Daniel 2

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

2 In the second year of the reign of N’vukhadnetzar, N’vukhadnetzar became so troubled by a series of dreams he had that he couldn’t sleep. ² So the king ordered the magicians, exorcists, sorcerers and astrologers summoned to interpret the king’s dreams to him. They came and stood in his presence. ³ The king said to them, “I had a dream which will keep troubling my spirit until I know what it means.”

⁴ The astrologers spoke to the king in Aramaic: “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” ⁵ The king answered the astrologers, “Here is what I have decided: if you don’t tell me both the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses reduced to rubble. ⁶ But if you do state the dream and its interpretation, I will give you presents, rewards and great honor. Just tell me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ A second time they said, “Let his majesty tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” ⁸ The king replied, “I see you’re only trying to gain time, because you see that I’ve decided ⁹ that if you don’t tell me the dream, there is only one sentence passed on all of you. So you’ve conspired to mislead me with lies in the hope that time will change things. Now, just tell me the dream! That will convince me that you will also be able to give me its correct interpretation.” ¹⁰ The astrologers answered the king, “Your majesty, nobody in the world can do this! Never has a king, no matter how great and powerful, asked such a thing of any magician or exorcist or astrologer. ¹¹ The king is asking a difficult thing; nobody but the gods could tell this to your majesty, and they don’t live with mere mortals.” ¹² At this the king flew into a rage and ordered all the sages of Bavel put to death. ¹³ When the decree was published that the sages were to be slain, they sought Dani’el and his companions in order to have them put to death.
¹⁴ Then, choosing his words carefully, Dani’el consulted Aryokh, captain of the royal guard, who had already gone out to kill the sages of Bavel. ¹⁵ He said to Aryokh, “Since you are the king’s official, let me ask: why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” Aryokh explained the matter to Dani’el. ¹⁶ Then Dani’el went in and asked the king to give him time to tell the king the interpretation.
¹⁷ Dani’el went home and made the matter known to Hananyah, Misha’el and ‘Azaryah, his companions; ¹⁸ so that they could ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this secret, and thus save Dani’el and his companions from dying along with the other sages of Bavel. ¹⁹ Then the secret was revealed to Dani’el in a vision at night, and Dani’el blessed the God of heaven ²⁰ in these words:

“Blessed be the name of God
from eternity past to eternity future!
For wisdom and power are his alone;
²¹ he brings the changes of seasons and times;
he installs and deposes kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those with discernment.
²² He reveals deep and secret things;
he knows what lies in the darkness;
and light dwells with him.
²³ I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors,
for giving me wisdom and power,
and revealing to me what we wanted from you,
for giving us the answer for the king.”

²⁴ So Dani’el went to see Aryokh, whom the king had charged with destroying the sages of Bavel, and said to him, “Don’t destroy the sages of Bavel! Bring me before the king, and I will give the king the interpretation.” ²⁵ Quickly Aryokh brought Dani’el before the king and told him, “I have found one of the exiles of Y’hudah who will reveal the interpretation to his majesty.” ²⁶ The king said to Dani’el (who had been renamed Belt’shatzar), “Can you tell me what I dreamt and what it means?” ²⁷ Dani’el answered the king, “No sage, exorcist, magician or astrologer can tell his majesty the secret he has asked about. ²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who unlocks mysteries, and he has revealed to King N’vukhadnetzar what will happen in the acharit-hayamim. Here are your dream and the visions you had in your head when you were in bed.

