| New Living Translation | King James Bible |
| 1One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. | 1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. |
| 2He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king, | 2Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. |
| 3he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.” | 3And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. |
| 4Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.” | 4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. |
| 5But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble! | 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. |
| 6But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!” | 6But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. |
| 7They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.” | 7They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. |
| 8The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say, | 8The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. |
| 9‘If you don’t tell me the dream, you are doomed.’ So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.” | 9But if ye will not make known unto 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 shew me the interpretation thereof. |
| 10The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer! | 10The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. |
| 11The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.” | 11And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. |
| 12The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed. | 12For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. |
| 13And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends. | 13And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. |
| 14When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. | 14Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: |
| 15He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened. | 15He 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. |
| 16Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant. | 16Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. |
| 17Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. | 17Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: |
| 18He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. | 18That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. |
| 19That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. | 19Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. |
| 20He said, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. | 20Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: |
| 21He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. | 21And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: |
| 22He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light. | 22He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. |
| 23I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded.” Daniel Interprets the Dream | 23I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. |
| 24Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.” | 24Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. |
| 25Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, “I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell the king the meaning of his dream!” | 25Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. |
| 26The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?” | 26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? |
| 27Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. | 27Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; |
| 28But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed. | 28But 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; |
| 29“While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. | 29As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. |
| 30And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart. | 30But 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 mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. |
| 31“In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight. | 31Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. |
| 32The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, | 32This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, |
| 33its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. | 33His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. |
| 34As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. | 34Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. |
| 35The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. | 35Then 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“That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. | 36This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. |
| 37Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. | 37Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. |
| 38He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold. | 38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. |
| 39“But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. | 39And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. |
| 40Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. | 40And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. |
| 41The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. | 41And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. |
| 42But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. | 42And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. |
| 43This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix. | 43And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. |
| 44“During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. | 44And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. |
| 45That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.” Nebuchadnezzar Rewards Daniel | 45Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. |
| 46Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him. | 46Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. |
| 47The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.” | 47The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. |
| 48Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men. | 48Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. |
| 49At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court. | 49Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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