The Babylonian Exile

but there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and He hath made known to king Nebuchadnezzar that which is to be in the latter end of the days. `Thy dream and the visions of thy head on thy bed are these:

Thou, O king, thy thoughts on thy bed have come up concerning that which is to be after this, and the Revealer of secrets hath caused thee to know that which is to be.

As to me--not for any wisdom that is in me above any living hath this secret been revealed to me; but for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of thy heart thou dost know.

`Thou, O king, wast looking, and lo, a certain great image. This image is mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing over-against thee, and its appearance is terrible.

This image! its head is of good gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass;

its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron, and part of them of clay.

Thou wast looking till that a stone hath been cut out without hands, and it hath smitten the image on its feet, that are of iron and of clay, and it hath broken them small;

then broken small together have been the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, and they have been as chaff from the summer threshing-floor, and carried them away hath the wind, and no place hath been found for them: and the stone that smote the image hath become a great mountain, and hath filled all the land.

This is the dream, and its interpretation we do tell before the king.

`Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of the heavens a kingdom, strength, and might, and glory, hath given to thee;

and whithersoever sons of men are dwelling, the beast of the field, and the fowl of the heavens, He hath given into thy hand, and hath caused thee to rule over them all; thou art this head of gold.

And after thee doth rise up another kingdom lower than those, and another third kingdom of brass, that doth rule overall the earth.

And the fourth kingdom is strong as iron, because that iron is breaking small, and making feeble, all things , even as iron that is breaking all these, it beateth small and breaketh.

As to that which thou hast seen: the feet and toes, part of them potter's clay, and part of them iron, the kingdom is divided: and some of the standing of the iron is to be in it, because that thou hast seen the iron mixed with miry clay.

As to the toes of the feet, part of them iron, and part of them clay: some part of the kingdom is strong, and some part of it is brittle.

Because thou hast seen iron mixed with miry clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men: and they are not adhering one with another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

`And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens a kingdom that is not destroyed--to the age, and its kingdom to another people is not left: it beateth small and endeth all these kingdoms, and it standeth to the age.

Because that thou hast seen that out of the mountain cut hath been a stone without hands, and it hath beaten small the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king that which is to be after this; and the dream is true, and its interpretation stedfast.

Then hath king Nebuchadnezzar fallen on his face, and to Daniel he hath done obeisance, and present, and sweet things, he hath said to pour out to him.

The king hath answered Daniel and said, `Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since thou hast been able to reveal this secret.'

Then the king hath made Daniel great, and many great gifts he hath given to him, and hath caused him to rule over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the perfects over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel hath sought from the king, and he hath appointed over the work of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and Daniel is in the gate of the king.

Nebuchadnezzar the king hath made an image of gold, its height sixty cubits, its breadth six cubits; he hath raised it up in the valley of Dura, in the province of Babylon;

and Nebuchadnezzar the king hath sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the honourable judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province, to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up.

Then are gathered the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the honourable judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province, to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up: and they are standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar hath raised up.