ናቡከደነፆር ያለመው ሕልም
1ናቡከደነፆር በነገሠ በሁለተኛው ዓመት ሕልም ዐለመ፤ መንፈሱ ታወከ፤ እንቅልፍም ከእርሱ ራቀ። 2ያለመውንም ሕልም እንዲነግሩት ንጉሡ ጠንቋዮችን፣ አስማተኞችን፣ መተተኞችንና ኮከብ ቈጣሪዎችን2፥2 ወይም ከለዳውያንን እንዲሁም 4፡5 እና 10 እንዲጠሩ አዘዘ፤ እነርሱም ገብተው በፊቱ ቆሙ፤ 3እርሱም፣ “አንድ ሕልም ዐለምሁ፤ ሕልሙም ምን እንደ ሆነ2፥3 ወይም ምን እንደ ነበር ለማወቅ መንፈሴ ተጨንቋል” አላቸው።
4ከዚያም ኮከብ ቈጣሪዎቹ ለንጉሡ በአረማይክ2፥4 ይህ ምዕራፍ ከዚህ ጀምሮ እስከ ም 7 ድረስ የተጻፈው በአረማይክ ነው። ቋንቋ “ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ ለዘላለም ንገሥ! ሕልምህን ለአገልጋዮችህ ንገረን፤ እኛም እንፈታልሃለን” አሉት።
5ንጉሡም ለኮከብ ቈጣሪዎቹ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ሕልሙንና ትርጕሙን ባትነግሩኝ አካላችሁ እንዲቈራረጥና ቤቶቻችሁም የፍርስራሽ ክምር እንዲሆኑ ወስኛለሁ፤ 6ነገር ግን ሕልሙንና ትርጕሙን ብትነግሩኝ፣ ስጦታና ሽልማት፣ ታላቅ ክብርም ከእኔ ትቀበላላችሁ፤ ሕልሙን ንገሩኝ፤ ትርጕሙንም አሳውቁኝ።”
7እነርሱም እንደ ገና፣ “ንጉሥ ሕልሙን ለአገልጋዮቹ ይንገረን፤ እኛም እንተረጕመዋለን” ብለው መለሱ።
8ንጉሡም እንዲህ ብሎ መለሰላቸው፤ “እኔ ምን ብዬ እንደ ወሰንሁ ስለምታውቁ፣ ጊዜ ለማራዘም እንደምትሞክሩ ተረድቼአለሁ፤ 9ሕልሙን ባትነግሩኝ፣ አንድ ቅጣት ይጠብቃችኋል፤ ሁኔታው ይለወጣል ብላችሁ በማሰብ የሚያሳስቱ ነገሮችንና ክፉ ሐሳቦችን ልትነግሩኝ አሲራችኋል፤ ስለዚህ ሕልሙን ንገሩኝ፤ ትርጕሙንም ልትነግሩኝ እንደምትችሉ በዚህ ዐውቃለሁ።”
10ኮከብ ቈጣሪዎቹም ለንጉሡ እንዲህ ብለው መለሱ፤ “ንጉሡ የጠየቀውን ጥያቄ ሊመልስ የሚችል ሰው በምድር ላይ አይገኝም! ማንም ንጉሥ ምንም ያህል ታላቅና ኀያል ቢሆን፣ እንዲህ ዐይነት ነገር ማንኛውንም ጠንቋይ፣ አስማተኛ ወይም ኮከብ ቈጣሪን ጠይቆ አያውቅም። 11ንጉሡ የሚጠይቀው እጅግ አስቸጋሪ ነገር ነው፤ በሰዎች መካከል ከማይኖሩት ከአማልክት በቀር ለንጉሡ የሚገልጽለት የለም።”
12ይህም ንጉሡን እጅግ አበሳጨው፤ አስቈጣውም፤ በባቢሎን ያሉ ጠቢባን ሁሉ እንዲገደሉም አዘዘ፤ 13ጠቢባን ሁሉ እንዲገደሉም ዐዋጅ ወጣ፤ ዳንኤልንና ጓደኞቹን ፈልገው እንዲገድሉ ሰዎች ተላኩ።
14የንጉሡ ዘበኞች አለቃ አርዮክ፣ የባቢሎንን ጠቢባን ለመግደል በመጣ ጊዜ፣ ዳንኤል በጥበብና በዘዴ አነጋገረው። 15የንጉሡን መኰንን፣ “ንጉሡ እንዲህ ዐይነት ከባድ ዐዋጅ ያወጣው ስለ ምንድን ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀው፤ አርዮክም ነገሩን ለዳንኤል ገለጠለት። 16በዚህን ጊዜ፣ ዳንኤልም ገብቶ ሕልሙን ይተረጕምለት ዘንድ ጊዜ እንዲሰጠው ንጉሡን ጠየቀው።
17ከዚህ በኋላ ዳንኤል ወደ ቤቱ ተመልሶ ለጓደኞቹ ለአናንያ፣ ለሚሳኤልና ለአዛርያ ነገሩን ገለጠላቸው። 18እርሱና ጓደኞቹ ከቀሩት የባቢሎን ጠቢባን ጋር እንዳይገደሉ፣ የሰማይ አምላክ ምሕረት ያደርግላቸውና ምስጢሩንም ይገልጥላቸው ዘንድ እንዲጸልዩ አሳሰባቸው። 19ለዳንኤልም ምስጢሩ በሌሊት በራእይ ተገለጠለት፤ ዳንኤልም የሰማይን አምላክ አመሰገነ፤ 20እንዲህም አለ፤
