Daniel 2
Common English Bible
An impossible challenge
2 In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, he had many dreams. The dreams made him anxious, but he kept sleeping. 2 The king summoned the dream interpreters, enchanters, diviners, and Chaldeans to explain his dreams to him. They came and stood before the king.
3 Then the king said to them: “I had a dream, and I’m anxious to know its meaning.”
4 The Chaldeans answered the king in Aramaic:[a] “Long live the king! Tell your servants the dream, and we will explain its meaning.”
5 The king answered the Chaldeans: “My decision is final: If you can’t tell me the dream and its meaning, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into trash dumps. 6 But if you do explain the dream and its meaning, you’ll receive generous gifts and glorious honor from me. So explain to me the dream as well as its meaning.”
7 They answered him again: “The king must tell his servants the dream. We will then explain the meaning.”
8 The king replied: “Now I definitely know you are stalling for time, because you see that my decision is final 9 and that if you can’t tell me the dream, your fate is certain. You’ve conspired to make false and lying speeches before me until the situation changes. Tell me the dream now! Then I’ll know you can explain its meaning to me.”
10 The Chaldeans answered the king: “No one on earth can do what the king is asking! No king or ruler, no matter how great, has ever asked such a thing of any dream interpreter, enchanter, or Chaldean. 11 What the king is asking is impossible! No one could declare the dream to the king but the gods, who don’t live among mere humans.”
12 At this, the king exploded in a furious rage and ordered that all Babylon’s sages be wiped out. 13 So the command went out: The sages were to be killed. Daniel and his friends too were hunted down; they were to be killed as well.
God reveals the mystery
14 Then Daniel, with wisdom and sound judgment, responded to Arioch the king’s chief executioner, who had gone out to kill Babylon’s sages. 15 He said to Arioch the king’s royal officer, “Why is the king’s command so unreasonable?” After Arioch explained the situation to Daniel, 16 Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time so he could explain the dream’s meaning to him. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and explained the situation to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah 18 so that they would ask the God of heaven for help about this mystery, in hopes that Daniel and his friends wouldn’t die with the rest of Babylon’s sages. 19 Then, in a vision by night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel! Daniel praised the God of heaven:
20 God’s name be praised
from age to eternal age!
Wisdom and might are his!
21 God is the one who changes times and eras,
who dethrones one king, only to establish another,
who grants wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those with insight.
22 God is the one who uncovers what lies deeply hidden;
he knows what hides in darkness;
light lives with him!
23 I acknowledge and praise you, my fathers’ God!
You’ve given me wisdom and might,
and now you’ve made known to me what we asked of you:
you’ve made known to us the king’s demand.
Daniel recounts the dream
24 So Daniel went to Arioch, the man the king had appointed to wipe out Babylon’s sages. Daniel said to him, “Don’t wipe out the sages of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will explain the dream’s meaning to him.” 25 Wasting no time, Arioch brought Daniel before the king, telling him, “I have found someone from the Judean exiles who will tell the dream’s meaning to the king.”
26 In reply the king said to Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar), “Can you really tell me the dream that I saw, as well as its meaning?”
27 Daniel answered the king, “Sages, enchanters, dream interpreters, and diviners can’t explain to the king the mystery he seeks. 28 But there is a God in heaven, a revealer of mysteries, who has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the days to come! Now this was your dream—this was the vision in your head as you lay in your bed:
29 “As you lay in bed, Your Majesty, your thoughts turned to what will happen in the future. The revealer of mysteries has revealed to you what will happen. 30 Now this mystery was revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than any other living person but so that the dream’s meaning might be made known to the king, and so that you might know the thoughts of your own mind.
31 “Your Majesty, you were looking, and there, rising before you, was a single, massive statue. This statue was huge, shining with dazzling light, and was awesome to see. 32 The statue’s head was made of pure gold; its chest and arms were made from silver; its abdomen and hips were made of bronze. 33 Its legs were of iron, and its feet were a mixture of iron and clay. 34 You observed this until a stone was cut, but not by hands; and it smashed the statue’s feet of iron and clay and shattered them. 35 Then all the parts shattered simultaneously—iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. They became like chaff, left on summer threshing floors. The wind lifted them away until no trace of them remained. But the stone that smashed the statue became a mighty mountain, and it filled the entire earth.
The dream’s meaning: four future rulers
36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its meaning: 37 You, Your Majesty, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given kingship, power, might, and glory to you! 38 God has delivered into your care human beings, wild creatures, and birds in the sky—wherever they live—and has made you ruler of all of them. You are the gold head. 39 But in your place, another kingdom will arise, one inferior to yours, and then a third, bronze kingdom will rule over all the earth. 40 Then will come a fourth kingdom, mighty like iron. Just as iron shatters and crushes everything; so like an iron that smashes, it will shatter and crush all these others. 41 As for the feet and toes that you saw, which were a mixture of potter’s clay and iron, that signifies a divided kingdom; but it will possess some of the unyielding strength of iron. Even so, you saw the iron mixed with earthy clay 42 so that the toes were made from a mixture of iron and clay. Part of the kingdom will be mighty, but part of it will be fragile. 43 Just as you saw the iron mixed with earthy clay, they will join together by intermarrying, but they will not bond to each other, just as iron does not fuse with clay.
44 “But in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will be indestructible. Its rule will never pass to another people. It will shatter other kingdoms. It will put an end to all of them. It will stand firm forever, 45 just like you saw when the stone, which was cut from the mountain, but not by hands, shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. A great God has revealed to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain. Its meaning can be trusted.”
