Daniel:2

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* And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar , Nebuchadnezzar was dreaming dreams , and his spirit was troubled , and his sleep was finished on him . * And the king said to call to the horoscopists , and to the conjurers , and to the sorcerers and to the Chaldeans , to tell to the king his dreams . And they came and stood before the king . * And the king said to them , I have dreamed a dream , and my spirit was troubled to know the dream . * And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic : O king , live forever ! Tell your servants the dream , and we will reveal the meaning . * The king answered and said to the Chaldeans , The word is certainly gone from me . If you will not make known the dream and its meaning to me , you will be made into mere members , and your houses shall be made an outhouse . * But if you make known the dream , you shall receive gifts and a present and great honor from before me . Therefore , reveal the dream and its meaning to me . * They again replied and said , Let the king tell his servants the dream , and we will reveal its meaning . * The king answered and said , For I know that you buy time , that on account of all , you see the thing is certainly gone from me . * But if you will not make the dream known to me , there is one law for you . For you have agreed upon lying and deceiving words to speak before me until the time has changed . Therefore , tell me the dream , then I shall know that you can reveal the meaning to me . * The Chaldeans replied before the king and said , There is not a man on the earth who can reveal the king 's matter , because not any king , lord , or ruler has asked such a thing from any horoscopist , or conjurer , or Chaldean . * And the thing that the king asks is rare . And there is no other who may reveal it before the king , except the gods , whose dwelling is not with flesh . * Then the king was enraged and angered . And he commanded all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed . * And the law went out that the wise men should be killed . And they looked for and his companions , to be killed . * Then answered with counsel and insight to Arioch the chief of the king 's bodyguard , who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon . * He answered and said to Arioch , the king 's officer , Why is the decree so hasty from before the king ? And Arioch made the thing known to Daniel . * And went in and asked of the king that he would give him time , and he would show the king the meaning . * Then went to his house and declared the thing to Hananiah , Mishael , and Azariah , his companions , * that they might pray for the mercies of God in Heaven about this secret , that and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon . * Then the secret was revealed to in a night vision , and blessed the God of Heaven . * answered and said , Blessed be the name of God forever and ever , for wisdom and might are His . * And He changes the times and the seasons ; He causes to pass away kings , and sets up kings ; He gives wisdom to the wise , and knowledge to those who know understanding . * He reveals the deep and secret things ; He knows what is in the darkness , and the light dwells in Him . * I thank You and praise You , O God of my fathers , who has given me wisdom and might , and has made me know what we ask of You . For You have revealed to us the king 's matter . * Then went in to Arioch , whom the king had chosen to destroy the wise men of Babylon . He went and said this to him , Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon . Bring me in before the king , and I will show the meaning to the king . * Then Arioch quickly brought in before the king and spoke this to him , I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make the meaning known to the king . * The king answered and said to Daniel , whose name was Belteshazzar , Are you able to reveal to me the dream which I have seen , and its meaning ? * replied before the king and said , The secret which the king has demanded cannot be shown to the king by the wise men , the conjurers , the horoscopists , or the fortunetellers . * But there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets , and makes known to king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days . Your dream , and the visions of your head on your bed , are these : * As for you , O king , your thoughts came on your bed , what should happen after this . And He who reveals secrets makes known to you what shall occur . * But as for me , this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man , but so that the meaning might be made known to the king , and that you might know the thoughts of your heart . * You , O king , were seeing . And , behold , a certain great image ! That great image stood before you with a brilliant brightness , and its form was dreadful . * The head of this image was of fine gold , its breast and its arms were of silver , its belly and its thighs were of bronze , * its legs were of iron , its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay . * You continued until a stone was cut out without hands , which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay , and broke them to pieces . * Then the iron , the clay , the bronze , the silver , and the gold were together broken to pieces , and they became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors . And the wind carried them away so that no place was found for them . And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth . * This is the dream , and we will tell the meaning of it before the king . * You O king are the king of kings . For the God of Heaven has given you the kingdom , the power , and the strength , and the honor . * And wherever the sons of men , the animals of the field , and the birds of the sky dwell , He has given them into your hand , and has made you ruler over them all . You are the head of gold . * And in your place shall arise another kingdom lower than yours , and another third kingdom of bronze , which shall rule in all the earth . * And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron . Inasmuch as iron crushes and smashes all things , and as the iron that shatters all these , it will crush and shatter . * And as to that you saw , the feet and the toes were partly of potters ' clay and partly of iron , the kingdom shall be divided . But there shall be in it the strength of iron , because you saw the iron mixed with clay of the potter . * And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay , so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile . * And as you saw the iron mixed with the clay of the clay , they shall be mixed with the seed of men . But they shall not adhere to one another , even as iron does not mix with clay . * And in the days of these kings , the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed . And the kingdom shall not be left to other people . It shall break in pieces and destroy all these kingdoms , and it shall stand forever . * Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands , and that it broke the iron , the bronze , the clay , the silver , and the gold in pieces . The great God has made known to the king what shall occur after this . And the dream is certain , and the meaning of it is trustworthy . * Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel . And he commanded an offering , even to offer incense to him . * The king answered and said , Your God truly is a God of gods and a Lord of kings , and a Revealer of secrets , since you could reveal this secret . * Then the king made great and gave many great gifts to him . And he made him ruler over all the province of Babylon , and chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon . * And asked of the king , and he set Shadrach , Meshach , and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon . But sat in the gate of the king .

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