“ጥበብና ኀይል የእርሱ ነውና፣
የእግዚአብሔር ስም ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ይባረክ።
21ጊዜንና ወቅትን ይለውጣል፤
ነገሥታትን በዙፋን ያስቀምጣል፣
ደግሞም ያወርዳቸዋል፤
ጥበብን ለጠቢባን፣
ዕውቀትንም ለሚያስተውሉ ይሰጣል።
22የጠለቀውንና የተሰወረውን ነገር ይገልጣል፤
በጨለማ ያለውን ያውቃል፤
ብርሃንም ከእርሱ ጋር ይኖራል።
23የአባቶቼ አምላክ ሆይ፤ አመሰግንሃለሁ፤
አከብርሃለሁም፤
ጥበብንና ኀይልን ሰጥተኸኛልና፤
ከአንተ የጠየቅነውን ነገር አሳውቀኸኛል፤
የንጉሡን ሕልም አሳውቀኸናል።”
ዳንኤል ሕልሙን ተረጐመ
24ዳንኤልም የባቢሎንን ጠቢባን እንዲገድል ንጉሡ ወዳዘዘው ወደ አርዮክ ሄዶ፣ “የባቢሎንን ጠቢባን አትግደል፤ ወደ ንጉሡ ውሰደኝ፤ እኔም ሕልሙን እተረጕምለታለሁ” አለው።
25አርዮክም ዳንኤልን ወዲያውኑ ወደ ንጉሡ በመውሰድ፣ “ሕልሙንና ትርጕሙን ለንጉሡ መግለጥ የሚችል ሰው ከይሁዳ ምርኮኞች መካከል አግኝቻለሁ” አለው።
26ንጉሡም ብልጣሶር የተባለውን ዳንኤልን፣ “ያየሁትን ሕልምና ትርጕሙን ልትነግረኝ ትችላለህን?” አለው።
27ዳንኤልም እንዲህ አለ፤ “አንድም ጠቢብ፣ አስማተኛ፣ ጠንቋይም ሆነ ቃላተኛ ንጉሡ የጠየቀውን ምስጢር መግለጥ የሚችል የለም፤ 28ነገር ግን ምስጢርን የሚገልጥ አምላክ በሰማይ አለ፤ እርሱም በሚመጡት ዘመናት የሚሆነውን ነገር ለንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር ገልጧል፤ በዐልጋህ ላይ ተኝተህ ሳለ በአእምሮህ የነበረው ሕልምና ራእይ ይህ ነው፤
29“ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ ተኝተህ ሳለ፣ አእምሮህ ወደ ፊት ሊሆን ስላለው ነገር ያሰላስል ነበር፤ ምስጢርን ገላጭ የሆነውም ወደ ፊት የሚሆነውን ነገር አሳየህ። 30ይህ ምስጢር ለእኔ የተገለጠው፣ ከሰው ሁሉ ይልቅ ታላቅ ጥበብ ስላለኝ አይደለም፤ ነገር ግን ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ አንተ ትርጕሙን እንድታውቅና በአእምሮህ ታሰላስለው የነበረው ነገር ምን እንደ ሆነ ትረዳ ዘንድ ነው።
31“ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ በፊት ለፊትህ ግዙፍ የሆነ፣ የሚያብረቀርቅና የሚያስፈራ ታላቅ ምስል ቆሞ አየህ፤ 32የምስሉ ራስ ከንጹሕ ወርቅ፣ ደረቱና ክንዶቹ ከብር፣ ሆዱና ጭኖቹ ከናስ የተሠሩ ነበሩ፤ 33ቅልጥሞቹም ከብረት፣ እግሮቹም ከፊሉ ከብረት፣ ከፊሉም ከሸክላ የተሠሩ ነበሩ። 34ይህን በመመልከት ላይ ሳለህ፣ አንድ ድንጋይ የሰው እጅ ሳይነካው ተፈንቅሎ ወረደ፤ ከብረትና ከሸክላ የተሠሩትን የምስሉን እግሮች መታቸው፤ አደቀቃቸውም። 35ወዲያውኑም ብረቱ፣ ሸክላው፣ ናሱ፣ ብሩና ወርቁ ተሰባበሩ፤ በበጋ ወራት በዐውድማ ላይ እንደሚገኝ እብቅም ሆኑ፤ ነፋስም አንዳች ሳያስቀር ጠራረጋቸው፤ ምስሉን የመታው ድንጋይ ግን ታላቅ ተራራ ሆነ፤ ምድርንም ሞላ።
36“ሕልሙ ይህ ነበር፤ አሁን ትርጕሙን ለንጉሥ እንናገራለን። 37ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ አንተ የነገሥታት ንጉሥ ነህ፤ የሰማይ አምላክ መንግሥትንና ሥልጣንን፣ ኀይልንና ክብርን ሰጥቶሃል፤ 38የሰው ልጆችን፣ የምድር አራዊትንና የሰማይ ወፎችን በእጅህ አሳልፎ ሰጥቶሃል፤ በየትም ቦታ ቢሆኑ፣ በሁሉም ላይ ገዥ አድርጎሃል፤ እንግዲህ የወርቁ ራስ አንተ ነህ።
