³⁶ “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. ^37 (A)You, O king, are a king of kings. ^(B)For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; ^38 (C)and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—^(D)you are this head of gold. ³⁹ But after you shall arise ^(E)another kingdom ^(F)inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(G)the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. ⁴¹ Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, ^(H)so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly ^[a]fragile. ⁴³ As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of these kings ^(I)the God of heaven will set up a kingdom ^(J)which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; ^(K)it shall ^[b]break in pieces and ^[c]consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. ^45 (L)Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

Daniel and His Friends Promoted

^46 (M)Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering ^(N)and incense to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly ^(O)your God is the God of ^(P)gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” ^48 (Q)Then the king promoted Daniel ^(R)and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and ^(S)chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Also Daniel petitioned the king, ^(T)and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel ^(U)sat in ^[d]the gate of the king.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, ^(A)we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If that is the case, our ^(B)God whom we serve is able to ^(C)deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we ^(D)worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Saved in Fiery Trial

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. ²² Therefore, because the king’s command was ^[a]urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his ^[b]counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”

They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵ “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, ^(E)walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like ^(F)the^[c] Son of God.”

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the ^[d]mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the ^(G)Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. ²⁷ And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men ^(H)on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His ^(I)Angel^[e] and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! ^29 (J)Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the ^(K)God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be ^(L)cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; ^(M)because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

³⁰ Then the king ^[f]promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.