^17 (A)From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ^(B)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[a]is at hand.”

²⁶ Then God said, ^(A)“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ^(B)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^[a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(C)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(D)male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ^(E)“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and ^(F)subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[b]moves on the earth.”

¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(A)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(B)you^[a] shall surely ^(C)die.”

²³ for ^(A)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

³¹ “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. ^32 (A)This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and ^[a]thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of ^[b]clay. ³⁴ You watched while a stone was cut out ^(B)without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. ^35 (C)Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became ^(D)like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that ^(E)no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image ^(F)became a great mountain ^(G)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. ^37 (H)You, O king, are a king of kings. ^(I)For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; ^38 (J)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—^(K)you are this head of gold. ³⁹ But after you shall arise ^(L)another kingdom ^(M)inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(N)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, ^(O)so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly ^[c]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 ^(P)the God of heaven will set up a kingdom ^(Q)which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; ^(R)it shall ^[d]break in pieces and ^[e]consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. ^45 (S)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.”

⁴³ but He said to them, “I must ^(A)preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

^33 (A)Then Pilate entered the ^[a]Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

³⁴ Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

^36 (B)Jesus answered, ^(C)“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷ Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, ^(D)that I should bear ^(E)witness to the truth. Everyone who ^(F)is of the truth ^(G)hears My voice.”

³⁸ Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, ^(H)“I find no fault in Him at all.