39“ከአንተም በኋላ ከአንተ የሚያንስ ሌላ መንግሥት ይነሣል፤ ቀጥሎም በናስ የተመሰለው ሦስተኛ መንግሥት ይነሣል፤ መላውን ምድርም ይገዛል። 40በመጨረሻም ሁሉን ነገር እንደሚቀጠቅጥና እንደሚሰብር ብረት ብርቱ የሆነ አራተኛ መንግሥት ይነሣል፤ ብረት ሁሉን ሰባብሮ እንደሚያደቅ ከእርሱ በፊት የነበሩትን መንግሥታት ሁሉ ሰባብሮ ያደቅቃቸዋል። 41እግሮቹና ጣቶቹ ከፊል ብረትና ከፊል ሸክላ ሆነው እንዳየህ፣ እንዲሁ የተከፋፈለ መንግሥት ይሆናል፤ ነገር ግን ብረትና ሸክላ ተደባልቀው እንዳየህ በከፊል የብረት ጥንካሬ ይኖረዋል። 42የእግሮቹ ጣቶች ከፊሉ ብረት ከፊሉ ሸክላ እንደ ሆኑ ሁሉ ይህም መንግሥት በከፊሉ ብርቱ በከፊሉ ደካማ ይሆናል። 43ብረትና ሸክላ ተደባልቀው እንዳየህ ሁሉ ሕዝቡም ድብልቅ ይሆናል፤ ብረትና ሸክላ እንደማይዋሃድ ሁሉ ሕዝቡም በአንድነት አይኖሩም።
44“በእነዚያ ነገሥታት ዘመን፣ የሰማይ አምላክ ፈጽሞ የማይፈርስና ለሌላም ሕዝብ የማይሰጥ መንግሥት ይመሠርታል፤ እነዚያን መንግሥታት ሁሉ ያደቅቃል፤ እስከ መጨረሻውም ያጠፋቸዋል፤ ይህ መንግሥት ራሱ ግን ለዘላለም ጸንቶ ይኖራል። 45የሰው እጅ ሳይነካው ከተራራ ተፈንቅሎ የወረደውና ብረቱን፣ ናሱን፣ ሸክላውን፣ ብሩንና ወርቁን ያደቀቀው ድንጋይ ራእይ ትርጓሜ ይህ ነው፤
“ታላቁ አምላክ ወደ ፊት የሚሆነውን ለንጉሡ አሳይቶታል፤ ሕልሙ እውነት ነው፤ ትርጓሜውም የታመነ ነው።”
46ከዚያም ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር በግንባሩ ተደፍቶ ለዳንኤል ሰገደለት፤ አከበረውም፤ መሥዋዕትና ዕጣንም እንዲያቀርቡለት አዘዘ። 47ንጉሡም ዳንኤልን፣ “ይህን ምስጢር ልትገልጥ ችለሃልና፣ በእውነት አምላካችሁ የአማልክት አምላክና የነገሥታት ጌታ፣ ምስጢርንም ገላጭ ነው” አለው።
48ንጉሡም ዳንኤልን በከፍተኛ ሥልጣን ላይ አስቀመጠው፤ እጅግ ብዙ ስጦታዎችንም ሰጠው፤ የመላው ባቢሎን አውራጃ ገዥ አደረገው፤ በባቢሎን ጠቢባን ሁሉ ላይም አለቃ አድርጎ ሾመው። 49ከዚህም በላይ በዳንኤል አሳሳቢነት ንጉሡ ሲድራቅን፣ ሚሳቅንና አብደናጎን የባቢሎን አውራጃ አስተዳዳሪዎች አድርጎ ሾማቸው፤ ዳንኤል ግን በቤተ መንግሥት ተቀመጠ።
Nebuchadnezzar Dreams About a Large Statue
1In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, he had a dream. His mind was troubled. He couldn’t sleep. 2So the king sent for those who claimed to get knowledge by using magic. He also sent for those who practiced evil magic and those who studied the heavens. He wanted them to tell him what he had dreamed. They came in and stood in front of the king. 3He said to them, “I had a dream. It troubles me. So I want to know what it means.”
