tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. [1]
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known to me the dream, with the interpretation of it, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a refuse heap. [2]
6 But if ye shall show the dream, and the interpretation of it, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation of it. [3]
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. [4]
9 But if ye will not make known to me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation of it.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can reveal the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that hath asked such things of any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can reveal it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: [5] [6]
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. [7] [8]
19 Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known to me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known to us the king’s matter.
24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus to him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will reveal to the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known to the king the interpretation. [9] [10]
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation of it?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, cannot reveal to the king;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; [11]
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass after this: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. [12]
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart. [13]
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and its form was terrible. [14]
32 The head of this image was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, [15]
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. [16]
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will
- ↑ O king...: (Chaldee, to the end of chapter seven)
- ↑ cut...: Chaldee, made pieces
- ↑ rewards: or, fee
- ↑ gain: Chaldee, buy
- ↑ answered...: Chaldee, returned
- ↑ captain...: or, chief marshal: Chaldee, chief of the executioners, or, slaughtermen
- ↑ of the God: Chaldee, from before God
- ↑ that Daniel...: or, that they should not destroy Daniel, etc
- ↑ I have...: Chaldee, That I have found
- ↑ captives...: Chaldee, children of the captivity of Judah
- ↑ maketh...: Chaldee, hath made known
- ↑ came: Chaldee, came up
- ↑ but for...: or, but for the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king
- ↑ sawest: Chaldee, wast seeing
- ↑ thighs: or, sides
- ↑ without...: or, which was not in hands
