The King Acknowledges God

4 ^[a]Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all ^[b]languages who live in all the earth: “May your ^[c](A)peace be great! ² I am pleased to declare the signs and miracles that the ^(B)Most High God has done for me.

The Vision of a Great Tree

⁴ “^[d]I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ^(E)happy in my palace. ⁵ I saw a ^(F)dream and it startled me; and these appearances as I lay on my bed and the ^(G)visions ^[e]in my mind kept alarming me. ⁶ So I gave orders to ^(H)bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, so that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷ Then the ^(I)soothsayer priests, the sorcerers, the ^[f]Chaldeans, and the diviners came in and I related the dream ^[g]to them, but they could not make its ^(J)interpretation known to me. ⁸ But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is ^(K)Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ^[h](L)a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream ^[i]to him, saying, ⁹ ‘Belteshazzar, ^(M)chief of the soothsayer priests, since I know that ^(N)a spirit of the holy gods is in you and ^(O)no secret baffles you, ^(P)tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

¹⁰ ‘Now these were the ^(Q)visions ^[j]in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a ^(R)tree in the middle of the ^[k]earth and its height was great.

¹³ ‘I was looking in the ^(X)visions ^[n]in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, ^(Y)an angelic watcher, a ^(Z)holy one, descended from heaven.

¹⁸ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, since none of the ^(AH)wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, because a ^(AI)spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Interprets the Vision

¹⁹ “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ^(AJ)thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not ^(AK)let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘^(AL)My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you, and its interpretation to ^(AM)your adversaries! ²⁰ The ^(AN)tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, ²¹ and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the animals of the field lived and in whose branches the birds of the sky settled— ²² it is ^(AO)you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your ^[t]majesty has become great and reached to the sky, and your ^(AP)dominion to the end of the earth. ²³ And in that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “^(AQ)Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump ^[u]with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let ^[v]him share with the animals of the field until ^(AR)seven ^[w]periods of time pass over him,” ²⁴ this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has ^(AS)come upon my lord the king: ²⁵ that you be ^(AT)driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the animals of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven ^[x]periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the ^(AU)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and ^(AV)bestows it on whomever He wishes. ²⁶ And in that it was commanded to ^(AW)leave the stump ^[y]with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will ^[z]remain as yours after you recognize that it is ^(AX)Heaven that rules. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, may my ^(AY)advice be pleasing to you: ^(AZ)wipe away your sin by doing righteousness, and your wrongdoings by ^(BA)showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a ^(BB)prolonging of your prosperity.’

The Vision Fulfilled

²⁸ “All of this ^(BC)happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. ^29 (BD)Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. ³⁰ The king began speaking and was saying, ‘Is this not Babylon the ^(BE)great, which I myself have built as a royal ^[aa]residence by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?’ ³¹ While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice ^[ab]came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: ^[ac]sovereignty has been removed from you, ³² and ^(BF)you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the animals of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and ^(BG)seven ^[ad]periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the ^(BH)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ ³³ Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was ^(BI)driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴ “But at the end of ^[ae]that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my ^[af]reason returned to me, and I blessed the ^(BJ)Most High and praised and honored ^(BK)Him who lives forever;

³⁶ At that time my ^[ah](BQ)reason returned to me. And my majesty and ^(BR)splendor were ^[ai]restored to me for the honor of my kingdom, and my state counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my ^[aj]sovereignty, and surpassing ^(BS)greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of ^(BT)heaven, for ^(BU)all His works are ^[ak]true and His ways ^[al]just; and He is able to humble those who ^(BV)walk in pride.”

Growth in Christian Virtue

1 ^[a]Simon Peter, a ^(A)bond-servant and ^(B)apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received ^(C)a faith of the same ^[b]kind as ours, ^[c]by ^(D)the righteousness of ^(E)our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: ^2 (F)Grace and peace be multiplied to you in ^(G)the knowledge of God and of Jesus ^[d]our Lord, ³ for His ^(H)divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true ^(I)knowledge of Him who ^(J)called us ^[e]by His own glory and ^[f]excellence. ⁴ Through ^[g]these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent ^(K)promises, so that by them you may become ^(L)partakers of the divine nature, having ^(M)escaped the ^(N)corruption that is in ^(O)the world on account of lust. ⁵ Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith ^(P)supply ^(Q)moral ^[h]excellence, and in your moral excellence, ^(R)knowledge, ⁶ and in your knowledge, ^(S)self-control, and in your self-control, ^(T)perseverance, and in your perseverance, ^(U)godliness, ⁷ and in your godliness, ^(V)brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor ^(W)unproductive in the true ^(X)knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For the one who lacks these qualities is ^(Y)blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his ^(Z)purification from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His ^(AA)calling and ^(AB)choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never ^(AC)stumble; ¹¹ for in this way the entrance into ^(AD)the eternal kingdom of our ^(AE)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be ^(AF)abundantly ^(AG)supplied to you.

¹² Therefore, ^(AH)I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in ^(AI)the truth which is present with you. ¹³ I consider it ^(AJ)right, as long as I am in ^(AK)this earthly ^[i]dwelling, to ^(AL)stir you up by way of reminder, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(AM)the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, ^(AN)as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will also be diligent that at any time after my ^(AO)departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Eyewitnesses

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised ^(AP)tales when we made known to you the ^(AQ)power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were ^(AR)eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a ^(AS)[j]declaration as this was made to Him by the ^(AT)Majestic Glory: “This is ^[k]My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”— ¹⁸ and we ourselves heard this ^[l]declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the ^(AU)holy mountain.

¹⁹ And so we have ^(AV)the prophetic word made more ^(AW)sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to ^(AX)a lamp shining in a dark place, until the ^(AY)day dawns and the ^(AZ)morning star arises ^(BA)in your hearts. ²⁰ But ^(BB)know this first of all, that ^(BC)no prophecy of Scripture ^[m]becomes a matter of ^[n]someone’s own interpretation, ²¹ for ^(BD)no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men ^(BE)moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Mem

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