²⁹ For you, Your Majesty, while you were on your bed, thoughts arose about things that will come after this, and the Revealer of Mysteries made known to you what will happen. ³⁰ But the reason that this mystery was revealed to me was not because I have more wisdom in me than any other living being. Rather, it was revealed to me so that the meaning could be made known to Your Majesty and so that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

³¹ You, Your Majesty, were looking, and there was a very great statue. That statue, which was large and extremely bright, was standing in front of you. Its appearance was frightening. ³² The statue looked like this: Its head was fine gold, its chest and its arms were silver, its abdomen and its thighs were bronze, ³³ its shins were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. ³⁴ You continued to watch until a stone was cut, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet that were iron and clay, and it smashed them. ³⁵ Then all at once the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed and became like the chaff on the threshing floors of summer. The wind carried them away, and no trace of them could be found. However, the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth. ³⁶ This is the dream.

So now we will interpret its meaning for Your Majesty. ³⁷ You, Your Majesty, are the king of kings to whom the God of Heaven has given a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. ³⁸ Wherever there are people, wild animals, and birds of the air, God has given them into your hand, and he has made you ruler over all of them. You are the head of gold.

³⁹ After you another kingdom will arise that will be inferior to yours. Then another kingdom, a third kingdom of bronze will arise. This kingdom will rule the entire earth. ⁴⁰ A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, since iron crushes and shatters everything. So, like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all of these other kingdoms. ⁴¹ Because you saw feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, this will be a divided kingdom. It will have some of the hardness of iron, because you saw iron mixed with common clay.^{[e] 42} What is more, the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay. This means that part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. ⁴³ You saw iron mixed with common clay. This means that the different parts of the kingdom will be a mixture of different races of people,^[f] and they will not remain united to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

⁴⁴ In the days of those kings, the God of Heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another race of people. It will crush and put an end to all of these kingdoms, but it will stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain, but not by human hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to Your Majesty what will happen after this. The dream is sure, and its interpretation is certain.

⁹ Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that a spirit of the holy gods dwells in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you, take a look at the dream I saw and interpret it for me. ¹⁰ I was seeing visions in my head while I was on my bed:

There was a tree standing in the middle of the earth,^[b] and its height was great. ¹¹ The tree grew and became strong. Its height reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. ¹² Its leaves were beautiful, and its fruit was plentiful. On it there was enough food for all. Under the tree the wild animals had shade, and the birds of the air lived in its branches. All living creatures fed themselves from it.

¹³ I was on my bed, watching the visions in my head, and I saw a watcher,^[c] who was a holy one, come down from heaven. ¹⁴ He called out loudly, and this is what he said:

Chop down the tree and cut off its branches. Strip its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it, and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ However, leave the stump with its root in the ground, with an iron and bronze band around it. Leave it with the grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew from the sky. Let its place be with the animals among the plants of the earth. ¹⁶ Let its mind be changed from that of a human, let the mind of an animal be given to it, and let seven times pass over it.

¹⁷ The proclamation is a decree of the watchers, and the matter is a command of the holy ones, so that all the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men. He gives them to whomever he wishes, and he appoints the lowliest men over them.

¹⁸ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, you, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, because none of the wise men of my kingdom are able to make the meaning known to me. But you are able, because a spirit of the holy gods is in you.

²⁰ The tree which you saw grew and became strong. Its height reached to heaven, and it was visible to the whole earth. ²¹ Its leaves were beautiful, and its fruit was abundant. On it there was food for all. The wild animals lived under it, and the birds of the air lived in its branches.

²² You are the tree, Your Majesty. For you have grown, and you have become great. Your greatness has increased and reached to heaven. Your dominion reaches to the ends of the earth. ²³ And you, Your Majesty, saw a watcher, who was a holy one, coming down from heaven, and he said, “Chop down the tree and destroy it. However, leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with an iron and bronze band around it. Let it be with the grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew from the sky. Its place will be with the wild animals, until seven times pass over it.”

²⁴ This is the interpretation, Your Majesty:

It is a decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord, the king. ²⁵ You will be driven away from humans, and your dwelling will be with the wild animals. You will have to eat plants as bulls do, and you will be wet with the dew from the sky. Seven times will pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to whomever he wishes. ²⁶ Because they said to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will remain yours when you acknowledge that Heaven rules.

²⁷ Therefore, Your Majesty, let my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins with righteousness and from your guilty deeds by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be extended.

³⁴ At the end of the set time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. So I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever, because his dominion is an eternal dominion, and his kingdom lasts forever and ever. ³⁵ All of the inhabitants of the earth are considered to be nothing, and he does as he wishes with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. So there is no one who can hold back the hand of the Most High and say to him, “What have you done?” ³⁶ At that time my reason^[d] returned to me, and my splendor and glory returned to me for the honor of my kingdom. So my advisors and nobles looked for me. I was reinstated over my kingdom, and I became even more majestic than I was before. ³⁷ Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of Heaven, because all his works are true, and his ways are just. All those who walk in arrogance he is able to humble.

During my visions at night, I was watching and saw the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. ³ Four large beasts were coming out of the sea, each one different from the others.

⁴ The first was like a lion. It had wings like an eagle. I kept watching until its wings were plucked off. Then it was lifted up from the earth so that it stood on its feet like a man, and a man’s mind was given to it.

⁵ Then another appeared, a second beast that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side. Three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. This is what was being said to it: “Arise, devour much flesh.”

⁶ After this, I kept watching and another beast appeared which was like a leopard. It had four bird wings on its back. The beast had four heads, and dominion^[b] was given to it.

⁷ After this, I kept watching the night visions, and another beast appeared. The fourth beast was frightening and terrifying and very strong. It had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed. With its feet it trampled whatever was left. Now it was different from all the beasts that came before it. It had ten horns.

⁸ I was thinking about the horns when suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them. Three of the horns that had already been there were uprooted to make room for it. I noticed eyes like human eyes on that horn, and it had a mouth which was speaking boastfully.