Nebuchadnezzar honors Daniel
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low and honored Daniel. The king ordered that grain and incense offerings be made to Daniel. 47 The king declared to Daniel, “No doubt about it: your God is God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries because you were able to reveal this mystery!” 48 Then the king exalted Daniel and lavished gifts on him, making him ruler over all the province of Babylon and chief minister over all Babylon’s sages. 49 At Daniel’s urging, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to administer the province of Babylon, but Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
Footnotes
- Daniel 2:4 The book switches into Aramaic at this point, returning to Hebrew in 8:1.
Daniel 2
Contemporary English Version
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
2 During the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had such horrible nightmares that he could not sleep. 2 So he called in his counselors, advisors, magicians, and wise men, 3 and said, “I am disturbed by a dream that I don't understand, and I want you to explain it.”
4 They answered in Aramaic,[a] “Your Majesty, we hope you live forever! We are your servants. Please tell us your dream, and we will explain what it means.”
5 But the king replied, “No! I have made up my mind. If you don't tell me both the dream and its meaning, you will be chopped to pieces and your houses will be torn down. 6 However, if you do tell me both the dream and its meaning, you will be greatly rewarded and highly honored. Now tell me the dream and explain what it means.”
7 “Your Majesty,” they said, “if you will only tell us your dream, we will interpret it for you.”
8 The king replied, “You're just stalling for time, 9 because you know what's going to happen if you don't come up with the answer. You've decided to make up a bunch of lies, hoping I might change my mind. Now tell me the dream, and that will prove that you can interpret it.”
10 His advisors explained, “Your Majesty, you are demanding the impossible! No king, not even the most famous and powerful, has ever ordered his advisors, magicians, or wise men to do such a thing. 11 It can't be done, except by the gods, and they don't live here on earth.”
12-13 This made the king so angry that he gave orders for every wise man in Babylonia to be put to death, including Daniel and his three friends.
God Tells Nebuchadnezzar's Dream to Daniel
14 Arioch was the king's official in charge of putting the wise men to death. He was on his way to have it done, when Daniel very wisely went to him 15 and asked, “Why did the king give such cruel[b] orders?” After Arioch explained what had happened, 16 Daniel rushed off and said to the king, “If you will just give me some time, I'll explain your dream.”
17 Daniel returned home and told his three friends. 18 Then he said, “Pray that the God who rules from heaven will be merciful and explain this mystery, so that we and the others won't be put to death.” 19 In a vision one night, Daniel was shown the dream and its meaning. Then he praised the God who rules from heaven:
20 “Our God, your name
will be praised
forever and forever.
You are all-powerful,
and you know everything.
21 You control human events—
you give rulers their power
and take it away,
and you are the source
of wisdom and knowledge.
22 “You explain deep mysteries,
because even the dark
is light to you.
23 You are the God
who was worshiped
by my ancestors.
Now I thank you and praise you
for making me wise
and telling me the king's dream,
together with its meaning.”
Daniel Interprets the Dream
24 Daniel went back to Arioch, the official in charge of executing the wise men. Daniel said, “Don't kill those men! Take me to the king, and I will explain the meaning of his dream.”
25 Arioch rushed Daniel to the king and announced, “Your Majesty, I have found out that one of the men brought here from Judah can explain your dream.”
26 The king asked Daniel,[c] “Can you tell me my dream and what it means?”
27 Daniel answered:
Your Majesty, not even the smartest person in all the world can do what you are demanding. 28-29 But the God who rules from heaven can explain mysteries. And while you were sleeping, he showed you what will happen in the future. 30 However, you must realize that these mysteries weren't explained to me because I am smarter than everyone else. Instead, it was done so that you would understand what you have seen.
31 Your Majesty, what you saw standing in front of you was a huge and terrifying statue, shining brightly. 32 Its head was made of gold, its chest and arms were silver, and from its waist down to its knees, it was bronze. 33 From there to its ankles it was iron, and its feet were a mixture of iron and clay.
34 As you watched, a stone was cut from a mountain—but not by human hands. The stone struck the feet, completely shattering the iron and clay. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed and blown away without a trace, like husks of wheat at threshing time. But the stone became a tremendous mountain that covered the entire earth.
36 That was the dream, and now I'll tell you what it means. 37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings, and God has highly honored you with power 38 over all humans, animals, and birds. You are the head of gold. 39 After you are gone, another kingdom will rule, but it won't be as strong. Then it will be followed by a kingdom of bronze that will rule the whole world. 40 Next, a kingdom of iron will come to power, crushing and shattering everything.[d]
41-42 This fourth kingdom will be divided—it will be both strong and brittle, just as you saw that the feet and toes were a mixture of iron and clay. 43 This kingdom will be the result of a marriage between kingdoms, but it will crumble, just as iron and clay don't stick together.
44-45 During the time of those kings, the God who rules from heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never fall. It will be like the stone that was cut from the mountain, but not by human hands—the stone that crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. Your Majesty, in your dream the great God has told you what is going to happen, and you can trust this interpretation.
Daniel Is Promoted
46 King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low to the ground and worshiped Daniel. Then he gave orders for incense to be burned and a sacrifice of grain to be offered in honor of Daniel. 47 The king said, “Now I know that your God is above all other gods and kings, because he gave you the power to explain this mystery.” 48 The king then presented Daniel with a lot of gifts; he promoted him to governor of Babylon Province and put him in charge of the other wise men. 49 At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to high positions in Babylon Province, and he let Daniel stay on as a palace official.
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