Daniel 2:24-45

24Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “1Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me 2into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

25Then Arioch hurriedly 3brought Daniel 4into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the 56exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26The king said to Daniel, whose name was 7Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” 27Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither 8wise men, conjurers, 9magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28However, there is a 10God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the 1112latter days. This was your dream and the 13visions 14in your mind while on your bed. 29As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts 15turned to what would take place 16in the future; and 17He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 30But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any 18wisdom 19residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may 20understand the 21thoughts of your 22mind.

31“You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and 23of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was 24awesome. 32The 25head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34You 26continued looking until a 27stone was cut out 28without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and 29crushed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed 30all at the same time and became 31like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that 32not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great 33mountain and filled the whole earth.

36“This was the dream; now we will tell 34its interpretation before the king. 37You, O king, are the 35king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the 36kingdom, the 37power, the strength and the glory; 38and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the 38beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40Then there will be a 39fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with 40common clay. 42As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43And in that you saw the iron mixed with 41common clay, they will combine with one another 42in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. 44In the days of those kings the 43God of heaven will 44set up a 45kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be 46left for another people; it will 47crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45Inasmuch as you saw that a 48stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the 49great God has made known to the king what 50will take place 51in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”