Daniel 2:36-47

English Standard Version

³⁶ “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(A)the king of kings, to whom ^(B)the God of heaven ^(C)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸ and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(D)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(E)the head of gold. ^39 (F)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(G)of bronze, ^(H)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(I)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(J)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(K)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(L)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(M)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,^[a] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(N)the God of heaven will set up ^(O)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(P)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(Q)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(R)you saw that ^(S)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(T)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(U)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(V)fell upon his face and ^(W)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(X)an offering and ^(Y)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(Z)God is God of gods and ^(AA)Lord of kings, and ^(AB)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”