²⁹ “Your majesty, when you were in bed, you began thinking about what would take place in the future; and he who reveals secrets has revealed to you what will happen. ³⁰ Yet this secret has not been revealed to me because I am wiser than anyone living, but so that the meaning can be made known to your majesty, and then you can understand the thoughts of your own mind.
³¹ “Your majesty had a vision of a statue, very large and extremely bright; it stood in front of you and its appearance was terrifying. ³² The head of the statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its trunk and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you watched, a stone separated itself without any human hand, struck the statue on its feet made of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken into pieces which became like the chaff on a threshing-floor in summer; the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone which had struck the statue grew into a huge mountain that filled the whole earth.
³⁶ “That is what you dreamt, and now we will give the king its interpretation. ³⁷ Your majesty, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; ³⁸ so that wherever people, wild animals or birds in the air live, he has handed them over to you and enabled you to rule them all — you are the head of gold. ³⁹ But after you another kingdom will rise, inferior to you; then a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. ⁴⁰ The fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron. Iron can break anything into pieces, pulverize it and crush it. So just as iron can crush anything, this kingdom will break the other kingdoms into pieces and crush them. ⁴¹ Finally, you saw the feet and toes made partly of pottery clay and partly of iron; this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the firmness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with clay from the ground. ⁴² Just as the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ You saw the iron mixed with clay; that means that they will cement their alliances by intermarriages; but they won’t stick together any more than iron blends with clay.
⁴⁴ “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not pass into the hands of another people. It will break to pieces and consume all those kingdoms; but it, itself, will stand forever — ⁴⁵ like the stone you saw, which, without human hands, separated itself from the mountain and broke to pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold. The great God has revealed to the king what will come about in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is reliable.”
⁴⁶ Then King N’vukhadnetzar fell on his face and worshipped Dani’el; he ordered that a grain offering and incense be offered to him. ⁴⁷ To Dani’el the king said, “Your God is indeed the God of gods, the Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” ⁴⁸ The king promoted Dani’el to a high rank, gave him many rich gifts and made him governor of the entire province of Bavel and head of all the sages of Bavel. ⁴⁹ At Dani’el’s request, the king put Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go in charge of the affairs of the province of Bavel, while Dani’el remained in attendance on the king.

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.

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Daniel 2

1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

2 1 The dreams of Nebuchadnezzar. 13 The king commandeth all the wise men of Babylon to be slain, because they could not interpret his dream. 16 Daniel requireth time to solute the question. 24 Daniel is brought unto the king, and showeth him his dream, and the interpretation thereof. 44 Of the everlasting kingdom of Christ.

¹ And in the ^[a]second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed ^[b]dreams wherewith his spirit was ^[c]troubled, and his ^[d]sleep was upon him.

² Then the king commanded to call the enchanters, and the astrologians, and the sorcerers, and the ^[e]Chaldeans for to show the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the King.

³ And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

⁴ Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in the ^[f]Aramite’s language, O king, live forever: show thy servants thy dream, and we shall show the interpretation.

⁵ And the King answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me. If ye will not make me understand the dream with the interpretation thereof, ye ^[g]shall be drawn in pieces, and your houses shall be made a jakes.

⁶ But if ye declare the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards, and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation of it.

⁷ They answered again, and said, Let the king show ^[h]his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.

⁸ Then the king answered, and said, I know certainly that ye ^[i]would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.

⁹ But if ye will not declare me the dream, there is but one judgment for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words, to speak before me till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, that I may know, if ye can declare me the interpretation thereof.

¹⁰ Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is no man upon earth that can declare the king’s matter: yea, there is neither King nor Prince nor lord that asked such things at an enchanter, or astrologian, or Chaldean.

¹¹ For it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can declare it before the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.

¹² For this cause the king was angry and in great fury, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babel.

¹³ ¶ And when sentence was given, the wise men were slain: and they ^[j]sought Daniel and his fellows to be put to death.

¹⁴ Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the king’s ^[k]chief steward, which was gone forth to put to death the wise men of Babel.

¹⁵ Yea, he answered and said unto Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the sentence so hasty from the king? Then Arioch declared the thing to Daniel.

¹⁶ So Daniel went and desired the king that he would give him leisure, and that he would show the king the interpretation thereof.

¹⁷ ¶ Then Daniel went to his house, and showed the matter to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his companions,

¹⁸ That they should beseech the God of heaven for grace in this secret, that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babel.

¹⁹ Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision by night: therefore Daniel praised the God of heaven.

²⁰ And Daniel answered and said, The Name of God be praised forever and ever: for wisdom and strength are his.

²¹ And he changeth the times and seasons: he taketh away kings: he setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and understanding to those that understand.

²² He discovereth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in darkness, and the ^[l]light dwelleth with him.

²³ I thank thee and praise thee, O thou God of my ^[m]fathers, that thou hast given me wisdom and ^[n]strength, and hast showed me now the thing that we desired of thee: for thou hast declared unto us the king’s matter.

