Daniel 2:21-38

English Standard Version

²¹^(A)He changes times and seasons;
    ^(B)he removes kings and sets up kings;
^(C)he gives wisdom to the wise
    ^(D)and knowledge to those who have understanding;
²²^(E)he reveals deep and hidden things;
    ^(F)he knows what is in the darkness,
    ^(G)and the light dwells with him.
²³To you, O ^(H)God of my fathers,
    ^(I)I give thanks and praise,
for ^(J)you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what ^(K)we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

²⁴Therefore Daniel went in to ^(L)Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

²⁵Then ^(M)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(N)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(O)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶The king declared to Daniel, ^(P)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(Q)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(R)enchanters, ^(S)magicians, or ^(T)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸but ^(U)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(V)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(W)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(X)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰But ^(Y)as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of 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 ^(Z)you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²^(AA)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(AB)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(AC)thighs of bronze, ³³^(AD)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(AE)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(AF)broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(AG)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(AH)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(AI)a great mountain ^(AJ)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, ^(AK)the king of kings, to whom ^(AL)the God of heaven ^(AM)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(AN)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(AO)the head of gold.