THE ORIGINAL BIBLE for Modern Readers
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Revelation
DANIEL chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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1 In the second year of the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and
his sleep went from him. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians,
and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his
dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
3 The king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream,
and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the
Syrian language, “O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we
will show the interpretation.”
5 The king answered the Chaldeans, “The thing is
gone from me: if you don’t make known to me the dream and its interpretation,
you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But
if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive of me gifts and
rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.”
7 They answered the second time and said, “Let
the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
8 The king answered, “I know of a certainty that
you would gain time, because you see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if
you don’t make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you
have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be
changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its
interpretation.”
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and
said, “There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter, because
no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter,
or Chaldean. 11 It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no
other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not
with flesh.”
12 For this cause the king was angry and very
furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the
decree went out, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and
his companions to be slain.
14 Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and
prudence to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone out to kill
the wise men of Babylon; 15 he answered Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is
the decree so urgent from the king?” Then Arioch made the thing known to
Daniel.
16 Daniel went in, and desired of the king that
he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation. 17 Then
Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah, his companions: 18 that they would desire mercies of the God of
heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish
with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a
vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel
answered, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might
are his. 21 He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and
sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have
understanding; 22 he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is
in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 I thank you, and praise
you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now
made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the
king’s matter.”
24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king
had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him:
“Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will
show to the king the interpretation.”
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king
in haste, and said this to him: “I have found a man of the children of the
captivity of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
26 The king answered Daniel, whose name was
Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen,
and its interpretation?”
27 Daniel answered before the king, and said, “The
secret which the king has demanded neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor
soothsayers, can show to the king; 28 but there is a God in heaven who
reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be
in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are
these: 29 as for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed, what should
happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall
happen.
30 “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to
me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the
interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the
thoughts of your heart.
31 “You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image.
This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before
you; and its appearance was awesome. 32 As for this image, its head was of
fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of
brass, 33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.
34 “You saw until a stone was cut out without
hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke
them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the
gold was all broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found
for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth.
36 “This is the dream; and we will tell its
interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are king of kings, to whom
the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the
glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field
and the birds of the sky he has given into your hand, and has made you to rule
over them all: you are the head of gold.
39 “After you shall arise another kingdom
inferior to you; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over
all the earth. 40 The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, because iron
breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, it
shall break in pieces and crush. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes,
part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but
there shall be in it some of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron
mixed with miry clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and
part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 Whereas
you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the
seed of men; but they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not
mingle with clay.
44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven shall
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be
left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Because you saw that a stone was
cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron,
the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to
the king what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and its interpretation
sure.”
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face,
and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and
sweet incense to him. 47 The king answered to Daniel, and said, “Of a
truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of
secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.”
48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him
many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and
to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel requested
of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs
of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.
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