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The Prophecy
of Daniel 2
In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor
had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream
went out of his mind.
Then the king commanded to call together the diviners
and the wise men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans:
to declare to the king his dreams: so they came and
stood before the king.
And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being
troubled in mind I know not what I saw.
And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king,
live for ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we
will declare the interpretation thereof.
And the king answering said to the Chaldeans: The thing
is gone out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream,
and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death,
and your houses shall be confiscated.
But if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you
shall receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour:
therefore tell me the dream, and the interpretation
thereof.
They answered again and said: Let the king tell his
servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation
of it.
The king answered, and said: I know for certain that
you seek to gain time, since you know that the thing
is gone from me.
If therefore you tell me not the dream, there is one
sentence concerning you, that you have also framed a
lying interpretation, and full of deceit, to speak before
me till the time pass away. Tell me therefore the dream,
that I may know that you also give a true interpretation
thereof.
Then the Chaldeains answered before the king, and said:
There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy
word, O king, neither doth any king, though great and
mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man,
or Chaldean.
For the thing that thou askest, O king, is difficult;
nor can any one be found that can shew it before the
king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with
men.
Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath,
commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be
put to death.
And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain:
and Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be
put to death.
Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence,
of Arioch the general of the king's army, who was gone
forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.
And he asked him that had received the orders of the
king, why so cruel a sentence was gone forth from the
face of the king. And when Arioch had told the matter
to Daniel,
Daniel went in and desired of the king, that he would
give him time to resolve the question and declare it
to the king.
And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias,
and Misael, and Azarias his companions:
To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of
the God of heaven concerning this secret, and that Daniel
and his companions might not perish with the rest of
the wise men of Babylon.
Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision
in the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,
And speaking he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord
from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude
are his.
And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms
and establisheth them, giveth wisdom to the wise, and
knowledge to them that have understanding.
He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what
is in darkness: and light is with him.
To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I
praise thee: because thou hast given me wisdom and strength:
and now thou hast shewn me what we desired of thee,
for thou hast made known to us, the king's discourse.
After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king
had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon,
and he spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of
Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will tell
the solution to the king.
Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king,
and said to him: I have found a man of the children
of the captivity of Juda, that will resolve the question
to the king.
The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was
Baltassar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell
me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?
And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The
secret that the king desireth to know, none of the wise
men, or the philosophers, or the diviners, or the soothsayers
can declare to the king.
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries,
who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what
is to come to pass in the latter times. Thy dream, and
the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:
Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what
should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth
mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pass.
To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom
that I have more than all men alive: but that the interpretation
might be made manifest to the king, and thou mightest
know the thoughts of thy mind.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were
a great statue: this statue, which was great and high,
tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look thereof
was terrible.
The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast
and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs
of brass:
And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part
of clay.
Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain
without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet
thereof that were of iron and of clay, and broke them
in pieces.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver,
and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like
the chaff of a summer's thrashingfloor, and they were
carried away by the wind: and there was no place found
for them: but the stone that struck the statue, became
a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation
thereof before thee, O king.
Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath
given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:
And all places wherein the children of men, and the
beasts of the field do dwell: he hath also given the
birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things
under thy power: thou therefore art the head of gold.
And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior
to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of brass,
which shall rule over all the world.
And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh
into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that
break and destroy all these.
Arid whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part
of potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall
be divided, but yet it shall take its origin from the
iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed with the
miry clay.
And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part
of clay, the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly
broken.
And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay,
they shall be mingled indeed together with the seed
of man, but they shall not stick fast one to another,
as iron cannot be mixed with clay.
But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven
will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,
and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another
people, and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume
all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever.
According as thou sawest that the stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands, and broke in pieces,
the clay, and the iron, and the brass, and the silver,
and the gold, the great God hath shewn the king what
shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true,
and the interpretation thereof is faithful.
Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped
Daniel, and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice
to him victims and incense.
And the king spoke to Daniel, and said: Verily your
God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer
of hidden things: seeing thou couldst discover this
secret.
Then the king advanced Daniel to a high station, and
gave him many and great gifts: and he made him governor
over all the provinces of Babylon, and chief of the
magistrates over all the wise men of Babylon.
And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Sidrach,
Misach, and Abdenago over the works of the province
of Babylon: but Daniel himself was in the king's palace.
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