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 (A)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(B)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(C)thighs of bronze, ^33 (D)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(E)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(F)broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(G)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(H)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(I)a great mountain ^(J)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(K)the king of kings, to whom ^(L)the God of heaven ^(M)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸ and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(N)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(O)the head of gold. ^39 (P)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(Q)of bronze, ^(R)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(S)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(T)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(U)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(V)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(W)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,^[a] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(X)the God of heaven will set up ^(Y)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(Z)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(AA)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(AB)you saw that ^(AC)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(AD)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(AE)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(AF)fell upon his face and ^(AG)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(AH)an offering and ^(AI)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(AJ)God is God of gods and ^(AK)Lord of kings, and ^(AL)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(AM)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(AN)province of Babylon and ^(AO)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(AP)appointed ^(AQ)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(AR)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(AS)remained at the king's court.