但以理書 2
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
尼布甲尼撒的夢
2 尼布甲尼撒在執政第二年做了夢，心裡煩亂，無法入睡， 2 便派人召來術士、巫師、行法術的和占星家[a]，為他解夢。他們都來到王面前。 3 王對他們說：「我做了一個夢，心裡煩亂，想知道夢的意思。」 4 占星家用亞蘭話對王說：「願王萬歲！請將夢告訴僕人，僕人好解釋夢的意思。」 5 王對占星家說：「我的旨意已定，你們若不能將夢和夢的意思告訴我，必被碎屍萬段，你們的家必淪為廢墟。 6 你們若能將夢和夢的意思告訴我，我必給你們禮物、賞賜和極大的尊榮。所以你們要將夢和夢的意思告訴我。」 7 他們再次對王說：「請王將夢告訴僕人，僕人好解釋夢的意思。」 8 王說：「我敢肯定，你們是在拖延時間，因為你們知道我的旨意已定， 9 你們若不將夢告訴我，我必懲治你們。你們串通起來在我面前胡言亂語，期待情況會改變。現在將夢告訴我，我就相信你們能解夢。」 10 占星家說：「王所要求的，世上無人能做到，因為再偉大、再有權勢的君王也沒問過術士、巫師或占星家這樣的事。 11 王問的事太難，除了不在人間居住的神明外，無人能為王解答。」 12 王大怒，下令處死巴比倫所有的智者。 13 於是，處死智者的諭旨發出，但以理和他的同伴都在被殺之列。
14 王的護衛長亞略奉命要處死巴比倫的智者，但以理機智、謹慎地應對。 15 他問王的護衛長亞略：「王的命令為何這樣緊急？」亞略就把情況告訴他。 16 但以理便進宮求王寬限，以便為王解夢。 17 然後，他回到居所將這事告訴同伴哈拿尼雅、米沙利和亞撒利雅， 18 要同伴祈求天上的上帝施憐憫，顯明這奧秘，以免他們和其他巴比倫的智者一起被殺。 19 這奧秘在夜間的異象中向但以理顯明，他便頌讚天上的上帝， 20 說：
「上帝的名永永遠遠當受稱頌，
因為智慧和能力都屬於祂。
21 祂改變時令和季節，廢王立王，
賜智慧給智者，賜知識給哲士。
22 祂顯明深奧隱秘之事，
洞悉暗中的隱情，
有光與祂同住。
23 我祖先的上帝啊，我感謝你，讚美你，
因你賜我智慧和能力，
應允我們的祈求，
使我們明白王的夢。」
但以理解夢
24 於是，但以理去見王指派處死巴比倫智者的亞略，對他說：「不要處死巴比倫的智者，請帶我去見王，我要為王解夢。」 25 亞略急忙帶但以理去見王，對王說：「我在被擄的猶大人中找到一個能為王解夢的。」 26 王就問又名伯提沙撒的但以理：「你能將我做的夢和夢的意思告訴我嗎？」 27 但以理回答說：「沒有智者、術士、巫師或占星家可以解答王所問的奧秘， 28-30 但天上的上帝能揭開奧秘，祂已把將來要發生的事告訴了王。王啊，你在床上夢見了將來的事，揭開奧秘的上帝已把將來的事指示給你。上帝將王做的夢啟示給我，並非因為我的智慧勝過其他人，而是要讓王知道夢的意思和王的心事。以下是王在床上做的夢和腦中出現的異象。
31 「王啊，你夢見一個高大宏偉、極其明亮的塑像站在你面前，相貌可怕， 32 有純金的頭、銀的胸和臂、銅的肚腹和大腿、 33 鐵的小腿和半鐵半泥的腳。 34 在你觀看的時候，有一塊非人手鑿出的石頭打在塑像半鐵半泥的腳上，砸碎了腳。 35 鐵、泥、銅、銀、金隨即粉碎，猶如夏天麥場上的糠秕，被風吹得無影無蹤。但打碎這像的石頭變成一座大山，充滿整個大地。
36 「這就是夢的內容。現在我們要為王解夢。 37 王啊，你是萬王之王，天上的上帝已將國度、權柄、能力和尊榮賜給你， 38 也將居住在各地的世人、走獸和飛禽都交在你手中，讓你管理。你就是那金頭。 39 在你之後，必有另一國興起，不及你的國強大。之後是將要統治天下的第三個國，是銅的。 40 接著是堅如鐵的第四國，能擊垮、打碎列國，正如鐵能擊垮、打碎一切。 41 你看見半鐵半陶泥的腳和腳趾，表示那將是一個分裂的國。正如你看見鐵和泥混雜在一起，它必有鐵一般的力量。 42 半鐵半泥的腳趾表示那國必半強半弱。 43 你看見鐵和泥混雜在一起，這表示那國的民族彼此混雜通婚，卻不能團結，正如鐵和泥無法混合。 44 在以上列王統治的時候，天上的上帝必設立一國——永不滅亡、外族無法奪其政權。這國將擊垮、消滅列國，並且永遠長存。 45 你看見那塊非人手從山中鑿出的石頭打碎鐵、銅、泥、銀和金。偉大的上帝已把將來的事告訴了王。這夢是真實的，解釋是可靠的。」
46 尼布甲尼撒王俯伏在地，向但以理下拜，並下令給他獻供物和香。 47 王對但以理說：「你們的上帝真是萬神之神、萬王之主、奧秘的啟示者，因為你能揭開這個奧秘。」 48 王賜但以理高官及許多貴重的禮物，派他治理巴比倫全省，管理巴比倫所有的智者。 49 王又應允但以理的請求，派沙得拉、米煞和亞伯尼歌負責巴比倫省的事務。但以理仍在朝中供職。
Daniel 2
Living Bible
2 1-3 One night in the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a terrifying nightmare and awoke trembling with fear. And to make matters worse, he couldn’t remember his dream! He immediately called in all his magicians, incantationists, sorcerers, and astrologers, and demanded that they tell him what his dream had been.
