Beginning

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream About a Tree

4 King Nebuchadnezzar sent this letter to the many nations and language groups living around the world.

Greetings:

² I am very happy to tell you about the miracles and wonderful things that the Most High God did for me.

⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at my palace. I was happy and successful. ⁵ I had a dream that made me afraid. I was lying on my bed, and I saw pictures and visions in my mind. These things made me very afraid. ⁶ So I gave an order that all the wise men of Babylon be brought to me to tell me what my dream meant. ⁷ When the men of magic and the Chaldeans came, I told them about the dream, but they could not tell me what it meant. ⁸ Finally, Daniel came to me. (I gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar to honor my god. The spirit of the holy gods is in him.) I told him about my dream. ⁹ I said, “Belteshazzar, you are the most important of all the men of magic. I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you. I know there is no secret that is too hard for you to understand. This was what I dreamed. Tell me what it means. ¹⁰ These are the visions I saw while I was lying in my bed: I looked, and there in front of me was a tree standing in the middle of the earth. The tree was very tall. ¹¹ The tree grew large and strong. The top of the tree touched the sky.^[a] It could be seen from anywhere on earth. ¹² The leaves of the tree were beautiful. It had much good fruit on it. And on the tree was plenty of food for everyone. The wild animals found shelter under the tree, and the birds lived in its branches. Every animal ate from the tree.

¹³ “I was looking at those things in the vision while lying on my bed. And then I saw a holy angel coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He spoke very loud and said, ‘Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches. Strip off its leaves. Scatter its fruit around. The animals that are under the tree will run away. The birds that are in its branches will fly away. ¹⁵ But let the stump and roots stay in the ground. Put a band of iron and bronze around it. The stump and roots will stay in the field with the grass all around it. It will live among the wild animals and plants in the fields. It will become wet with dew. ¹⁶ He will not think like a man any longer. He will have the mind of an animal. Seven seasons will pass while he is like this.’

¹⁷ “Holy angels announced this punishment so that all the people on earth may know that God Most High rules over human kingdoms. God gives those kingdoms to whoever he wants, and he chooses humble people to rule them.

¹⁸ “That is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. Now, Belteshazzar,^[b] tell me what it means. None of the wise men in my kingdom can tell me what that dream means. But Belteshazzar, you can interpret the dream because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

¹⁹ Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) became very quiet for a while. What he was thinking bothered him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or its meaning make you afraid.”

Then Belteshazzar answered the king, “My lord, I wish the dream were about your enemies, and I wish the meaning of the dream were about those against you. ^20-21 You saw a tree in your dream. The tree grew large and strong. Its top touched the sky, and it could be seen from all over the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, and it had plenty of fruit. The fruit gave plenty of food for everyone. It was a home for the wild animals, and its branches were nesting places for the birds. You saw that tree. ²² King, you are that tree! You have become great and powerful. You are like the tall tree that touched the sky—your power reaches to the far parts of the earth.

²³ “King, you saw a holy angel coming down from heaven. He said, ‘Cut the tree down and destroy it. Put a band of iron and bronze around the stump and leave the stump and its roots in the ground. Leave it in the grass in the field. It will become wet with dew. He will live like a wild animal. Seven seasons will pass while he is like this.’

²⁴ “King, this is the meaning of the dream. God Most High has commanded these things to happen to my lord the king: ²⁵ King Nebuchadnezzar, you will be forced to go away from people. You will live among the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle, and you will become wet with dew. Seven seasons will pass, and then you will learn this lesson. You will learn God Most High rules over human kingdoms and gives them to whoever he wants.

²⁶ “The command to leave the stump of the tree and its roots in the ground means this: Your kingdom will be given back to you. This will happen when you learn that Most High God rules your kingdom. ²⁷ So, King, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Stop doing bad things and be kind to poor people. Then you might continue to be successful.”

²⁸ All these things happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ^29-30 Twelve months after the dream, King Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof^[c] of his palace in Babylon. While on the roof, the king said, “Look at Babylon! I built this great city. It is my palace. I built this great place by my power. I built this place to show how great I am.”

³¹ The words were still in his mouth when a voice came from heaven. The voice said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, these things will happen to you: Your power as king has been taken away from you. ³² You will be forced to go away from people. You will live with the wild animals and eat grass like an ox. Seven seasons will pass before you learn your lesson. Then you will learn that God Most High rules over human kingdoms and gives them to whoever he wants.”

