Dan 2 | ESV | STEP | In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar , Nebuchadnezzar had dreams ; his spirit was troubled , and his sleep left him .

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^ahis spirit was troubled, and ^bhis sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that ^cthe magicians, ^dthe enchanters, the ^esorcerers, and ^fthe Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^gstood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^hmy spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then ⁱthe Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, ^{▼▼The text from this point to the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic} ^k“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to ^lthe Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^mtorn limb from limb, ⁿand your ^ohouses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^pyou shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^qTherefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^rgain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, ^sthere is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^tthe times change. ^uTherefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 ^vThe Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^wChaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^xthe gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12 Because of this the king was angry and ^yvery furious, and ^zcommanded that all ^aathe wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^abDaniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^acArioch, the ^adcaptain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared ^{▼▼Aramaic answered and said; also verse 26} to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^afso 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 ^agHananiah, ^ahMishael, and ^aiAzariah, his companions, 18 ^ajand told them to seek mercy from the ^akGod of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^albe destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^ama vision of the night. Then Daniel ^anblessed the ^aoGod of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:

^ap“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
^aqto whom belong wisdom and might.
21 ^arHe changes times and seasons;
^ashe removes kings and sets up kings;
^athe gives wisdom to the wise
^auand knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 ^avhe reveals deep and hidden things;
^awhe knows what is in the darkness,
^axand the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O ^ayGod of my fathers,
^azI give thanks and praise,
for ^bayou have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what ^bbwe asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

24 Therefore Daniel went in to ^bcArioch, 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 ^bdArioch brought in Daniel before the king ^bein haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^bfamong the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, ^bgwhose name was Belteshazzar, ^bh“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, ^bienchanters, ^bjmagicians, or ^bkastrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but ^blthere is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^bmwhat will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^bnthe 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, ^boand he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But ^bpas 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 ^bqyou 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 ^brThe head of this image was of fine gold, ^bsits chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^btthighs of bronze, 33 ^buits legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out ^bvby no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^bwbroke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^bxlike the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^bynot a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^bza great mountain ^caand filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, ^cbthe king of kings, to whom ^ccthe God of heaven ^cdhas 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, ^cethe beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^cfthe head of gold. 39 ^cgAnother kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^chof bronze, ^ciwhich shall rule over all the earth. 40 And ^cjthere shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^ckbreaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^clbreak and crush all these. 41 And as you saw ^cmthe feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^cnfirmness 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, ^{▼▼Aramaic by the seed of men} but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings ^cpthe God of heaven will set up ^cqa kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^crIt shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^csit shall stand forever, 45 just as ^ctyou saw that ^cua stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^cvit broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^cwgreat 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 ^cxfell upon his face and ^cypaid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^czan offering and ^daincense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^dbGod is God of gods and ^dcLord of kings, and ^dda revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^degifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^dfprovince of Babylon and ^dgchief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^dhappointed ^diShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^djthe province of Babylon. But Daniel ^dkremained at the king’s court.