Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams;^(A) his mind was troubled^(B) and he could not sleep.^{(C) 2} So the king summoned the magicians,^(D) enchanters, sorcerers^(E) and astrologers^[a](F) to tell him what he had dreamed.^(G) When they came in and stood before the king, ³ he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles^(H) me and I want to know what it means.^[b]”

⁴ Then the astrologers answered the king,^[c](I) “May the king live forever!^(J) Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

⁵ The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided:^(K) If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces^(L) and your houses turned into piles of rubble.^(M)

¹⁰ The astrologers^(A) answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.^{(B) 11} What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods,^(C) and they do not live among humans.”

²⁷ Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,^{(A) 28} but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.^(B) He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.^(C) Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind^(D) as you were lying in bed^(E) are these:^(F)

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue,^(A) awesome^(B) in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.^(C) It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed^(D) them.^{(E) 35} Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away^(F) without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain^(G) and filled the whole earth.^(H)