³³ These things happened immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was forced to go away from people. He began eating grass like an ox. He became wet from dew. His hair grew long like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails grew long like the claws of a bird.

³⁴ Then at the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and I was in my right mind again. Then I gave praise to God Most High. I gave honor and glory to him who lives forever.

³⁶ At that time God gave me my right mind again, and he gave back my great honor and power as king. My advisors and the royal people began to ask my advice again. I became the king again—even greater and more powerful than before. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise, honor, and glory to the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right. He is always fair, and he is able to make proud people humble!

The Writing on the Wall

5 King Belshazzar gave a big party for 1000 of his officials. The king was drinking wine with them. ² As Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he ordered his servants to bring the gold and silver cups. His grandfather^[d] Nebuchadnezzar had taken these cups from the Temple in Jerusalem. King Belshazzar wanted his royal people, his wives, and his slave women to drink from those cups. ³ So they brought the gold cups that had been taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his officials, his wives, and his women slaves drank from them. ⁴ As they were drinking, they gave praise to their idol gods, which were only statues made from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

⁵ Suddenly, a person’s hand appeared and began writing on the wall. The fingers scratched words into the plaster on the wall, near the lampstand in the king’s palace. The king was watching the hand as it wrote.

⁶ King Belshazzar was very afraid. His face became white from fear, and his knees were shaking and knocking together. He could not stand up because his legs were too weak. ⁷ The king called for the men of magic and the Chaldeans to be brought to him. He said to these wise men, “I will give a reward to anyone who can read this writing and explain to me what it means. I will give him purple robes^[e] to wear and will put a gold chain around his neck. I will make him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or understand what it meant. ⁹ King Belshazzar’s officials were confused, and the king became even more afraid and worried. His face was white from fear.

¹⁰ Then the king’s mother came into the place where the party was. She had heard the voices of the king and his royal officials. She said, “King, may you live forever! Don’t be afraid! Don’t let your face be so white with fear! ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father, this man showed that he could understand secrets. He showed that he was very smart and very wise. He showed that he was like the gods in these things. Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, put this man in charge of all the wise men. He ruled over all the men of magic and the Chaldeans. ¹² The man I am talking about is named Daniel. The king gave him the name Belteshazzar. He is very smart and he knows many things. He could interpret dreams, explain secrets, and find the answer to very hard problems. Call for Daniel, he will tell you what the writing on the wall means.”

¹³ So they brought Daniel to the king and he asked, “Is your name Daniel, one of the captives my father the king brought here from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you understand secrets and are very smart and very wise. ¹⁵ The wise men and the men of magic were brought to me to read this writing on the wall. I wanted them to explain to me what it means, but they could not explain it. ¹⁶ I have heard that you are able to explain what things mean, and that you can find the answer to very hard problems. If you can read this writing on the wall and explain to me what it means, this is what I will do for you: I will give you purple robes to wear and will put a gold chain around your neck. Then you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, “King Belshazzar, you can keep your gifts for yourself, or you can give them to someone else. But I will still read the writing on the wall for you and explain what it means.

¹⁸ “King, God Most High made your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar a very great and powerful king and gave him great wealth. ¹⁹ People from many nations and language groups were very afraid of Nebuchadnezzar because God made him a very powerful king. Nebuchadnezzar killed whoever he wanted and let those who pleased him live. If he wanted to make people important, he made them important. If he wanted to bring them down, he brought them down.

²⁰ “But Nebuchadnezzar became proud and stubborn, so his power was taken away from him. He was taken off his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was forced to go away from people. His mind became like the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox. He became wet with dew. These things happened to him until he learned his lesson. He learned that God Most High rules over human kingdoms, and he gives them to whoever he wants.

²² “But Belshazzar, you already knew this. You are Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson,^[f] but still you have not made yourself humble. ²³ No, you did not become humble. Instead, you have turned against the Lord of heaven. You ordered the drinking cups from his Temple to be brought to you. Then you and your royal officials, your wives, and your slave women drank wine from those cups. You gave praise to the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone. They are not really gods; they cannot see or hear or understand anything. But you did not give honor to the God who has the power over your life and everything you do. ²⁴ So because of that, God sent the hand that wrote on the wall. ²⁵ These are the words that were written on the wall:

mene, mene, tekel, uparsin.

