The Visit of the Wise Men

2 Now ^(A)after Jesus was born in ^(B)Bethlehem of Judea ^(C)in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men^[a] from ^(D)the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born ^(E)king of the Jews? For we saw ^(F)his star when it rose^[b] and have come to ^(G)worship him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where ^(H)the Christ was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” ⁹ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, ^(K)they offered him gifts, ^(L)gold and ^(M)frankincense and ^(N)myrrh. ¹² And ^(O)being warned ^(P)in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Herod Kills the Children

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

¹² Because of this the king was angry and ^(A)very furious, and ^(B)commanded that all ^(C)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(D)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(E)Arioch, the ^(F)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He declared^[a] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^(G)so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(H)Hananiah, ^(I)Mishael, and ^(J)Azariah, his companions, ^18 (K)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(L)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(M)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(N)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(O)blessed the ^(P)God of heaven. ²⁰ Daniel answered and said:

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to ^(AD)Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

²⁵ Then ^(AE)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(AF)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(AG)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, ^(AH)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(AI)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(AJ)enchanters, ^(AK)magicians, or ^(AL)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸ but ^(AM)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(AN)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(AO)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹ To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(AP)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ But ^(AQ)as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^(AR)you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹ “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ^32 (AS)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(AT)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(AU)thighs of bronze, ^33 (AV)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(AW)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(AX)broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(AY)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(AZ)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(BA)a great mountain ^(BB)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, ^(BC)the king of kings, to whom ^(BD)the God of heaven ^(BE)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, ^(BF)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(BG)the head of gold. ^39 (BH)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(BI)of bronze, ^(BJ)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And ^(BK)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(BL)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(BM)break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw ^(BN)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(BO)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,^[b] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings ^(BP)the God of heaven will set up ^(BQ)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(BR)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(BS)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as ^(BT)you saw that ^(BU)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(BV)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(BW)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 ^(BX)fell upon his face and ^(BY)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(BZ)an offering and ^(CA)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(CB)God is God of gods and ^(CC)Lord of kings, and ^(CD)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(CE)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(CF)province of Babylon and ^(CG)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.