Parallel Bible results for "daniel 2"

Daniel 2

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 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.

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 In the second year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him.

2 Then the king gave orders that the wonder-workers, and the users of secret arts, and those who made use of evil powers, and the Chaldaeans, were to be sent for to make clear to the king his dreams. So they came and took their places before the king.

3 And the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled by the desire to have the dream made clear to me.

4 Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in the Aramaean language, O King, have life for ever: give your servants an account of your dream, and we will make clear to you the sense of it.

5 The king made answer and said to the Chaldaeans, This is my decision: if you do not make clear to me the dream and the sense of it, you will be cut in bits and your houses made waste.

6 But if you make clear the dream and the sense of it, you will have from me offerings and rewards and great honour: so make clear to me the dream and the sense of it.

7 A second time they said in answer, Let the king give his servants an account of his dream, and we will make clear the sense.

8 The king made answer and said, I am certain that you are attempting to get more time, because you see that my decision is fixed;

9 That if you do not make my dream clear to me there is only one fate for you: for you have made ready false and evil words to say before me till the times are changed: so give me an account of the dream, and I will be certain that you are able to make the sense of it clear.

10 Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in answer, There is not a man on earth able to make clear the king's business; for no king, however great his power, has ever made such a request to any wonder-worker or user of secret arts or Chaldaean.

11 The king's request is a very hard one, and there is no other who is able to make it clear to the king, but the gods, whose living-place is not with flesh.

12 Because of this the king was angry and full of wrath, and gave orders for the destruction of all the wise men of Babylon.

13 So the order went out that the wise men were to be put to death; and they were looking for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.

14 Then Daniel gave an answer with wisdom and good sense to Arioch, the captain of the king's armed men, who had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon;

15 He made answer and said to Arioch, O captain of the king, why is the king's order so cruel? Then Arioch gave Daniel an account of the business.

16 And Daniel went in and made a request to the king to give him time and he would make clear the sense of his dream to the king.

17 And Daniel went to his house and gave his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah the news:

18 So that they might make a request for the mercy of the God of heaven in the question of this secret; so that Daniel and his friends might not come to destruction with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 Then the secret was made clear to Daniel in a vision of the night. And Daniel gave blessing to the God of heaven.

20 And Daniel said in answer, May the name of God be praised for ever and ever: for wisdom and strength are his:

21 By him times and years are changed: by him kings are taken away and kings are lifted up: he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those whose minds are awake:

22 He is the unveiler of deep and secret things: he has knowledge of what is in the dark, and the light has its living-place with him.

23 I give you praise and worship, O God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and strength, and have now made clear to me what we were requesting from you: for you have given us knowledge of the king's business.

24 For this reason Daniel went to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders for the destruction of the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not put to death the wise men of Babylon: take me in before the king and I will make clear to him the sense of the dream.

25 Then Arioch quickly took Daniel in before the king, and said to him, Here is a man from among the prisoners of Judah, who will make clear to the king the sense of the dream.

26 The king made answer and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make clear to me the dream which I saw and its sense?

27 Then Daniel said in answer to the king, No wise men, or users of secret arts, or wonder-workers, or readers of signs, are able to make clear to the king the secret he is searching for;

28 But there is a God in heaven, the unveiler of secrets, and he has given to King Nebuchadnezzar knowledge of what will take place in the last days. Your dreams and the visions of your head on your bed are these:

29 As for you, O King, the thoughts which came to you on your bed were of what will come about after this: and the unveiler of secrets has made clear to you what is to come.

30 As for me, this secret is not made clear to me because of any wisdom which I have more than any living man, but in order that the sense of the dream may be made clear to the king, and that you may have knowledge of the thoughts of your heart.

31 You, O King, were looking, and a great image was there. This image, which was very great, and whose glory was very bright, was placed before you: its form sent fear into the heart.

32 As for this image, its head was made of the best gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its middle and its sides were of brass,

33 Its legs of iron, its feet were in part of iron and in part of potter's earth.

34 While you were looking at it, a stone was cut out, but not by hands, and it gave the image a blow on its feet, which were of iron and earth, and they were broken in bits.

35 Then the iron and the earth, the brass and the silver and the gold, were smashed together, and became like the dust on the floors where grain is crushed in summer; and the wind took them away so that no sign of them was to be seen: and the stone which gave the image a blow became a great mountain, covering all the earth.

36 This is the dream; and we will make clear to the king the sense of it.

37 You, O King, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory,

38 Wherever the children of men are living; into whose hands he has given the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven, and has made you ruler over them all, you are the head of gold.

39 And after you another kingdom, lower than you, will come to power; and a third kingdom, of brass, ruling over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron: because, as all things are broken and overcome by iron, so it will have the power of crushing and smashing down all the earth.

41 And as you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's work and part of iron, there will be a division in the kingdom; but there will be some of the strength of iron in it, because you saw the iron mixed with the potter's earth.

42 And as the toes of the feet were in part of iron and in part of earth, so part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will readily be broken.

43 And as you saw the iron mixed with earth, they will give their daughters to one another as wives: but they will not be united one with another, even as iron is not mixed with earth.

44 And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever.

45 Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream is fixed, and its sense is certain.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar, falling down on his face, gave worship to Daniel, and gave orders for an offering and spices to be given to him;

47 And the king made answer to Daniel and said, Truly, your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings, and an unveiler of secrets, for you have been able to make this secret clear.

48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him offerings in great number, and made him ruler over all the land of Babylon, and chief over all the wise men of Babylon.

49 And at Daniel's request, the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego authority over the business of the land of Babylon: but Daniel was kept near the king's person.