Daniel 4:10-17

Living Bible

^10-11 “I saw a very tall tree out in a field, growing higher and higher into the sky until it could be seen by everyone in all the world. ¹² Its leaves were fresh and green, and its branches were weighted down with fruit, enough for everyone to eat. Wild animals rested beneath its shade and birds sheltered in its branches, and all the world was fed from it. ¹³ Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw one of God’s angels^[a] coming down from heaven.

¹⁴ “He shouted, ‘Cut down the tree; lop off its branches; shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit. Get the animals out from under it and the birds from its branches, ¹⁵ but leave its stump and roots in the ground, banded with a chain of iron and brass, surrounded by the tender grass. Let the dew of heaven drench him and let him eat grass with the wild animals! ¹⁶ For seven years let him have the mind of an animal instead of a man. ¹⁷ For this has been decreed by the Watchers, demanded by the Holy Ones. The purpose of this decree is that all the world may understand that the Most High dominates the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he wants to, even the lowliest of men!’