1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit {ruach: inner life force} was troubled, and his sleep {shnat: state of rest} left him.
2 And the king said to call the magicians {chartumim: scribal scholars in divination}, the conjurers {ashshafim: occult ritual practitioners}, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit {ruchi: emotional core} was troubled {vattippa'em: agitated unrest} to know the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic {aramit: court language}, “O king {malka: court honorific}, live forever. Say the dream to your servants, and we will make known the interpretation.”
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word {milta: binding decree} from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be made into pieces, and your houses shall be set as a dunghill {nevali: heap of refuse}.”
6 But if you show me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts{matnan: ceremonial offerings}, rewards, and great honor{yiqar: public distinction} from me. Therefore, show me the dream and its interpretation.
7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king {malka: Royal Ruler} tell the dream to his servants, and we will show its interpretation {pishra: Hidden Meaning}.”
8 The king answered and said, “With certainty I know that you are buying time {zavnin: delaying deliberately}, because you see that my decree {milta: binding decision} is fixed.”
9 If you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree {dat: authoritative judgment} for you, for you have contrived falsehood {kidva: deliberate lie} and corruption to speak before me until the time changes. So reveal the dream to me, and I will know that you can disclose its interpretation.
10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is no person on earth who can disclose the king’s matter{milat: royal concern}; for no king, however great and powerful, has ever requested such a thing from any magician or enchanter or Chaldean{kashdai: member of the Chaldean elite}."
11 And the matter which the king has asked is difficult {yaqira: rare difficulty}, and there is no other who can declare it before the king except the gods whose dwelling {medarhon: divine abode} is not with flesh.
12 Because of this, the king {malka: Royal Ruler} grew angry and exceedingly furious, and he commanded the lethal decree {lehovada: Formal Edict of Demise} against all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree{data: binding edict} went out, and the wise men{khakimayya: court sages} were being put to death; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be put to death.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel {eta: thoughtful advice} to Arioch, the chief executioner {rav-tabbachayya: royal executioner} of the king who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
15 He answered and said to Arioch, the captain {shalita: chief officer} of the king, “Why is the decree {data: official order or edict} so urgent from before the king?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
16 And Daniel {daniyyel: God’s Judge} went in and requested from the king that he would grant him time, so that the interpretation {pishra: explanation} could be shown to the king.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter {milta: concerned issue} known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions {ḥabrovhī: close associates}.
18 That they might seek mercies from the God of heaven {elah shemaya: Supreme Ruler} concerning this mystery {raza: hidden matter}, so that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed God {elah: Divine Source} of heaven {shemaya: celestial expanse}.
20 Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God {Elaʾah, Supreme Deity} be blessed from eternity and until eternity; for wisdom {ḥokmetha: skillful insight} and might are His.”
21 And He {Elah, Sovereign Changer} changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise {chakkimin: discerning}, and knowledge to those who know understanding.
22 He {Elah, Revealer} reveals deep things {amikata: profound mysteries} and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.
23 To You, O God of my fathers {Elah avahati, Ancestral Deity}, I give thanks and praise, for You have given me wisdom {khokhmetha: skillful insight} and might, and now You have made known to me what we asked, for You have made known to us the matter of the king.
24 For this reason Daniel went in to Arioch {aryokh: bodyguard captain}, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will show the interpretation {pishra: explanation of mysteries} to the king.”
25 Then Arioch {Arioch: palace official} brought Daniel in haste before the king and said to him, "I have found a man from among the sons of the captivity {galuta: deported community} of Judah who will make known the interpretation to the king."
26 The king {malka: royal sovereign} answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw, and its interpretation {fishreh: explanation of meaning}?”
27 Daniel answered before the king {malka: royal ruler} and said, “The mystery {raza: hidden inquiry} that the king has asked—no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners are able to make known to the king.”
28 But there is a God {elah, Mystery Revealer} in heaven who reveals mysteries {razīn: hidden truths}, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the end of days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed—this is it.
29 To you, O king, your thoughts arose upon your bed concerning what would come after this, and Revealer of mysteries {gale razayya: uncoverer of hidden things} has made known to you what is to be {lehewe: what will happen}.
30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because of any wisdom which is in me beyond all the living, but rather, so that the interpretation {pishrā: disclosed meaning} might be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart {libbāḵ: innermost mind}.
31 You, O king, saw and behold {waalu: sudden revealing} a single great image. That image—great and gleaming in surpassing brightness {weziweh: radiant brilliance}—stood before you, and its appearance was terrifying.
32 This image’s {tsalma: statue figure} head was of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze {nekhash: copper alloy}.
33 His legs were of iron {parzel: durable metal}, and his feet, part of them were of iron and part of them were of clay {khasaf: pottery clay}.
34 You were watching until a stone {even: set-apart agent} was cut out not by hands {bidayin: human agency} and struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, crushing them to pieces.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff {ur: worthless fragments} from the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away so that no place was found for them. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain {tur: sovereign realm} and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream, and we will declare its interpretation {pishreh: inner meaning} before the king {malka: royal authority}.
37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom God of heaven {elah shemaya, Celestial Ruler} has given the kingdom, the strength {khisna: enduring power}, the power, and the glory.
38 And in every place where the sons of men dwell, He {elaha, Bestower of Dominion} has given the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky into your hand and made you ruler over all of them. You are the head of gold {dahava: supreme emblem}.
39 And after you, another kingdom {malkhu: sovereign realm} will arise, inferior to you; and a third kingdom {telita'a: ordinal sequence}, another one of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.
40 And a fourth kingdom {malkhu: sovereign dominion} will be strong like iron; just as iron crushes {mehaddeq: forceful crushing} and shatters everything, and like iron that crushes all these, it will crush and shatter them.
41 And as you saw the feet and the toes, part of them was of potter’s clay and part was of iron; the kingdom {malkhu: governmental reign} shall be divided, yet there shall be in it of the strength {nitsbeta: resilient firmness} of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron {parzel: enduring metal} and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong, and partly broken {tevirah: shattered or fractured}.
43 And as you saw the iron being mixed with clay {chasaf: potter’s clay} and mud, they will mingle with the seed {zera: offspring} of men; but they will not cling to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven {Elah Shemaya, Supreme Ruler} will raise up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and its rule will not be handed over to another people {ʿam: nation-group}; it will crush and bring to an end all those kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain without hands {yadayin: human agency} and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God {Elah, Future-Revealing Sovereign} has made known to the king what will be after this; and the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel, and he commanded that a grain-sacrifice {minḥa: grain-offering} and aromatic offerings {niḥoḥin: fragrant offerings} be presented to him.
47 The king answered and said to Daniel, "Truly your God {Elahakhon: divine authority} is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets {razin: hidden mysteries}, for you were able to reveal this secret."
48 Then the king {malka: Royal Ruler} made Daniel great and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon, and chief prefect {rav-signin: Senior Administrator} over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel {Danîyel: God’s Judge} requested from the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs {avidta: administrative duties} of the province of Babylon. However, Daniel sat at the gate of the king.