²⁶ “This is what these words mean:

²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain was put around his neck, and he was appointed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ That very same night, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was killed. ³¹ A man named Darius the Mede became the new king. Darius was about 62 years old.

Daniel and the Lions

6 Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose 120 satraps to rule throughout his kingdom. ² He chose three men to rule over the 120 satraps. Daniel was one of the three supervisors. The king put these men in this position to keep anyone from cheating him. ³ Daniel proved himself to be a better supervisor than any of the others. He did this by his good character and great ability. The king was so impressed with Daniel that he planned to make him ruler over the whole kingdom. ⁴ But when the other supervisors and the satraps heard about this, they were very jealous. They tried to find reasons to accuse Daniel. So they watched what Daniel did as he went about doing the business of the government. But they could not find anything wrong with him, so they could not accuse him of doing anything wrong. Daniel was a man people could trust. He did not cheat the king, and he worked very hard.

⁵ Finally, they said, “We will never find any reason to accuse Daniel of doing something wrong. So we must find something to complain about that is connected to the law of his God.”

⁶ So the two supervisors and the satraps went as a group to the king. They said, “King Darius, live forever! ⁷ The supervisors, prefects, satraps, advisors, and governors have all agreed on something. We think that the king should make this law and that everyone must obey it: For the next 30 days, whoever prays to any god or man except you, King, will be thrown into the lions’ den. ⁸ Now, King, make the law and sign the paper it is written on so that it cannot be changed, because the laws of the Medes and Persians cannot be canceled or changed.” ⁹ So King Darius made the law and signed it.

¹⁰ Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God. Even though Daniel heard about the new law, he still went to his house to pray. He went up to the upper room of his house and opened the windows that faced toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel bowed down on his knees and prayed just as he always had done.

¹¹ Then the supervisors and satraps went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. ¹² So they went to the king and talked to him about the law he had made. They said, “King Darius, you signed a law that says, for the next 30 days anyone who prays to any god or man except you, the king, would be thrown into the lions’ den. You did sign that law, didn’t you?”

The king answered, “Yes, I signed that law, and the laws of the Medes and Persians cannot be canceled or changed.”

¹³ Then they said to the king, “That man Daniel is not paying any attention to you. He is one of the captives^[j] from Judah, and he is not paying attention to the law you signed. Daniel still prays to his God three times every day.”

¹⁴ The king became very sad and upset when he heard this. He decided to save Daniel. He worked until sunset trying to think of a way to save him. ¹⁵ Then the men went as a group to the king and said to him, “Remember, King, that the law of the Medes and Persians says that no law or command signed by the king can ever be canceled or changed.”

¹⁶ So King Darius gave the order. They brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May the God you serve save you!” ¹⁷ A big rock was brought and put over the opening of the lions’ den. Then the king used his ring and put his seal on the rock. He also used the rings of his officials and put their seals on the rock. This showed that no one could move that rock and bring Daniel out of the lion’s den. ¹⁸ Then King Darius went back to his house. He did not eat that night. He did not want anyone to come and entertain him. He could not sleep all night.

¹⁹ The next morning, King Darius got up just as it was getting light and ran to the lions’ den. ²⁰ He was very worried. When he got to the lions’ den, he called to Daniel. He said, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to save you from the lions? You always serve your God.”

²¹ Daniel answered, “King, live forever! ²² My God sent his angel to save me. The angel closed the lions’ mouths. The lions have not hurt me because my God knows I am innocent. I never did anything wrong to you, King.”

²³ King Darius was very happy. He told his servants to lift Daniel out of the lions’ den. And when Daniel was lifted out of the den, they did not find any injury on his body. The lions did not hurt Daniel because he trusted in his God.

²⁴ Then the king gave a command to bring the men who had accused Daniel to the lions’ den. The men and their wives and children were thrown into the lions’ den. The lions grabbed them before they hit the floor. The lions ate their bodies and then chewed on their bones.

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote this letter to all the people from other nations and language groups all around the world:

Greetings:

²⁶ I am making a new law. This law is for people in every part of my kingdom. All of you must fear and respect the God of Daniel.

²⁸ So Daniel was successful during the time Darius was king and when Cyrus the Persian was king.