Daniel 4 (New American Standard)

The King Acknowledges God

1 ^aNebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every ^blanguage that live in all the earth : "May your ^c1peace abound ! 2 "It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the ²Most High God has done for me. 3 "How great are His ³signs And how mighty are His wonders ! His ⁴kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.

The Vision of a Great Tree

4 "^dI, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ⁵flourishing in my palace. 5 "I saw a ⁶dream and it made me fearful ; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the ⁷visions ^ein my mind kept alarming me. 6 "So I gave orders to ⁸bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 "Then the ^f9magicians, the conjurers, the ^gChaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream ^hto them, but they could not make its ¹⁰interpretation known to me. 8 "But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is ¹¹Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ⁱ¹²a spirit of the holy gods ; and I related the dream ^jto him, saying, 9 'O Belteshazzar, ¹³chief of the magicians, since I know that ¹⁴a spirit of the holy gods is in you and ¹⁵no mystery baffles you, ¹⁶tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation. 10 'Now these were the ¹⁷visions ^kin my mind as I lay on my bed : I was looking, and behold, there was a ¹⁸tree in the midst of the ^learth and its height was great. 11 'The tree grew large and became strong And its height ¹⁹reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 'Its foliage was ²⁰beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The ²¹beasts of the field found ²²shade under it, And the ²³birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all ^mliving creatures fed themselves from it. 13 'I was looking in the ²⁴visions ⁿin my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, ²⁵an angelic watcher, a ²⁶holy one, descended from heaven. 14 'He shouted out and spoke as follows : "²⁷Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit ; Let the ²⁸beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches. 15 "Yet ²⁹leave the stump ^owith its roots in the ground, But with a band of iron and bronze around it In the new grass of the field ; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let ^phim share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 "Let his ^qmind be changed from that of a man And let a beast's ^rmind be given to him, And let ³⁰seven ^speriods of time pass over him. 17 "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may ³¹know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And ³²bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the ³³lowliest of men." 18 'This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the ³⁴wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation ; but you are able, for a ³⁵spirit of the holy gods is in you.'

Daniel Interprets the Vision

19 "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ³⁶thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not ³⁷let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, '³⁸My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to ³⁹your adversaries ! 20 'The ⁴⁰tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth 21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged - 22 it is ⁴¹you, O king ; for you have become great and grown strong, and your ^tmajesty has become great and reached to the sky and your ⁴²dominion to the end of the earth. 23 'In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, "⁴³Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump ^uwith its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let ^vhim share with the beasts of the field until ⁴⁴seven ^wperiods of time pass over him," 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has ⁴⁵come upon my lord the king : 25 that you be ⁴⁶driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven ; and seven ^xperiods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the ⁴⁷Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and ⁴⁸bestows it on whomever He wishes. 26 'And in that it was commanded to ⁴⁹leave the stump ^ywith the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be ^zassured to you after you recognize that it is ⁵⁰Heaven that rules. 27 'Therefore, O king, may my ⁵¹advice be pleasing to you: ^aa52break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by ⁵³showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a ⁵⁴prolonging of your prosperity.'

The Vision Fulfilled

28 "All this ⁵⁵happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29 "⁵⁶Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 "The king ^bbreflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the ⁵⁷great, which I myself have built as a royal ^ccresidence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty ?' 31 "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice ^ddcame from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared : ^eesovereignty has been removed from you, 32 and ⁵⁸you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and ⁵⁹seven ^ffperiods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the ⁶⁰Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.' 33 "Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled ; and he was ⁶¹driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws. 34 "But at the end of ^ggthat period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my ^hhreason returned to me, and I blessed the ⁶²Most High and praised and honored ⁶³Him who lives forever ; For His dominion is an ⁶⁴everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 "⁶⁵All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But ⁶⁶He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth ; And ⁶⁷no one can ⁱⁱward off His hand Or say to Him, '⁶⁸What have You done ?' 36 "At that time my ^jj69reason returned to me. And my majesty and ⁷⁰splendor were ^kkrestored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my ^llsovereignty, and surpassing ⁷¹greatness was added to me. 37 "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of ⁷²heaven, for ⁷³all His works are ^mmtrue and His ways ⁿⁿjust, and He is able to humble those who ⁷⁴walk in pride."