Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream 1 UST One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. The dream worried him very much. As a result, he could not get back to sleep. BSB BSB: In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
2 UST So he told his servants to summon his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and other advisors. He wanted them to tell him what he had dreamed and what it meant. They came and stood in his presence. BSB BSB: So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,
3 UST He told them,“I have had a dream, and it has worried me. I want to know what I dreamed.” BSB BSB: he said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it.”
5 UST But the king replied to them,“I am giving a strict command. If you do not tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will order my soldiers to cut you into pieces. I will also order them to destroy your houses completely. BSB BSB: The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble.
6 UST But if you do tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will reward you. I will give you splendid gifts, and I will greatly honor you. So tell me what I dreamed and what it means!” BSB BSB: But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
7 UST But again they replied,“Please tell us what you dreamed, and then we will tell you what it means.” BSB BSB: They answered a second time, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation.”
8 UST The king responded,“I recognize clearly that you know that I will certainly do what I have said, so you are trying to get more time. BSB BSB: The king replied, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time because you see that my word is final.
9 UST But if you do not tell me what I dreamed, I will do to you exactly what I said. I believe that you have all agreed to tell me a false explanation of my dream so that I do not punish you. So I insist that you tell me what I dreamed. Then I will know that you can also tell me what it really means.” BSB BSB: If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”
10 UST The advisors replied to the king,“There is no one on the earth who can tell you what dream you had! That is why no king, even a great and mighty one, has ever asked any of his magicians or enchanters or other advisors to tell him what he dreamed. BSB BSB: The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.
11 UST What you are asking us to do is impossible. The only beings who could tell you what you dreamed are the gods, but they do not live among us people!” BSB BSB: What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
12 UST When the king heard that, he became extremely angry. He commanded his soldiers to execute all the wise men in Babylon. BSB BSB: This response made the king so angry and furious that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 UST Because the king had commanded his soldiers to kill all the wise men, some soldiers went to find Daniel and his friends so that they could kill them. BSB BSB: So the decree went out that the wise men were to be executed, and men went to look for Daniel and his friends to execute them.
The Dream Revealed to Daniel 14 UST Arioch, the commander of the king’ s bodyguard, was leading the soldiers who came to kill Daniel and his friends. And Daniel spoke to him wisely and tactfully. BSB BSB: When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, went out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel responded with discretion and tact.
15 UST He asked Arioch, the king’ s officer,“Why did the king give such a harsh command?” Then Arioch explained to Daniel what had happened. BSB BSB: “Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” he asked. Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel.
16 UST Daniel went to the king and asked him to give me some time so that he tell him his dream and what it meant. BSB BSB: So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give him the interpretation.
17 UST Then he went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. BSB BSB: Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
18 UST He asked them to pray to God in heaven and ask him to be merciful to them and show them what the king had dreamed and what it meant. Then the king’ s soldiers would not kill them, even if they killed the other wise men in Babylon. BSB BSB: urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 UST That night God revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised God. BSB BSB: During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven
20 UST He said,“People should praise God forever! He is the one who is truly wise and powerful. BSB BSB: and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.
21 UST He controls the different things that happen at various times. He stops some kings from reigning, and he makes other kings start reigning. He is the one who enables people to be wise and to understand difficult things. BSB BSB: He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
22 UST He reveals things that are very mysterious. Everything is light where he is, but he also knows what happens where it is dark. BSB BSB: He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
23 UST You are the God whom my ancestors worshiped. I thank you and praise you because you have made me wise and strong. You have revealed to us what the king dreamed and what it meant. So you have done just what we prayed you would do.” BSB BSB: To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
Daniel Interprets the Dream 24 UST Then Daniel went to Arioch, the man whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon. He said to him,“Please do not kill us wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.” BSB BSB: Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”
25 UST So Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king. He told the king,“Here is one of the men whom our soldiers brought from Judah. He says that he can tell you what your dream means.” BSB BSB: Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”
26 UST The king spoke to Daniel.(He called him Belteshazzar.) He asked,“Can you really tell me what I dreamed and what it means?” BSB BSB: The king responded to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in the dream, as well as its interpretation?”
27 UST Daniel replied to him,“No wise man or enchanter or magician or fortuneteller could tell you what you want to know. BSB BSB: Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.
