Daniel’s Training in Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim^(A) king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar^(B) king of Babylon^(C) came to Jerusalem and besieged it.^{(D) 2} And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried^(E) off to the temple of his god in Babylonia^[a] and put in the treasure house of his god.^(F)

³ Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility^(G)— ⁴ young men without any physical defect, handsome,^(H) showing aptitude for every kind of learning,^(I) well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language^(J) and literature of the Babylonians.^{[b] 5} The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine^(K) from the king’s table.^(L) They were to be trained for three years,^(M) and after that they were to enter the king’s service.^(N)

⁶ Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel,^(O) Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.^{(P) 7} The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar;^(Q) to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.^(R)

⁸ But Daniel resolved not to defile^(S) himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. ⁹ Now God had caused the official to show favor^(T) and compassion^(U) to Daniel, ¹⁰ but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^[c] food and drink.^(V) Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

¹¹ Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹² “Please test^(W) your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”^{(X) 14} So he agreed to this and tested^(Y) them for ten days.

¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.^{(Z) 16} So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.^(AA)

¹⁷ To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding^(AB) of all kinds of literature and learning.^(AC) And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.^(AD)

¹⁸ At the end of the time^(AE) set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.^{(AF) 20} In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians^(AG) and enchanters in his whole kingdom.^(AH)

²¹ And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.^(AI)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams;^(AJ) his mind was troubled^(AK) and he could not sleep.^{(AL) 2} So the king summoned the magicians,^(AM) enchanters, sorcerers^(AN) and astrologers^[d](AO) to tell him what he had dreamed.^(AP) When they came in and stood before the king, ³ he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles^(AQ) me and I want to know what it means.^[e]”

⁴ Then the astrologers answered the king,^[f](AR) “May the king live forever!^(AS) Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

⁵ The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided:^(AT) If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces^(AU) and your houses turned into piles of rubble.^{(AV) 6} But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor.^(AW) So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”

⁷ Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

⁸ Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: ⁹ If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty^(AX) for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”^(AY)

¹⁰ The astrologers^(AZ) answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.^{(BA) 11} What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods,^(BB) and they do not live among humans.”

¹² This made the king so angry and furious^(BC) that he ordered the execution^(BD) of all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.^(BE)

¹⁴ When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. ¹⁵ He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. ¹⁶ At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.

¹⁷ Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.^{(BF) 18} He urged them to plead for mercy^(BG) from the God of heaven^(BH) concerning this mystery,^(BI) so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ During the night the mystery^(BJ) was revealed to Daniel in a vision.^(BK) Then Daniel praised the God of heaven^{(BL) 20} and said:

Daniel Interprets the Dream

²⁴ Then Daniel went to Arioch,^(BZ) whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

²⁵ Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles^(CA) from Judah^(CB) who can tell the king what his dream means.”

²⁶ The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar),^(CC) “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

²⁷ Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,^{(CD) 28} but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.^(CE) He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.^(CF) Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind^(CG) as you were lying in bed^(CH) are these:^(CI)

²⁹ “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.^{(CJ) 30} As for me, this mystery has been revealed^(CK) to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue,^(CL) awesome^(CM) 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.^(CN) It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed^(CO) them.^{(CP) 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^(CQ) without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain^(CR) and filled the whole earth.^(CS)

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.^{(CT) 37} Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.^(CU) The God of heaven has given you dominion^(CV) 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.^(CW) 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.^{(CX) 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.^{(CY) 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^(CZ) all those kingdoms^(DA) and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.^{(DB) 45} This is the meaning of the vision of the rock^(DC) cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands^(DD)—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.^(DE) The dream is true^(DF) and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate^(DG) before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering^(DH) and incense be presented to him. ⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods^(DI) and the Lord of kings^(DJ) and a revealer of mysteries,^(DK) for you were able to reveal this mystery.^(DL)”

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high^(DM) 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.^{(DN) 49} Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon,^(DO) while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.^(DP)

False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 But there were also false prophets^(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.^(B) They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord^(C) who bought them^(D)—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct^(E) and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed^(F) these teachers will exploit you^(G) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,^(H) but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment;^{(I) 5} if he did not spare the ancient world^(J) when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,^(K) but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;^{(L) 6} if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,^(M) and made them an example^(N) of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{(O) 7} and if he rescued Lot,^(P) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{(Q) 8} (for that righteous man,^(R) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials^(S) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.^{(T) 10} This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire^(U) of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;^{(V) 11} yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from^[d] the Lord.^{(W) 12} But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.^(X)

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.^(Y) They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.^{[e](Z) 14} With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce^(AA) the unstable;^(AB) they are experts in greed^(AC)—an accursed brood!^{(AD) 15} They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam^(AE) son of Bezer,^[f] who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.^(AF)

¹⁷ These people are springs without water^(AG) and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.^{(AH) 18} For they mouth empty, boastful words^(AI) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping^(AJ) from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”^{(AK) 20} If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing^(AL) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ^(AM) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.^{(AN) 21} It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.^{(AO) 22} Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[g](AP) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”