New American Standard Bible The Kings Forgotten Dream 1Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3The king said to them, I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream. 4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation. 5The king replied to the Chaldeans, The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation. 7They answered a second time and said, Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation. 8The king replied, I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, 9that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation. 10The Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh. 12Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. 14Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the kings bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15he said to Arioch, the kings commander, For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent? Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. 16So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king. 17Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, 18so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
20Daniel said,
21It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
22It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
23To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, 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: Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the kings presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king. 25Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the kings presence and spoke to him as follows: I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king! 26The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, 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 wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. 29As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He 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 wisdom residing 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 understand the thoughts of your mind.
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