²⁴ ¶ Therefore Daniel went unto Arioch, whom the King had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babel: he went and said thus unto him, Destroy not ^[o]the wise men of Babel, but bring me before the king, and I will declare unto the king the interpretation.

²⁵ Then Arioch brought Daniel before the king in all haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the children of Judah that were brought captives, that will declare unto the king the interpretation.

²⁶ Then answered the king, and said unto Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to show me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

²⁷ Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, can neither the wise, the astrologians, the enchanters, nor the soothsayers declare unto the king.

²⁸ But there is a God in ^[p]heaven that revealeth secrets, and showeth the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the things which thou hast seen in thine head upon thy bed, is this:

²⁹ O king, when thou wast in thy bed, thoughts came into thy mind, what should come to pass hereafter, and he that revealeth secrets, telleth thee what shall come.

³⁰ As ^[q]for me, this secret is not showed me for any wisdom that I have more than any other living, but only to show the king the interpretation, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thine heart.

³¹ O king, thou sawest, and behold, there was a great image: this great image whose glory was so excellent, stood before thee, and the form therefore was terrible.

³² This image’s head was of fine ^[r]gold, his breast, and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

³³ His legs of iron, and his feet were part of iron, and part of clay.

³⁴ Thou beheldest it till a stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

³⁵ Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken all together, and became like the chaff of the summer flowers, 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 This is the dream, and we will declare before the king the interpretation thereof.

³⁷ ¶ O king, thou art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

³⁸ And in all places where 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 ^[s]this head of gold.

³⁹ And after thee shall rise another kingdom, ^[t]inferior to thee, of silver, and another ^[u]third kingdom shall be of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as iron breaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things, and as iron bruiseth all these things, so shall it break in ^[v]pieces, and bruise all.

⁴¹ Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be ^[w]divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, as thou sawest the iron mixed with the clay, and earth.

⁴² And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so shall the kingdom be partly strong, and partly broken.

⁴³ And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with clay and earth, they shall mingle themselves with ^[x]the seed of men: but they shall not join one with another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.

⁴⁴ And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which ^[y]shall never be destroyed: and this kingdom shall not be given to another people, but it shall break, and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

⁴⁵ Whereas thou sawest, that the ^[z]stone was cut of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold: so the great God hath showed the king, what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is sure.

⁴⁶ ¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and ^[aa]bowed himself unto Daniel, and commanded that they should offer meat offerings, and sweet odors unto him.

⁴⁷ Also the King answered unto Daniel, and said, I know of a truth that your ^[ab]God is a God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and the revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest open this secret.

⁴⁸ So the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many and great ^[ac]gifts. He made him governor over the whole province of Babel, and chief of the rulers, and above all the wise men of Babel.

⁴⁹ Then Daniel ^[ad]made request to the King, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the charge of the province of Babel: but Daniel sat in the ^[ae]gate of the king.

Footnotes:

