Daniel 2:13-24

Living Bible

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.”