19 It is thou, O king, that art great and mighty: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the ends of the earth.

20 Whereas the King saw a watchman, and an holy one that came down from heaven, and said, Hew down the tree, and destroy it, yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, and with a band of iron and brass bind it among the grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, [a]till seven times pass over him.

21 This is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king,

22 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as the [b]oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven: and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know, that [c]the most High beareth rule over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

23 Whereas they said, that one should leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall remain unto thee: after that, thou shalt know, that the heavens have the rule.

24 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and [d]break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by mercy towards the poor: lo, let there be a [e]healing of thine error.

25 All these things shall come upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.

26 ¶ At the end of twelve [f]months, he walked in the royal palace of Babel.

27 And the king spake and said, Is not this great Babel that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 4:20 Whereby he meaneth a long space, as seven years. Some interpret seven months, and others seven weeks, but it seemeth he means of years.
  2. Daniel 4:22 Not that his shape or form was changed into a beast, but that he was either stricken mad, and so avoided man’s company, or was cast out for his tyranny, and so wandered among the beasts, and ate herbs and grass.
  3. Daniel 4:22 Daniel showeth the cause why God thus punished him.
  4. Daniel 4:24 Cease from provoking God to anger any longer by thy sins, that he may mitigate his punishment, if thou show by thine upright life that thou hast true faith and repentance.
  5. Daniel 4:24 Suffer the errors of thy former life to be redressed.
  6. Daniel 4:26 After that Daniel had declared this vision: and this his pride declareth that it is not in man to convert to God, except his Spirit move him: seeing that these terrible threatenings could not move him to repent.

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