“I’ve had a terrible nightmare,” he said as they stood before him, “and I can’t remember what it was. Tell me, for I fear some tragedy awaits me.”
4 Then the astrologers (speaking in Aramaic) said to the king, “Sir, tell us the dream and then we can tell you what it means.”
5 But the king replied, “I tell you the dream is gone—I can’t remember it. And if you won’t tell me what it was and what it means, I’ll have you torn limb from limb and your houses made into heaps of rubble! 6 But I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors if you tell me what the dream was and what it means. So, begin!”
7 They said again, “How can we tell you what the dream means unless you tell us what it was?”
8-9 The king retorted, “I can see your trick! You’re trying to stall for time until the calamity befalls me that the dream foretells. But if you don’t tell me the dream, you certainly can’t expect me to believe your interpretation!”
10 The astrologers replied to the king, “There isn’t a man alive who can tell others what they have dreamed! And there isn’t a king in all the world who would ask such a thing! 11 This is an impossible thing the king requires. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they are not here to help.”
12 Upon hearing this, the king was furious and sent out orders to execute all the wise men of Babylon. 13 And Daniel and his companions were rounded up with the others to be killed.
14 But when Arioch, the chief executioner, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with great wisdom by asking, 15 “Why is the king so angry? What is the matter?”
Then Arioch told him all that had happened.
16 So Daniel went in to see the king. “Give me a little time,” he said, “and I will tell you the dream and what it means.”
17 Then he went home and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions. 18 They asked the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not die with the others. 19 And that night in a vision God told Daniel what the king had dreamed.
Then Daniel praised the God of heaven, 20 saying, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and all power. 21 World events are under his control. He removes kings and sets others on their thrones. He gives wise men their wisdom and scholars their intelligence. 22 He reveals profound mysteries beyond man’s understanding. He knows all hidden things, for he is light, and darkness is no obstacle to him. 23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers, for you have given me wisdom and glowing health, and now even this vision of the king’s dream and the understanding of what it means.”
24 Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, who had been ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said, “Don’t kill them. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what he wants to know.”
25 Then Arioch hurried Daniel in to the king and said, “I’ve found one of the Jewish captives who will tell you your dream!”
26 The king said to Daniel, “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”
27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, astrologer, magician, or wizard can tell the king such things, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has told you in your dream what will happen in the future. This was your dream:
29 “You dreamed of coming events. He who reveals secrets was speaking to you. 30 (But remember, it’s not because I am wiser than any living person that I know this secret of your dream, for God showed it to me for your benefit.)
31 “O king, you saw a huge and powerful statue of a man, shining brilliantly, frightening and terrible. 32 The head of the statue was made of purest gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, 33 its legs of iron, its feet part iron and part clay. 34 But as you watched, a Rock was cut from the mountainside[a] by supernatural means. It came hurtling toward the statue and crushed the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. 35 Then the whole statue collapsed into a heap of iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold; its pieces were crushed as small as chaff, and the wind blew them all away. But the Rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
36 “That was the dream; now for its meaning:
37 “Your Majesty, you are a king over many kings, for the God of heaven has given you your kingdom, power, strength, and glory. 38 You rule the farthest provinces, and even animals and birds are under your control, as God decreed. You are that head of gold.
39 “But after your kingdom has come to an end, another world power[b] will arise to take your place. This empire will be inferior to yours. And after that kingdom has fallen, yet a third great power—represented by the bronze belly of the statue—will rise to rule the world. 40 Following it, the fourth kingdom[c] will be strong as iron—smashing, bruising, and conquering. 41-42 The feet and toes you saw—part iron and part clay—show that later on, this kingdom will be divided. Some parts of it will be as strong as iron, and some as weak as clay. 43 This mixture of iron with clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage of their rulers; but this will not succeed, for iron and clay don’t mix.
44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed; no one will ever conquer it. It will shatter all these kingdoms into nothingness, but it shall stand forever, indestructible. 45 That is the meaning of the Rock cut from the mountain without human hands—the Rock that crushed to powder all the iron and brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold.
“Thus the great God has shown what will happen in the future, and this interpretation of your dream is as sure and certain as my description of it.”
46 Then Nebuchadnezzar fell to the ground before Daniel and worshiped him and commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him.
47 “Truly, O Daniel,” the king said, “your God is the God of gods, Ruler of kings, the Revealer of mysteries, because he has told you this secret.”
48 Then the king made Daniel very great; he gave him many valuable gifts and appointed him to be ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.
49 Then, at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as Daniel’s assistants, to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel served as chief magistrate in the king’s court.
Footnotes
- Daniel 2:34 a Rock was cut from the mountainside, implied.
- Daniel 2:39 another world power, the Medo-Persian Empire, whose first great ruler was Cyrus. yet a third great power, the Greek Empire founded by Alexander the Great.
- Daniel 2:40 the fourth kingdom, apparently the Roman Empire.
Daniel 2
King James Version
2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.