12
Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant; it produced enough food for everyone. The wild animals enjoyed its shade, the birds in the air lived in its branches, and it gave food to every living creature.
13
I looked in the visions of my head as I lay on my bed, and there appeared a holy watcher coming down from heaven.
14
He cried out: "'"Cut down the tree, cut off its branches, strip off its leaves, scatter its fruit! Let the wild animals flee from its shelter! Let the birds abandon its branches!
15
But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze, in the lush grass of the countryside; let him be drenched with dew from the sky and share the lot of animals in the pasture;
16
let his heart and mind cease to be human and become those of an animal; and let seven seasons pass over him.
17
"'"This order is issued by the watchers, the sentence is announced by the holy ones, so that all who live may know that the Most High rules the human kingdom, that he gives it to whomever he wishes and can raise up over it the lowliest of mortals."
18
"'This is the dream which I, King N'vukhadnetzar, saw. Now you, Belt'shatzar, tell me its interpretation. None of the sages of my kingdom can tell me the interpretation, but you can do it, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.'
19
"Dani'el, whose name was Belt'shatzar, was in shock awhile, frightened by his thoughts. The king said, 'Belt'shatzar, don't let the dream or the interpretation frighten you.' Belt'shatzar answered, 'My lord, if only the dream were about those who hate you, and the interpretation about your enemies!
20
The tree you saw which grew and became strong until its crown reached the sky, and it could be seen throughout the whole earth,
21
that had beautiful foliage and abundant fruit, enough to feed everyone, under which the wild animals lived, and on whose branches the birds in the air built their nests -
22
it's you, your majesty! You have grown and become strong - your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your rule extends to the end of the earth.