28 UST But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown you, King Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the future. This is what you saw in your dream as you were lying on your bed. BSB BSB: But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
29 UST Your Majesty, while you were sleeping, you dreamed about what is going to happen in the future. God, who reveals secrets, has shown you what is going to happen. BSB BSB: As you lay on your bed, O king, your thoughts turned to the future, and the Revealer of Mysteries made known to you what will happen.
30 UST I do not know your dream and its meaning because I am wiser than anyone else on earth. It is because God wants you to understand what your dream means. It explains what you were wondering about. BSB BSB: And to me this mystery has been revealed, not because I have more wisdom than any man alive, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
31 UST Your Majesty, in your dream you saw a giant statue standing in front of you. It was very impressive, and it was shining very brightly. It was frightening to look at it. BSB BSB: As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.
32 UST The head of the statue was pure gold. Its chest and arms were silver. Its belly and thighs were bronze. BSB BSB: The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
33 UST Its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay. BSB BSB: its legs were iron, and its feet were part iron and part clay.
34 UST As you watched, someone cut a rock from a mountain, but it was not a human who did that. The rock{ tumbled down and} smashed the iron and clay feet of the statue. It broke them into tiny pieces. BSB BSB: As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
35 UST Immediately the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold parts of the statue also broke into tiny pieces. Those pieces were as small as the chaff that people separate from grain after they harvest it. The wind blew away all those tiny pieces. Nothing remained. But the rock that had smashed the statue became a large mountain that covered the whole earth. BSB BSB: Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 UST That was what you dreamed. Now I will tell you what it means. BSB BSB: This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.
37 UST You are a king who rules over many other kings. God, who rules in heaven, has enabled you to rule over them. He has given you great power and much honor. BSB BSB: You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
38 UST He has made you the ruler of a great territory. It seems as if you have power over every place where people and animals and birds live. The golden head of the statue represents you. BSB BSB: Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 UST But your kingdom will end, and afterward there will be another great kingdom{, which the silver part of the statue represents}. However, it will not be as great as yours. After that, there will be a third great kingdom, which the bronze part of the statue represents. Its king will rule over a very great territory. BSB BSB: But after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth.
40 UST After that, there will be a fourth great kingdom. The iron part of the statue represents that kingdom. It will be very strong, just as iron{ is so strong that it} crushes and breaks whatever it strikes. The army of this kingdom will conquer the territory of the previous kingdoms as if it were an iron weapon smashing them. BSB BSB: Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; for iron shatters and crushes all things, and like iron that crushes all things, it will shatter and crush all the others.
41 UST You saw that the feet and toes of the statue were partly clay and partly iron. That meant that this kingdom will divide into two parts. You saw that there was iron as well as clay, and that meant that this kingdom will still be somewhat strong like iron. BSB BSB: And just as you saw that the feet and toes were made partly of fired clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom, yet some of the strength of iron will be in it—just as you saw the iron mixed with clay.
42 UST However, you saw that there was clay as well as iron in the toes of the statue. That meant that some of this kingdom will be weak{, like clay that breaks easily}, even though some of it will be strong{ like iron}. BSB BSB: And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
43 UST You saw iron and clay together{ in the statue’ s feet and toes}. That meant that the rulers of the parts of this kingdom will try to join themselves together through marriage alliances. However, they will not succeed in uniting their realms. After all, iron does not mix with clay. BSB BSB: As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together any more than iron mixes with clay.
45 UST You saw a rock that someone, but not a human, cut from a mountain. That rock crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold parts of the statue. It represents this last king. Your Majesty, the great God has shown you what will happen in the future. Since I have told you what you actually dreamed, you can trust that I have also told you what it truly means.” BSB BSB: And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Nebuchadnezzar Promotes Daniel 46 UST Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed down in front of Daniel to honor him. He commanded his officials to give Daniel a grain offering and to burn incense to honor him. BSB BSB: At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.
47 UST The king told Daniel,“Your God has enabled you to tell me the meaning of my dream. So he truly is greater than any of the gods that other nations worship. He is more powerful than any earthly king. He reveals secrets{ that no one else could know}.” BSB BSB: The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
48 UST Then the king made Daniel a powerful royal official. He gave him many lavish gifts. He appointed him to rule the entire province of Babylon. He also made him the leader of the officials who governed the wise men of Babylon. BSB BSB: Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 UST At Daniel’ s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to important positions in the province of Babylon. Daniel himself worked in the king’ s palace. BSB BSB: And at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.