| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | International Standard Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1During the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him. As a result, he couldn't sleep. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2So the king gave orders to summon diviners, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to reveal to the king what he had dreamed. When they came and stood before him, |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3the king told them, "I have dreamed a dream and I will remain troubled until I can understand it." |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4The Chaldeans responded to the king in Aramaic: "May the king live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we'll reveal its meaning." |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5In reply the king told the Chaldeans, "Here is what I have commanded: If you don't tell me both the dream and its meaning, you'll be destroyed and your houses will be reduced to rubble. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6But if you do relate the dream to me as well as its meaning, you'll receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. Therefore reveal the dream to me, along with its meaning." |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7They replied again, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we'll disclose its meaning." |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8The king responded, "I'm convinced that you're stalling for time because you're aware of what I've commanded. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9So if you don't disclose the dream to me, there will be only one sentence for all of you. You have conspired together to present lies and corrupt interpretations until the situation changes. Now tell me the dream and I'll know that you can reveal its true meaning." |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10The Chaldeans answered the king directly, "There's not a single man on earth who can do what the king has commanded. No king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such a thing from any diviner, enchanter, or Chaldean. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Furthermore, what the king is asking is so difficult that no one can reveal it except the gods—and they don't live with human beings." |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12At this point, the king flew into a rage and issued an order to destroy all the advisors of Babylon. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13When the order went out to kill the advisors, they searched for Daniel and his friends to kill them, too. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Daniel responded with wisdom and discretion to Arioch, the king's executioner, who had gone out to execute the advisors of Babylon. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15He asked him, "Why such a harsh decree from the king?" Then Arioch informed Daniel, |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16so Daniel went to ask Nebuchadnezzar for an appointment to see him , and it was granted him so that he could reveal the meaning to the king. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the king's command. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18Daniel was seeking mercy, in order to ask about this mystery in the presence of the God of heaven, so that Daniel and his friends might not be executed along with the rest of the advisors of Babylon. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19When the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision later that night, Daniel blessed the God of heaven |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20and said, "May the name of God be blessed forever and ever; wisdom and power are his for evermore. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21It is God who alters the times and seasons, and he removes kings and promotes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22He reveals what is profoundly mysterious and knows what is in the darkness; with him dwells light. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23To you, God of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise, because you have given me wisdom and power; you have now revealed to me what we asked of you by making known to us what the king commanded." |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24After this, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the advisors of Babylon. He told him, "Don't destroy the advisors of Babylon. Bring me before the king and I'll explain the meaning to him." |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel into the king's presence and informed him: "I've found a man from the Judean captives who will make known the meaning to the king." |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26King Nebuchadnezzar replied by saying to Daniel (whose Babylonian name is Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me about the dream and its meaning?" |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27By way of answer, Daniel addressed the king: "None of the advisors, enchanters, diviners, or astrologers can explain the secret that the king has requested to be made known. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he is making known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. "While you were in bed, the dream and the visions that came to your head were as follows: |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Your majesty, when you were in bed, thoughts came to your mind about what would happen in the future, and the Revealer of Secrets has made known to you what will take place. |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30As for me, this secret was made known to me, not because my own wisdom is greater than anyone else alive, but in order that the meaning may be made known to the king, and that you might understand the thoughts of your heart. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31"Your majesty, while you were watching, you observed an enormous statue. This magnificent statue stood before you with extraordinary brilliance. Its appearance was terrifying. |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32That statue had a head made of pure gold, with its chest and arms made of silver, its abdomen and thighs made of bronze, |
| 33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33its legs made of iron, and its feet made partly of iron and partly of clay. |
| 34[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 34"As you were watching, a rock was quarried—but not with human hands—and it struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, breaking them to pieces. |
| 35[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together and became like chaff from a summer threshing floor that the breeze carries away without leaving a trace. Then the rock that struck the statue grew into a huge mountain and filled the entire earth. |
| 36[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 36"This was the dream, and we'll now relate its meaning to the king. |
| 37[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 37You, your majesty, king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory, |
| 38[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 38so that wherever people, wild animals, or birds of the sky live, he has placed them under your control, giving you dominion over them all—you're that head of gold. |
| 39[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 39"After you, another kingdom will arise that is inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom of bronze will arise to rule all the earth. |
| 40[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 40Then there will be a fourth kingdom, as strong as iron. Just as all things are broken to pieces and shattered by iron, so it will shatter and crush everything. |
| 41[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 41"The feet and toes that you saw, made partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, represent a divided kingdom. It will still have the strength of iron, in that you saw iron mixed with clay. |
| 42[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 42Just as their toes and feet are part iron and part clay, so will the kingdom be both strong and brittle. |
| 43[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 43Just as you saw iron mixed with clay, so they will mix themselves with human offspring. Furthermore, they won't remain together, just as iron doesn't mix with clay. |
| 44[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 44"During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor its sovereignty left in the hands of another people. It will shatter and crush all of these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. |
| 45[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 45Now, just as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without human hands—and that it crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold to pieces—so also the great God has revealed to the king what will take place after this. Your dream will come true, and its meaning will prove trustworthy." |
| 46[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel, paid honor to him, and commanded that an offering and incense be presented on his behalf. |
| 47[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 47The king told Daniel, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and the Revealer of Secrets, because you were able to reveal this mystery." |
| 48[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 48Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and lavished many great gifts on him, including making him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over the advisors of Babylon. |
| 49[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 49Moreover, Daniel requested that the king appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained in the royal court. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
|
