Daniel 2-3

English Standard Version

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^(A)his spirit was troubled, and ^(B)his sleep left him. ² Then the king commanded that ^(C)the magicians, ^(D)the enchanters, the ^(E)sorcerers, and ^(F)the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^(G)stood before the king. ³ And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^(H)my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” ⁴ Then ^(I)the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{[a] (J)}“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” ⁵ The king answered and said to ^(K)the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^(L)torn limb from limb, ^(M)and your ^(N)houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶ But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^(O)you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^(P)Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” ⁸ The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^(Q)gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— ⁹ if you do not make the dream known to me, ^(R)there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^(S)the times change. ^(T)Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” ^10 (U)The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^(V)Chaldean. ¹¹ The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^(W)the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹² Because of this the king was angry and ^(X)very furious, and ^(Y)commanded that all ^(Z)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(AA)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(AB)Arioch, the ^(AC)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He declared^[b] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^(AD)so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(AE)Hananiah, ^(AF)Mishael, and ^(AG)Azariah, his companions, ^18 (AH)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(AI)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(AJ)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(AK)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(AL)blessed the ^(AM)God of heaven. ²⁰ Daniel answered and said:

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to ^(BA)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.”

²⁵ Then ^(BB)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(BC)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(BD)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, ^(BE)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(BF)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(BG)enchanters, ^(BH)magicians, or ^(BI)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸ but ^(BJ)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(BK)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(BL)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹ To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(BM)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ But ^(BN)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 ^(BO)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 (BP)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(BQ)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(BR)thighs of bronze, ^33 (BS)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(BT)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(BU)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 ^(BV)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(BW)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(BX)a great mountain ^(BY)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(BZ)the king of kings, to whom ^(CA)the God of heaven ^(CB)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, ^(CC)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(CD)the head of gold. ^39 (CE)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(CF)of bronze, ^(CG)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(CH)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(CI)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(CJ)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(CK)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(CL)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,^[c] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(CM)the God of heaven will set up ^(CN)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(CO)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(CP)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(CQ)you saw that ^(CR)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(CS)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(CT)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 ^(CU)fell upon his face and ^(CV)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(CW)an offering and ^(CX)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(CY)God is God of gods and ^(CZ)Lord of kings, and ^(DA)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(DB)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(DC)province of Babylon and ^(DD)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(DE)appointed ^(DF)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(DG)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(DH)remained at the king's court.

Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image

3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits^[d] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on ^(DI)the plain of Dura, in ^(DJ)the province of Babylon. ² Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather ^(DK)the satraps, the prefects, and ^(DL)the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ³ Then ^(DM)the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴ And the herald ^(DN)proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O ^(DO)peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵ that when you hear the ^(DP)sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you ^(DQ)are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately ^(DR)be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” ⁷ Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all ^(DS)the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

⁸ Therefore at that time certain ^(DT)Chaldeans ^(DU)came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹ They declared^[e] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, ^(DV)have made a decree, that every man who ^(DW)hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, ^(DX)shall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹ And whoever does not fall down and worship ^(DY)shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(DZ)appointed over the affairs of ^(EA)the province of Babylon: ^(EB)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, ^(EC)pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar ^(ED)in furious rage commanded that ^(EE)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready when ^(EF)you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.^[f] But if you do not worship, ^(EG)you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And ^(EH)who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (EI)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, ^(EJ)our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[g] 18} But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was ^(EK)filled with fury, and the expression of his face ^(EL)was changed against ^(EM)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army ^(EN)to bind ^(EO)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were ^(EP)bound in their cloaks, their tunics,^[h] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²² Because the king's order was ^(EQ)urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up ^(ER)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ^(ES)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ^(ET)astonished and rose up ^(EU)in haste. He declared to his ^(EV)counselors, “Did we not cast three men ^(EW)bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” ²⁵ He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, ^(EX)walking in the midst of the fire, and they ^(EY)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ^(EZ)a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ^(FA)“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the ^(FB)Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then ^(FC)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷ And the ^(FD)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and ^(FE)the king's counselors gathered together and saw that ^(FF)the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their ^(FG)cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of ^(FH)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ^(FI)has sent his angel and ^(FJ)delivered his servants, who ^(FK)trusted in him, and set aside^[i] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than ^(FL)serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore ^(FM)I make a decree: Any ^(FN)people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of ^(FO)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ^(FP)shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king promoted ^(FQ)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in ^(FR)the province of Babylon.