Daniel 2:19-49

19Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night 1vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20Daniel said, “May the name of God be 2blessed forever and ever, For 3wisdom and power belong to Him.21It is He who 4changes the times and the periods; He 5removes kings and appoints kings; He gives 6wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to 7people of understanding.22It is He who 8reveals the profound and hidden things; 9He knows what is in the darkness, And the 10light dwells with Him.23To You, 11God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me 12wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we 13requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

24Thereupon, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: “14Do not kill the wise men of Babylon! Take me 15into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

25Then Arioch hurriedly 16brought Daniel 17into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the 1819exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26The king said to Daniel, whose name was 20Belteshazzar, “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 secret about which the king has inquired, neither 21wise men, sorcerers, soothsayer priests, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28However, there is a 22God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the 2324latter days. This was your dream and the 25visions 26in your mind while on your bed. 29As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts 27turned to what would take place 28in the future; and 29He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place. 30But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me 30for any 31wisdom 32residing in me more than in any other living person, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the 33thoughts of your 34mind.

31“You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and 35of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was 3637awesome. 32The 38head of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34You 39continued watching until a 40stone was broken off 41without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and 42crushed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces 43all at the same time, and they were 44like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that 45not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great 46mountain and filled the entire earth.

36“This was the dream; and now we will tell 47its interpretation before the king. 37You, O king, are the 48king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the 49kingdom, the 50power, the strength, and the honor; 38and wherever the sons of mankind live, or the 51animals of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has handed them over to you and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. 39And after you another kingdom will arise inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40Then there will be a 52fourth kingdom as strong as iron; just as iron smashes and crushes everything, so, like iron that crushes, it will smash and crush all these things. 41And in 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 within it some of the toughness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with 53common clay. 42And just as 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 fragile. 43In that you saw the iron mixed with 54common clay, they will combine with one another 55in 56their descendants; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery. 44And in the days of those kings the 57God of heaven will 58set up a 59kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be 60left for another people; it will 61crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45Just as you saw that a 62stone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the 63great God has made known to the king what 64will take place 65in the future; so the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid 66humble respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and 67incense. 47The king responded to Daniel and said, “68Your God truly is a 69God of gods and a Lord of kings and a 70revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” 48Then the king 7172promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire 73province of Babylon, and chief 74prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49And Daniel made a request of the king, and he 75appointed 76Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s 7778court.