Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^hhis spirit was troubled, and ⁱhis sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that ^dthe magicians, ^ethe enchanters, the ^jsorcerers, and ^kthe Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^lstood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^hmy spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then ^kthe Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{1 m}“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to ^kthe Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ⁿtorn limb from limb, ⁿand your ^ohouses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^pyou shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^qTherefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^rgain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, ^sthere is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^tthe times change. ^uTherefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 ^vThe Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^vChaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^wthe gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12 Because of this the king was angry and ^xvery furious, and ^ycommanded that all ^zthe wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^aDaniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^bArioch, the ^ccaptain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared² to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^dso urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^eHananiah, ^eMishael, and ^eAzariah, his companions, 18 ^fand told them to seek mercy from the ^gGod of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^hbe destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ⁱa vision of the night. Then Daniel ^jblessed the ^gGod of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:

24 Therefore Daniel went in to ^vArioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

25 Then ^vArioch brought in Daniel before the king ^win haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^xamong the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, ^ywhose name was Belteshazzar, ^z“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^aenchanters, ^amagicians, or ^bastrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but ^cthere is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^dwhat will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^ethe visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^fand he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But ^gas for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^hyou may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 ⁱThe head of this image was of fine gold, ^jits chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^jthighs of bronze, 33 ^kits legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out ^lby no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^mbroke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ⁿlike the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^onot a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^pa great mountain ^qand filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, ^rthe king of kings, to whom ^sthe God of heaven ^thas given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^uthe beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^vthe head of gold. 39 ^wAnother kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^vof bronze, ^xwhich shall rule over all the earth.

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

1 ^bIn the first year of ^cDarius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a ^dMede, who was made king over the realm of the ^eChaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to ^fthe word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ^gprayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and ^hmade confession, saying, ⁱ“O Lord, the ⁱgreat and awesome God, who ^jkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 ^kwe have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly ^land rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 ^mWe have not listened to ⁿyour servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to ^oour kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, ^pO Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, ^qthose who are near and ^qthose who are far away, in ^rall the lands to which you have driven them, because of ^sthe treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because ^kwe have sinned against you. 9 ^tTo the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 ^mand have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by ⁿhis servants the prophets. 11 ^uAll Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, ^vrefusing to obey your voice. ^wAnd the curse and oath ^xthat are written in the Law of ^yMoses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because ^kwe have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against ^zour rulers who ruled us,¹ by ^abringing upon us a great calamity. ^bFor under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 ^xAs it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, ^cturning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 ^dTherefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, ^efor the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and ^fwe have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt ^gwith a mighty hand, and ^hhave made a name for yourself, as at this day, ⁱwe have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 “O Lord, ^jaccording to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, ^kyour holy hill, ^lbecause for our sins, and for ^mthe iniquities of our fathers, ⁿJerusalem and your people have become ^oa byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,^{2 p}make your face to shine upon ^qyour sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 ^rO my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ^sour desolations, and ^tthe city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ^uDelay not, ^vfor your own sake, O my God, because ^tyour city and ^wyour people are called by your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20 ^xWhile I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for ^ythe holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man ^zGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, ^acame to me in swift flight at ^bthe time of the evening sacrifice. 22 ^cHe made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you ^dinsight and understanding. 23 ^eAt the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, ^fand I have come to tell it to you, for ^gyou are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word ^hand understand the vision.

The Seventy Weeks

24 ⁱ“Seventy weeks³ are decreed about your people and ^jyour holy city, to finish ^kthe transgression, to put an end to sin, ^land to atone for iniquity, ^mto bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and ⁿto anoint a most holy place.⁴ 25 ^oKnow therefore and understand that ^pfrom the going out of the word to restore and ^qbuild Jerusalem to the coming of an ^ranointed one, a ^sprince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again⁵ with squares and moat, ^tbut in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall ^ube cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come ^vshall destroy the city and the sanctuary. ^wIts⁶ end shall come with a flood, ^xand to the end there shall be war. ^yDesolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,⁷ and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. ^zAnd on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until ^athe decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”