The Babylonian Exile

And by me a decree is made, that any people, nation, and language, that doth speak erroneously concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, pieces he is made, and its house is made a dunghill, because that there is no other god who is able thus to deliver.'

Then the king hath caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to prosper in the province of Babylon.

`Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the earth: Your peace be great!

The signs and wonders that God Most High hath done with me, it is good before me to shew.

His signs how great! and His wonders how mighty! His kingdom is a kingdom age-during, and His rule is with generation and generation.

`I, Nebuchadnezzar, have been at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace:

a dream I have seen, and it maketh me afraid, and the conceptions on my bed, and the visions of my head, do trouble me.

And by me a decree is made, to cause all the wise men of Babylon to come up before me, that the interpretation of the dream they may cause me to know.

Then coming up are the scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and the dream I have told before them, and its interpretation they are not making known to me.

And at last come up before me hath Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar--according to the name of my god--and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and the dream before him I have told:

`O Belteshazzar, master of the scribes, as I have known that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret doth press thee, the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation, tell.

As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height is great:

become great hath the tree, yea, strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to the end of the whole land;

its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it: under it take shade doth the beast of the field, and in its boughs dwell do the birds of the heavens, and of it fed are all flesh.

`I was looking, in the visions of my head on my bed, and lo, a sifter, even a holy one, from the heavens is coming down.

He is calling mightily, and thus hath said, Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its budding, move away let the beast from under it, and the birds from off its branches;

but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens is it wet, and with the beasts is his portion in the herb of the earth;

his heart from man's is changed, and the heart of a beast is given to him, and seven times pass over him;

by the decree of the sifters is the sentence, and by the saying of the holy ones the requirement, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it, and the lowest of men He doth raise up over it.

`This dream I have seen, I king Nebuchadnezzar; and thou, O Belteshazzar, the interpretation tell, because that all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to cause me to know the interpretation, and thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

`Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him; the king hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My lord, the dream--to those hating thee, and its interpretation--to thine enemies!

The tree that thou hast seen, that hath become great and strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to all the land,

and its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it, under it dwell doth the beast of the field, and on its boughs sit do the birds of the heavens.

`Thou it is , O king, for thou hast become great and mighty, and thy greatness hath become great, and hath reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth;

and that which the king hath seen--a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he hath said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field is his portion, till that seven times pass over him.