1. Daniel 2:1 The father and the son were both called by this name, so that this is meant of the son, when he reigned alone: for he reigned also after a sort with his father.
2. Daniel 2:1 Not that he had many dreams, but because many matters were contained in this dream.
3. Daniel 2:1 Because it was so rare and strange a dream: that he had not had the like.
4. Daniel 2:1 He was so heavy with sleep, that he began to sleep again. Some read, and his sleep was broken from him.
5. Daniel 2:2 For all these Astrologers and sorcerers called themselves by this name of honor, as though all the wisdom and knowledge of the country depended upon them, and that all other countries were void of the same.
6. Daniel 2:4 That is, in the Syrian tongue which differed not much from the Chaldeans, save it seemed to be more eloquent, and therefore the learned used to speak it, as the Jewish writers do to this day.
7. Daniel 2:5 This is a just reward of their arrogance (which vaunted of themselves that they had the knowledge of all things) that they should be proved fools, and that to their perpetual shame and confusion.
8. Daniel 2:7 Herein appeared their ignorance, that notwithstanding their brags, yet were they not able to tell the dream, except he entered them into the matter, and therefore they would pretend knowledge where was but mere ignorance, and so as deluders of the people, they were worthy to die.
9. Daniel 2:8 Hebrew, redeem the time.
10. Daniel 2:13 Which declareth that God would not have his servant joined in the company of these sorcerers and Astrologers, whose arts were wicked, and therefore justly ought to die, though the king did it upon a rage and no zeal.
11. Daniel 2:14 Or, the captain of the guards.
12. Daniel 2:22 He showeth that man hath neither wisdom nor knowledge, but very dark blindness and ignorance of himself: for it cometh only of God, that man understandeth anything.
13. Daniel 2:23 To whom thou madest thy promise, and who lived in thy fear: whereby he excludeth all other gods.
14. Daniel 2:23 Meaning, power to interpret it.
15. Daniel 2:24 Whereby appeareth that many were slain, as verse 13, and the rest at Daniel’s offer were preserved on condition: not that Daniel favored their wicked profession, but that he had respect to equity, because the King proceeded according to his wicked affection, and not considering if their science were lawful or no.
16. Daniel 2:28 He affirmeth that man by reason and art is not able to attain to the cause of God’s secrets, but the understanding only thereof must come of God: whereby he smiteth the king with a certain fear and reverence of God, that he might be the more apt to receive the high mysteries, that should be revealed.
17. Daniel 2:30 Because he had said that God only must reveal the signification of this dream, the King might have asked, why Daniel did enterprise to interpret it, and therefore he showeth that he was but God’s minister and had no gifts, but such as God had given him to set forth his glory.
18. Daniel 2:32 By gold, silver, brass and iron, are meant the Chaldean, Persian, Macedonian and Roman kingdoms, which should successively rule all the world till Christ (which is here called the stone) come himself, and destroy the last: and this was to assure the Jews, that their affliction should not end with the empire of the Chaldeans, but that they should patiently abide the coming of Messiah, which should be at the end of this fourth monarchy.
19. Daniel 2:38 Daniel leaveth out the kingdom of the Assyrians, which was before the Babylonian, both because it was not a Monarchy and general empire, and also because he would declare the things that were to come, to the coming of Christ, for the comfort of the elect among these wonderful alterations, and he calleth the Babylonian kingdom the golden head, because in respect of the other three, it was the best, and yet it was of itself wicked and cruel.
20. Daniel 2:39 Meaning, the Persians which were not inferior in dignity, power, and riches, but were worse touching ambition, cruelty, and all kind of vice, showing that the world should grow worse and worse, till it was restored by Christ.
21. Daniel 2:39 That is, of the Macedonians shall be of brass, not alluding to the hardness thereof, but to the vileness in respect of silver.
22. Daniel 2:40 That is, the Roman empire shall subdue all these other aforenamed, which after Alexander were divided into the Macedonians, Grecians, Syrians and Egyptians.
23. Daniel 2:41 They shall have civil wars, and continual discords among themselves.
24. Daniel 2:43 They shall by marriages and affinities think to make themselves strong: yet shall they never be joined in hearts.
25. Daniel 2:44 His purpose is to show, that all the kingdoms of the world are transitory, and that the kingdom of Christ shall only remain forever.
26. Daniel 2:45 Meaning Christ, who was sent of God, and not set up by man, whose kingdom at the beginning should be small and without beauty to man’s judgment, but should at length grow and fill the whole earth, which he calleth a great mountain, as verse 35. And this kingdom which is not only referred to the person of Christ, but also to the whole body of his Church, and to every member thereof, shall be eternal: for the Spirit that is in them is life eternal, Rom. 8:10.
27. Daniel 2:46 Though this humbling of the king seemed to deserve commendation, yet because he joined God’s honor with the Prophet’s, it is to be reproved, and Daniel herein erred, if he suffered it: but it is credible that Daniel admonished him of his fault, and did not suffer it.
28. Daniel 2:47 This confession was but a sudden motion, as it was also in Pharaoh, Exod. 9:28, but his heart was not touched, as appeared soon afterward.
29. Daniel 2:48 Not that the Prophet was desirous of gifts or honor, but because by this means he might relieve his poor brethren, which were grievously oppressed in this their captivity, and also he received them, lest he should offend this cruel king, which willingly gave them.
30. Daniel 2:49 He did not this for their private profit: but that the whole Church, which was then there in affliction, might have some release and ease by this benefit.
31. Daniel 2:49 Meaning, that either he was a judge, or that he had the whole authority, so than none could be admitted to the king’s presence, but by him.

1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.