36“Such was the dream, and we will now tell the king its meaning. 37You, O king—king of kings, to whom the God of Heaven has given kingdom, power, might, and glory; 38into whose hands He has given men, wild beasts, and the fowl of heaven, wherever they may dwell; and to whom He has given dominion over them all—you are the head of gold. 39But another kingdom will arise after you, inferior to yours; then yet a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule over the whole earth. 40But the fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; just as iron crushes and shatters everything—and like iron that smashes—so will it crush and smash all these. 41You saw the feet and the toes, part potter’s clay and part iron; that means it will be a divided kingdom; it will have only some of the stability of iron, inasmuch as you saw iron mixed with common clay. 42And the toes were part iron and part clay; that [means] the kingdom will be in part strong and in part brittle. 43You saw iron mixed with common clay; that means: e-they shall intermingle with the offspring of men,-e but shall not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44And in the time of those kings, the God of Heaven will establish a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, a kingdom that shall not be transferred to another people. It will crush and wipe out all these kingdoms, but shall itself last forever—45just as you saw how a stone was hewn from the mountain, not by hands, and crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is sure and its interpretation reliable.”
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself and paid homage to Daniel and ordered that a meal offering and pleasing offerings be made to him. 47The king said in reply to Daniel, “Truly your God must be the God of gods and Lord of kings and the revealer of mysteries to have enabled you to reveal this mystery.” 48The king then elevated Daniel and gave him very many gifts, and made him governor of the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect of all the wise men of Babylon. 49At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to administer the province of Babylon; while Daniel himself was at the king’s court.
3 King Nebuchadnezzar made a statue of gold sixty cubits high and six cubits broad. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2King Nebuchadnezzar then sent word to gather the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, officers, and all the provincial officials to attend the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3So the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, officers, and all the provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and stood before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4The herald proclaimed in a loud voice, “You are commanded, O peoples and nations of every language, 5when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, psaltery, bagpipe, and all other types of instruments, to fall down and worship the statue of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6Whoever will not fall down and worship shall at once be thrown into a burning fiery furnace.” 7And so, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, psaltery, and all other types of instruments, all peoples and nations of every language fell down and worshiped the statue of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8Seizing the occasion, certain Chaldeans came forward to slander the Jews. 9They spoke up and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10You, O king, gave an order that everyone who hears the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, psaltery, bagpipe, and all types of instruments must fall down and worship the golden statue, 11and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you appointed to administer the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; those men pay no heed to you, O king; they do not serve your god or worship the statue of gold that you have set up.”
13Then Nebuchadnezzar, in raging fury, ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to be brought; so those men were brought before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar spoke to them and said, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my god or worship the statue of gold that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue that I have made when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all other types of instruments, [well and good]; but if you will not worship, you shall at once be thrown into a burning fiery furnace, and what god is there that can save you from my power?” 16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego said in reply to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter, 17for if so it must be, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will save us from your power, O king. 18But even if He does not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the statue of gold that you have set up.”
19Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego that his visage was distorted, and he gave an order to heat up the furnace to seven times its usual heat. 20He commanded some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to throw them into the burning fiery furnace. 21So these men, in their shirts, trousers, hats, and other garments, were bound and thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22Because the king’s order was urgent, and the furnace was heated to excess, a tongue of flame killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 23But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, dropped, bound, into the burning fiery furnace.
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and, rising in haste, addressed his companions, saying, “Did we not throw three men, bound, into the fire?” They spoke in reply, “Surely, O king.” 25He answered, “But I see four men walking about unbound and unharmed in the fire and the fourth looks like a divine being.” 26Nebuchadnezzar then approached the hatch of the burning fiery furnace and called, “Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the fire. 27The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the royal companions gathered around to look at those men, on whose bodies the fire had had no effect, the hair of whose heads had not been singed, whose shirts looked no different, to whom not even the odor of fire clung. 28Nebuchadnezzar spoke up and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who sent His angel to save His servants who, trusting in Him, flouted the king’s decree at the risk of their lives rather than serve or worship any god but their own God. 29I hereby give an order that [anyone of] any people or nation of whatever language who blasphemes the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb, and his house confiscated, for there is no other God who is able to save in this way.”
30Thereupon the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the province of Babylon.
31“King Nebuchadnezzar to all people and nations of every language that inhabit the whole earth: May your well-being abound! 32The signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me I am pleased to relate. 33How great are His signs; how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion endures through-out the generations.”
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living serenely in my house, flourishing in my palace. 2I had a dream that frightened me, and my thoughts in bed and the vision of my mind alarmed me. 3I gave an order to bring all the wise men of Babylon before me to let me know the meaning of the dream. 4The magicians, exorcists, Chaldeans, and diviners came, and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its meaning known to me. 5Finally, Daniel, called Belteshazzar after the name of my god, in whom the spirit of the holy gods was, came to me, and I related the dream to him, [saying], 6“Belteshazzar, chief magician, in whom I know the spirit of the holy gods to be, and whom no mystery baffles, tell me the meaning of my dream vision that I have seen. 7In the visions of my mind in bed
I saw a tree of great height in the midst of the earth;
8The tree grew and became mighty;
Its top reached heaven,
9And it was visible to the ends of the earth.
Its foliage was beautiful
And its fruit abundant;
There was food for all in it.
Beneath it the beasts of the field found shade,
And the birds of the sky dwelt on its branches;
All creatures fed on it.
10In the vision of my mind in bed, I looked and saw a holy Watcher coming down from heaven.
