Then the kingcommanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So theycame and stoodbefore the king.
The kinganswered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gonefrom me: if ye will not makeknownunto me the dream, with the interpretationthereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and yourhousesshall be made a dunghill.
But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretationthereof, ye shallreceive of me gifts and rewards and greathonour: thereforeshew me the dream, and the interpretationthereof.
But if ye will not makeknownunto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye havepreparedlying and corruptwords to speakbefore me, till the time be changed: thereforetell me the dream, and I shallknowthat ye can shew me the interpretationthereof.
The Chaldeansansweredbefore the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earththat can shew the king’smatter: thereforethere is no king, lord, nor ruler, thataskedsuchthings at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
Thattheywoulddesiremercies of the God of heavenconcerningthissecret; thatDaniel and his fellowsshould not perishwith the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removethkings, and setteth up kings: he givethwisdomunto the wise, and knowledge to themthatknowunderstanding:
I thankthee, and praisethee, O thou God of my fathers, who hastgiven me wisdom and might, and hastmadeknownunto me now what we desired of thee: for thouhast now madeknownunto us the king’smatter.
ThereforeDanielwent in untoArioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and saidthusunto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I willshewunto the king the interpretation.
ThenAriochbrought in Danielbefore the king in haste, and saidthusunto him, I havefound a man of the captives of Judah, thatwillmakeknownunto the king the interpretation.
The kinganswered and said to Daniel, whosename was Belteshazzar, Art thouable to makeknownunto me the dreamwhich I haveseen, and the interpretationthereof?
Danielanswered in the presence of the king, and said, The secretwhich the kinghathdemandedcannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shewunto the king;
But there is a God in heaventhatrevealethsecrets, and makethknown to the kingNebuchadnezzarwhatshall be in the latterdays. Thy dream, and the visions of thy headupon thy bed, are these;
As for thee, O king, thy thoughtscameinto thy mindupon thy bed, whatshouldcome to passhereafter: and he thatrevealethsecretsmakethknown to theewhatshallcome to pass.
But as for me, thissecret is not revealed to me for any wisdomthat I havemorethan any living, but for theirsakesthatshallmakeknown the interpretation to the king, and thatthoumightestknow the thoughts of thy heart.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to piecestogether, and becamelike the chaff of the summerthreshingfloors; and the windcarriedthemaway, that no place was found for them: and the stonethatsmote the imagebecame a greatmountain, and filled the wholeearth.
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heavenhath he givenintothinehand, and hathmadetheeruleroverthem all. Thou art thishead of gold.
And the fourthkingdomshall be strong as iron: forasmuch as ironbreaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as ironthatbreaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
And whereasthousawest the feet and toes, part of potters’clay, and part of iron, the kingdomshall be divided; but thereshall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thousawest the ironmixedwithmiryclay.
And whereasthousawestironmixedwithmiryclay, theyshallminglethemselveswith the seed of men: but theyshall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixedwithclay.
And in the days of thesekingsshall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, whichshallnever be destroyed: and the kingdomshall not be left to otherpeople, but it shallbreak in pieces and consume all thesekingdoms, and it shallstand for ever.
Forasmuch as thousawestthat the stone was cut out of the mountainwithouthands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hathmadeknown to the kingwhatshallcome to passhereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretationthereofsure.
The kinganswereduntoDaniel, and said, Of a truth it is, thatyour God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeingthoucouldestrevealthissecret.
Then the kingmadeDaniel a great man, and gave him manygreatgifts, and made him rulerover the wholeprovince of Babylon, and chief of the governorsover all the wise men of Babylon.
ThenDanielrequested 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.