Font Size
Daniel 2:31-49
New American Standard Bible
Daniel 2:31-49
New American Standard Bible
The King’s Dream
31 “You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and [a]of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was [b](A)awesome. 32 The (B)head of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You [c]continued watching until a (C)stone was broken off (D)without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and (E)crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces [d]all at the same time, and they were (F)like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that (G)not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great (H)mountain and filled the entire earth.
The Interpretation—Babylon the First Kingdom
36 “This was the dream; and now we will tell (I)its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the (J)king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the [e]kingdom, the (K)power, the strength, and the honor; 38 and wherever the sons of mankind live, or the (L)animals of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has handed them over to you and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
Medo-Persia and Greece
39 And after you another kingdom will arise inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.
Rome
40 Then there will be a (M)fourth kingdom as strong as iron; just as iron smashes and crushes everything, so, like iron that crushes, it will smash and crush all these things. 41 And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have within it some of the toughness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with [f]common clay. 42 And just as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong, and part of it will be fragile. 43 In that you saw the iron mixed with [g]common clay, they will combine with one another [h]in [i]their descendants; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery.
The Divine Kingdom
44 And in the days of those kings the (N)God of heaven will (O)set up a (P)kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be [j]left for another people; it will (Q)crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Just as you saw that a (R)stone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the (S)great God has made known to the king what (T)will take place [k]in the future; so the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Daniel Promoted
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid (U)humble respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and (V)incense. 47 The king responded to Daniel and said, “(W)Your God truly is a (X)God of gods and a Lord of kings and a (Y)revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” 48 Then the king [l](Z)promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire (AA)province of Babylon, and chief [m]prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel made a request of the king, and he (AB)appointed (AC)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s [n](AD)court.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Daniel 2:31 Lit its radiance was extraordinary
- Daniel 2:31 Or dreadful
- Daniel 2:34 Lit were
- Daniel 2:35 Lit as one
- Daniel 2:37 Or sovereignty
- Daniel 2:41 Lit wet clay
- Daniel 2:43 Lit wet clay
- Daniel 2:43 Or with
- Daniel 2:43 Lit the seed of men
- Daniel 2:44 Or passed on to
- Daniel 2:45 Lit after this
- Daniel 2:48 Lit made Daniel great
- Daniel 2:48 Lit of the prefects
- Daniel 2:49 Lit gate
Daniel 2:31-49
New International Version
Daniel 2:31-49
New International Version
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue,(A) awesome(B) in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.(C) It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed(D) them.(E) 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away(F) without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain(G) and filled the whole earth.(H)
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.(I) 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.(J) The God of heaven has given you dominion(K) and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.(L) You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.(M) 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.(N) 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush(O) all those kingdoms(P) and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.(Q) 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock(R) cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands(S)—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.(T) The dream is true(U) and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate(V) before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering(W) and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods(X) and the Lord of kings(Y) and a revealer of mysteries,(Z) for you were able to reveal this mystery.(AA)”
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high(AB) position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.(AC) 49 Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon,(AD) while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.(AE)
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.