Book 35 : KETUVIM - DANIEL - Chapter 002
02:001
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep broke
from him
02:002
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 and stood before the king
02:003
And the king said unto them: 'I have dreamed a dream, and
my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
02:004
Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Aramaic: 'O king,
live for ever! tell thy servants the dream, and we will declare the
interpretation.
02:005
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans: 'The thing is
certain with me; if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation
thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill
02:006
But if ye declare the dream and the interpretation thereof,
ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour; only declare unto me
the dream and the interpretation thereof.
02:007
They answered the second time and said: 'Let the king tell
his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation.
02:008
The king answered and said: 'I know of a truth that ye
would gain time, inasmuch as ye see the thing is certain with me
02:009
that, if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but
one law for you; and ye have agreed together to speak before me lying and
corrupt words, till the time be changed; only tell me the dream, and I shall
know that ye can declare unto me the interpretation thereof.
02:010
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said: 'There
is not a man upon the earth that can declare the king's matter; forasmuch as no
great and powerful king hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter,
or Chaldean
02:011
And it is a hard thing that the king asketh, and there is
none other that can declare it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling
is not with flesh.
02:012
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and
commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon
02:013
So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be
slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain
02:014
Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and discretion to
Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men
of Babylon
02:015
he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain:
'Wherefore is the decree so peremptory from the king?' Then Arioch made the
thing known to Daniel
02:016
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would
give him time, that he might declare unto the king the interpretation
02:017
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions
02:018
that they might ask mercy of the G-d of heaven concerning
this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of
the wise men of Babylon
02:019
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of
the night. Then Daniel blessed the G-d of heaven
02:020
Daniel spoke and said: Blessed be the name of G-d from
everlasting even unto everlasting; for wisdom and might are His
02:021
And He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth
kings, and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to
them that know understanding
02:022
He revealeth the deep and secret things; He knoweth what
is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him
02:023
I thank Thee, and praise Thee, O Thou G-d of my fathers,
who hath given me wisdom and might, and hast now made known unto me what we
desired of Thee; for Thou hast made known unto us the king's matter
02:024
Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had
appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him:
'Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will
declare unto the king the interpretation.
02:025
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste,
and said thus unto him: 'I have found a man of the children of the captivity of
Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
02:026
The king spoke and said to Daniel, whose name was
Belteshazzar: 'Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen,
and the interpretation thereof?
02:027
Daniel answered before the king, and said: 'The secret
which the king hath asked can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor
astrologers, declare unto the king
02:028
but there is a G-d in heaven that revealeth secrets, and
He hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the end of days.
Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these
02:029
as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon
thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and He that revealeth secrets hath
made known to thee what shall come to pass
02:030
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 thou mayest know the
thoughts of thy heart
02:031
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This
image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was surpassing, stood before thee;
and the appearance thereof was terrible
02:032
As for that image, its head was of fine gold, its breast
and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass
02:033
its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay
02:034
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands,
which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them
to pieces
02:035
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and
the gold, 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 smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth
02:036
This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation
thereof before the king
02:037
Thou, O king, king of kings, unto whom the G-d of heaven
hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory
02:038
and wheresoever the children of men, the beasts of the
field, and the fowls of the heaven dwell, hath He given them into thy hand, and
hath made thee to rule over them all; thou art the head of gold
02:039
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to
thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the
earth
02:040
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch
as iron breaketh in pieces and beateth down all things; and as iron that
crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush
02:041
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of
potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall
be in it of the firmness of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed
with miry clay
02:042
And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of
clay, so part of the kingdom shall be strong, and part thereof broken
02:043
And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay,
they shall mingle themselves by the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one
to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay
02:044
And in the days of those kings shall the G-d of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; nor shall the kingdom be left to
another people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, but it
shall stand for ever
02:045
Forasmuch as thou sawest 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 G-d hath made known to the king what
shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof sure.
02:046
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and
worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet
odours unto him
02:047
The king spoke unto Daniel, and said: 'Of a truth it is,
that your G-d is the G-d of gods, and the L-rd of kings, and a revealer of
secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.
02:048
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
prefect over all the wise men of Babylon
02:049
And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon;
but Daniel was in the gate of the king
Book 35 : KETUVIM - DANIEL - Chapter 002
|