can show the king's matter, because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.

¹¹ It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."

¹² For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³ So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be killed.

¹⁴ Then Daniel returned an answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon;

¹⁵ he answered Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree so urgent from the king?" Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

¹⁶ Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

¹⁸ that they would seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

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

²⁰ Daniel answered, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.

²¹ He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;

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

²³ I thank you, and praise you, God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king's matter."

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation."

²⁵ Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said this to him, "I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation."

²⁶ The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?"

²⁷ Daniel answered before the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded is such that no wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, can show to the king;

²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:

²⁹ as for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind on your bed, what should happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall happen.

³⁰ But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

³¹ You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was extraordinary, stood before you; and its appearance was awesome.

³² As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,

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

³⁴ You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

³⁵ Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ This is the dream; and we will tell its interpretation before the king.

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

³⁸ and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.