The king said to Daniel (whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?”
Daniel replied, “None of the wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to unveil the mystery you have asked about, but there is an all-knowing God in heaven who reveals the deepest mysteries. Your Majesty, he is the one who has revealed to you what is to take place in the last days. Here is your dream, the vision that filled your mind as you lay in your bed:
“Your Majesty, as you were going to sleep, your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future. The Revealer of Mysteries has disclosed future events to you. This mystery has been revealed to me not because I am wiser than anyone else but for one divine purpose: so that you, the king, should learn what it means and that you would understand your innermost thoughts.
“Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge statue of a man. It was both dazzling and terrifying to behold! The head of this statue was of purest gold, its chest and arms were of gleaming silver, its belly and hips of polished bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay. While you were staring at this statue, a boulder broke off from a mountain but not by the instrument of human hands. The boulder struck the statue at its base and shattered its feet of iron and clay into pieces. Then, all at once, the entire statue collapsed into a heap of rubble. The iron and clay, bronze, silver, and gold were all pulverized as fine as chaff on the summer threshing-floor. The wind blew the shattered pieces away, leaving not a trace behind. But the boulder that hit the statue grew into a massive mountain that covered the whole earth. This was your dream. And now, we will explain to the king what it means.
“Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has bestowed upon you royal authority, power, might, and honor. He has handed over to you people, beasts, and birds, wherever they live, making you king of them all. You, O king, are the golden head.
“And after you are gone, another kingdom will arise, a kingdom not as great as yours.
And then a third kingdom will arise to rule the land, a kingdom of bronze.
“And there will be a fourth kingdom, strong and hard as iron. It will shatter all things in its way. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the other kingdoms.
“The feet and toes you saw, partly of iron and partly of clay, represent a divided kingdom that will retain some of the iron’s strength, just as you saw the iron and the clay mixed together. That its feet and toes were partly iron and partly clay means that this kingdom will be both strong and fragile. And just as you saw the iron and the clay mingled together, so the people of this kingdom will seek to be united, but they will not bond any more than iron will permanently bond with clay.
“In the days of those kings of iron and clay, the God of heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed nor ruled by other people. It will shatter and bring all other kingdoms to an end, and it will stand forever! This is the meaning of what you saw in your vision: a rock cut out of a mountain—but not by human hands—a rock that shattered the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold to pieces is his eternal kingdom. The Great God has revealed to you, the king, what will take place after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation trustworthy.”
Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low to the ground in awe of Daniel. Then he gave orders for incense to be burned and a sacrifice of grain to be offered in Daniel’s honor.
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