Isaiah 47:13-15

New International Version

¹³All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(A)
    Let your astrologers^(B) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(C) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴Surely they are like stubble;^(D)
    the fire^(E) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(F)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
¹⁵That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored^(G) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save^(H) you.

Read full chapter

Daniel 2:2-12

New International Version

²So the king summoned the magicians,^(A) enchanters, sorcerers^(B) and astrologers^[a]^(C) to tell him what he had dreamed.^(D) When they came in and stood before the king, ³he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles^(E) me and I want to know what it means.^[b]”

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

⁵The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided:^(H) If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces^(I) and your houses turned into piles of rubble.^(J) ⁶But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor.^(K) So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”

⁷Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

⁸Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: ⁹If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty^(L) for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”^(M)

¹⁰The astrologers^(N) 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.^(O) ¹¹What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods,^(P) and they do not live among humans.”

¹²This made the king so angry and furious^(Q) that he ordered the execution^(R) of all the wise men of Babylon.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Daniel 2:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 4, 5 and 10
Daniel 2:3 Or was
Daniel 2:4 At this point the Hebrew text has in Aramaic, indicating that the text from here through the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic.