The King’s Dream

2 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ^[a](A)had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his ^(B)sleep ^[b]left him. ² Then the king ^[c]gave orders to call in the ^(C)soothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ^[d]Chaldeans, to ^[e]tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. ³ The king said to them, “I ^[f](D)had a dream, and my spirit ^[g]is anxious to ^[h]understand the dream.”

⁴ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^[i](E)Aramaic: “^(F)O king, live forever! ^(G)Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁵ The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command ^[j]from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^[k](H)torn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into a rubbish heap. ⁶ But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^(I)gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king ^(J)tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁸ The king replied, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command ^[l]from me is firm, ⁹ that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^(K)one ^[m]decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ^[n]words before me until the ^[o]situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, so that I may ^(L)know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” ¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered ^[p]the king and said, “There is no person on earth who could declare the matter ^[q]to the king, because no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^(M)soothsayer priest, sorcerer, or Chaldean. ¹¹ Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^[r]to the king except ^(N)gods, whose ^(O)dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

¹² Because of this, the king became ^(P)angry and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the ^[s]decree was issued that the wise men be killed; and they looked for ^(Q)Daniel and his friends, to ^[t]kill them.

¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^(R)Arioch, the captain of the king’s ^[u]bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; ¹⁵ he said to Arioch, the king’s officer, “For what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch informed Daniel of the matter. ¹⁶ So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him a grace period, so that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, ^(S)Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, ¹⁸ so that they might ^(T)request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^(U)killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

¹⁹ Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night ^(V)vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; ²⁰ Daniel said,

²⁴ Thereupon, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: “^(AH)Do not kill the wise men of Babylon! Take me ^[w]into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

²⁵ Then Arioch hurriedly ^(AI)brought Daniel ^[x]into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the ^[y](AJ)exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” ²⁶ The king said to Daniel, whose name was ^(AK)Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the secret about which the king has inquired, neither ^(AL)wise men, sorcerers, soothsayer priests, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. ²⁸ However, there is a ^(AM)God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ^[z](AN)latter days. This was your dream and the ^(AO)visions ^[aa]in your mind while on your bed. ²⁹ As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts ^[ab]turned to what would take place ^[ac]in the future; and ^(AP)He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place. ³⁰ But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me ^[ad]for any ^(AQ)wisdom ^[ae]residing in me more than in any other living person, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the ^(AR)thoughts of your ^[af]mind.

The King’s Dream

³¹ “You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and ^[ag]of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was ^[ah](AS)awesome. ³² The ^(AT)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 ^[ai]continued watching until a ^(AU)stone was broken off ^(AV)without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(AW)crushed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces ^[aj]all at the same time, and they were ^(AX)like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ^(AY)not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ^(AZ)mountain and filled the entire earth.

The Interpretation—Babylon the First Kingdom

³⁶ “This was the dream; and now we will tell ^(BA)its interpretation before the king. ³⁷ You, O king, are the ^(BB)king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the ^[ak]kingdom, the ^(BC)power, the strength, and the honor; ³⁸ and wherever the sons of mankind live, or the ^(BD)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 ^(BE)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 ^[al]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 ^[am]common clay, they will combine with one another ^[an]in ^[ao]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 ^(BF)God of heaven will ^(BG)set up a ^(BH)kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be ^[ap]left for another people; it will ^(BI)crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ Just as you saw that a ^(BJ)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 ^(BK)great God has made known to the king what ^(BL)will take place ^[aq]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 ^(BM)humble respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and ^(BN)incense. ⁴⁷ The king responded to Daniel and said, “^(BO)Your God truly is a ^(BP)God of gods and a Lord of kings and a ^(BQ)revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” ⁴⁸ Then the king ^[ar](BR)promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire ^(BS)province of Babylon, and chief ^[as]prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ And Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(BT)appointed ^(BU)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ^[at](BV)court.

Vision of the Four Beasts

7 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a ^(A)dream and visions ^[a]in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he ^(B)wrote the dream down and told the ^[b]following summary of ^[c]it. ² Daniel ^[d]said, “I was ^(C)looking in my vision by night, and behold, the ^(D)four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. ³ And four great ^(E)beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. ⁴ The first was ^(F)like a lion but had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and set up on two feet like a man; a human ^[e]mind also was given to it. ⁵ And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and they said this to it: ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ ⁶ After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, ^(G)like a leopard, which had on its ^[f]back four wings of a bird; the beast also had ^(H)four heads, and dominion was given to it. ⁷ After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a ^(I)fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ^(J)ten horns. ⁸ While I was thinking about the horns, behold, ^(K)another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the previous horns were plucked out before it; and behold, ^[g]this horn possessed eyes like human eyes, and ^(L)a mouth uttering great boasts.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

¹¹ Then I kept looking because of the sound of the ^[j]boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the ^(V)burning ^[k]fire. ¹² As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.

The Son of Man Presented

The Vision Interpreted

¹⁵ “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within ^[n]me, and the ^(AB)visions ^[o]in my mind kept ^(AC)alarming me. ¹⁶ I approached one of those who were ^(AD)standing by and began requesting of him the ^[p]exact meaning of all this. So he ^(AE)told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: ¹⁷ ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. ¹⁸ But the ^[q](AF)saints of the Highest One will ^(AG)receive the kingdom and take possession of the kingdom forever, ^[r]for all ages to come.’

¹⁹ “Then I desired to know the ^[s]exact meaning of the ^(AH)fourth beast, which was different from all ^[t]the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, ²⁰ and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of the horns fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and ^[u]which was larger in appearance than its associates. ²¹ I kept looking, and that horn was ^(AI)waging war with the ^[v]saints and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came and ^(AJ)judgment was ^[w]passed in favor of the ^[x]saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the ^[y]saints took possession of the kingdom.

²³ “This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth and trample it down and crush it. ²⁴ As for the ^(AK)ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will ^[z]humble three kings. ²⁵ And he will ^[aa](AL)speak against the ^(AM)Most High and ^(AN)wear down the ^[ab]saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make ^(AO)alterations in times and in law; and ^[ac]they will be handed over to him for a ^[ad](AP)time, ^[ae]times, and half a ^[af]time. ²⁶ But the court will ^[ag]convene for judgment, and his dominion will be ^(AQ)taken away, ^[ah]annihilated and destroyed ^[ai]forever. ²⁷ Then the ^[aj](AR)sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the ^[ak]saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an ^(AS)everlasting kingdom, and all the empires will ^(AT)serve and obey Him.’

²⁸ “^[al]At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were ^(AU)greatly alarming me and my ^[am]face became pale, but I ^(AV)kept the matter ^[an]to myself.”

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)Jesus ^(B)left the temple area and was going on His way ^[a]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ And as He was sitting on ^(D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(E)Your coming, and of the ^[b]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one ^[c]misleads you. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[d]Christ,’ and they will ^[e]mislead many people. ⁶ And you will be hearing of ^(H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes in various places. ^8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “^(L)Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will ^[f](N)fall away, and they will ^[g]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(O)false prophets will rise up and ^[h]mislead many people. ¹² And because lawlessness is increased, ^[i]most people’s love will become cold. ^13 (P)But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be preached in the whole ^[j](S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place—^[k](V)let the ^[l]reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [m]Whoever is on ^(W)the ^[n]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸ And ^[o]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Moreover, pray that ^[p]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(Y)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no ^[q]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[r]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[s]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[t](AC)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[u]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man ^[v]be. ^28 (AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[w]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(AL)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[x](AP)elect from ^(AQ)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so you too, when you see all these things, ^[y]recognize that ^[z]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[aa]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(AU)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[ab]the ^(AV)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(AW)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[ac]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[ad]will be taken and one ^[ae]will be left. ^41 (BA)Two women will be grinding at the ^[af](BB)mill; one ^[ag]will be taken and one ^[ah]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(BC)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[ai]be sure of this, that ^(BD)if the head of the house had known ^(BE)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(BF)you must be ready as well; for ^(BG)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(BH)Who then is the ^(BI)faithful and ^(BJ)sensible slave whom his ^[aj]master ^(BK)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ak]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(BL)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[al]master ^[am]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰ then the ^[an]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and he will ^[ao]cut him in two and assign ^[ap]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(BM)weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Man of Lawlessness

2 Now we ask you, ^(A)brothers and sisters, regarding the ^[a](B)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(C)gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your ^[b]composure or be disturbed either by a ^(D)spirit, or a ^[c](E)message, or a ^(F)letter as if from us, to the effect that ^(G)the day of the Lord ^(H)has come. ^3 (I)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[d](J)apostasy comes first, and the ^(K)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(L)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[e](M)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(N)displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that ^(O)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know ^(P)what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(Q)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[f](R)He who now restrains will do so until ^[g]He is ^[h]removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one ^(S)will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate ^(T)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^(U)appearance of His ^[i]coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose ^[j]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(V)Satan, with all power and false ^[k](W)signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with ^[l]all the deception of wickedness for ^(X)those who perish, because they did not accept the love of ^(Y)the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason ^(Z)God ^[m]will send upon them ^[n]a ^(AA)deluding influence so that they will believe ^[o]what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be ^[p]judged who ^(AB)did not believe the truth, but ^[q](AC)took pleasure in wickedness.

Stand Firm

^13 (AD)But we should always give thanks to God for you, ^(AE)brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because ^(AF)God has chosen you ^[r]from the beginning ^(AG)for salvation ^[s](AH)through sanctification ^[t]by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He ^(AI)called you through ^(AJ)our gospel, ^[u]that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, ^(AK)stand firm and ^(AL)hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether ^(AM)by word of mouth or ^(AN)by letter ^[v]from us.

^16 (AO)Now may our Lord Jesus Christ ^(AP)Himself and God our Father, who has ^(AQ)loved us and given us eternal comfort and ^(AR)good hope by grace, ^17 (AS)comfort and ^(AT)strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.