Nebuchadnezzar Confesses God’s Kingdom

¹King Nebuchadnezzar,To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth:May your prosperity be multiplied.

²I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

³How great are His signs,how mighty His wonders!His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;His dominion endures from generation to generation.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree

⁴I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace.

⁵I had a dream, and it frightened me; while I was in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.

⁶So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me.

⁷When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers,and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.

⁸But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:

⁹“O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation.

¹⁰In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass:There was a tree in the midst of the land,and its height was great.

¹¹The tree grew large and strong;its top reached the sky,and it was visibleto the ends of the earth.

¹²Its leaves were beautiful,its fruit was abundant,and upon it was food for all.Under it the beasts of the field found shelter,in its branches the birds of the air nested,and from it every creature was fed.

¹³As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher,a holy one, coming down from heaven.

¹⁴He called out in a loud voice:‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.Let the beasts flee from under it,and the birds from its branches.

¹⁵But leave the stump with its roots in the ground,with a band of iron and bronze around it,in the tender grass of the field.Let him be drenched with the dew of heavenand graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

¹⁶Let his mind be changed from that of a man,and let him be given the mind of a beasttill seven times pass him by.

¹⁷This decision is the decree of the watchers,the verdict declared by the holy ones,so that the living will knowthat the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankindand gives it to whom He wishes,setting over it the lowliest of men.’

¹⁸This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

Daniel Interprets the Second Dream

¹⁹For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him.So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.”“My lord,” replied Belteshazzar, “may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!

²⁰The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,

²¹whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested—

²²you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

²³And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying:‘Cut down the tree and destroy it,but leave the stump with its roots in the ground,with a band of iron and bronze around it,in the tender grass of the field.Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,and graze with the beasts of the fieldtill seven times pass him by.’

²⁴This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:

²⁵You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

²⁶As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.

²⁷Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”

The Second Dream Fulfilled

²⁸All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

²⁹Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,

³⁰the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”

³¹While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

³²You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

³³At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

Nebuchadnezzar Restored

³⁴But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever:“For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

³⁵All the peoples of the earthare counted as nothing,and He does as He pleaseswith the army of heavenand the peoples of the earth.There is no one who can restrain His handor say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

³⁶At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

³⁷Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

Belshazzar’s Feast

¹Later,King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

²Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his fatherhad taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

³Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

⁴As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

The Handwriting on the Wall

⁵At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

⁶his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

⁷The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers,and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.

⁹Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered.

¹⁰Hearing the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queenentered the banquet hall. “O king, may you live forever!” she said. “Do not let your thoughts terrify you, or your face grow pale.

¹¹There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods.Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king,

¹²did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting

¹³So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

¹⁴I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.

¹⁵Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this inscription and interpret it for me, but they could not give its interpretation.

¹⁶But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the inscription for the king and interpret it for him.

¹⁸As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.

¹⁹Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.

²⁰But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.

²¹He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.

²²But you his son,O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.

²³Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

²⁴Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

²⁵Now this is the inscription that was written:MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.

²⁶And this is the interpretation of the message:MENEmeans that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

²⁷TEKELmeans that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.

²⁸PERESmeans that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeanswas slain,

³¹and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream

¹In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.

²So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologersto explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

³he said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it.”

⁴Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic,“O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

⁵The 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.

⁶But 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.”

⁷They answered a second time, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation.”

⁸The king replied, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time because you see that my word is final.

⁹If 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.”

¹⁰The 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.

¹¹What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

¹²This response made the king so angry and furious that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³So 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

¹⁴When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, went out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel responded with discretion and tact.

¹⁵“Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” he asked.Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel.

¹⁶So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give him the interpretation.

¹⁷Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

¹⁸urging 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.

¹⁹During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven

²⁰and declared:“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,for wisdom and power belong to Him.

²¹He changes the times and seasons;He removes kings and establishes them.He gives wisdom to the wiseand knowledge to the discerning.

²²He reveals the deep and hidden things;He knows what lies in darkness,and light dwells with Him.

²³To You, O God of my fathers,I give thanks and praise,because You have given mewisdom and power.And now You have made known to mewhat we have requested,for You have made known to usthe dream of the king.”

Daniel Interprets the Dream

²⁴Therefore 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.”

²⁵Arioch 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.”

²⁶The 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?”

²⁷Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.

²⁸But 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:

²⁹As 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.

³⁰And 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.

³¹As you, O king, were watching, a great statueappeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.

³²The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,

³³its legs were iron, and its feet were part iron and part clay.

³⁴As 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.

³⁵Then 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.

³⁶This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.

³⁷You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.

³⁸Wherever 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.

³⁹But after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours.Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth.

⁴⁰Finally, 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.

⁴¹And 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.

⁴²And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.

⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so the peopleswill mix with one another but will not hold together any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

⁴⁵And 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

⁴⁶At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.

⁴⁷The 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.”

⁴⁸Then 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.

⁴⁹And 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.

It Is Good to Sing Praises

¹Hallelujah!How good it is to sing praises to our God,how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!

²The LORD builds up Jerusalem;He gathers the exiles of Israel.

³He heals the brokenheartedand binds up their wounds.

⁴He determines the number of the stars;He calls them each by name.

⁵Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;His understanding has no limit.

⁶The LORD sustains the humble,but casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;make music on the harp to our God,

⁸who covers the sky with clouds,who prepares rain for the earth,who makes grass to grow on the hills.

⁹He provides food for the animals,and for the young ravens when they call.

¹⁰He does not delight in the strength of the horse;He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him,who hope in His loving devotion.

¹²Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem;praise your God, O Zion!

¹³For He strengthens the bars of your gatesand blesses the children within you.

¹⁴He makes peace at your borders;He fills you with the finest wheat.

¹⁵He sends forth His command to the earth;His word runs swiftly.

¹⁶He spreads the snow like wool;He scatters the frost like ashes;

¹⁷He casts forth His hail like pebbles.Who can withstand His icy blast?

¹⁸He sends forth His word and melts them;He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow.

¹⁹He declares His word to Jacob,His statutes and judgments to Israel.

²⁰He has done this for no other nation;they do not know His judgments.Hallelujah!