4Then those who studied the heavens answered the king. They spoke in Aramaic. They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, may you live forever! Tell us what you dreamed. Then we’ll explain what it means.”
5The king replied to them, “I have made up my mind. You must tell me what I dreamed. And you must tell me what it means. If you don’t, I’ll have you cut to pieces. And I’ll have your houses turned into piles of trash. 6So tell me what I dreamed. Explain it to me. Then I’ll give you gifts. I’ll reward you. I’ll give you great honor. So tell me the dream. And tell me what it means.”
7Once more they replied, “King Nebuchadnezzar, tell us what you dreamed. Then we’ll tell you what it means.”
8The king answered, “I know what you are doing. You are trying to gain more time. You realize that I’ve made up my mind. 9You must tell me the dream. If you don’t, you will pay for it. You have gotten together and made evil plans. You hope things will change. So you are telling me lies. But I want you to tell me what I dreamed. Then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.”
10They answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what you are asking! No king has ever asked for anything like that. Not even a king as great and mighty as you has asked for it. Those who get knowledge by using magic have never been asked to do what you are asking. And those who study the heavens haven’t been asked to do it either. 11What you are asking is much too hard. No one can tell you what you dreamed except the gods. And they don’t live among human beings.”
12That made the king very angry. He ordered that all the wise men in Babylon be put to death. 13So the order was given to kill them. Men were sent out to look for Daniel and his friends. They were also supposed to be put to death.
14Arioch was the commander of the king’s guard. He went out to put the wise men of Babylon to death. So Daniel spoke to him wisely and carefully. 15He asked the king’s officer, “Why did Nebuchadnezzar give a terrible order like that?” Then Arioch explained to Daniel what was going on. 16When Daniel heard that, he went to the king. He told him he would explain the dream to him. But he needed more time.
17Then Daniel returned to his house. He explained everything to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He asked them to pray that the God of heaven would give him mercy. He wanted God to help him understand the mystery of the king’s dream. Then he and his friends wouldn’t be killed along with Babylon’s other wise men. 19During that night, God gave Daniel a vision. He showed him what the mystery was all about. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. 20He said,
“May God be praised for ever and ever!
He is wise and powerful.
21He changes times and seasons.
He removes some kings from power.
He causes other kings to rule.
The wisdom of those who are wise comes from him.
He gives knowledge to those who have understanding.
22He explains deep and hidden things.
He knows what happens in the darkest places.
And where he is, everything is light.
23God of my people of long ago, I thank and praise you.
You have given me wisdom and power.
You have made known to me what we asked you for.
You have shown us the king’s dream.”
Daniel Tells the King What His Dream Means
24Then Daniel went to Arioch. The king had appointed him to put the wise men of Babylon to death. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king. I’ll tell him what his dream means.”
25So Arioch took Daniel to the king at once. Arioch said, “I have found a man among those you brought here from Judah. He can tell you what your dream means.”
26Nebuchadnezzar spoke to Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar. The king asked him, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream? And can you tell me what it means?”
27Daniel replied, “You have asked us to explain a mystery to you. But no wise man can do that. And those who try to figure things out by using magic can’t do it either. 28But there is a God in heaven who can explain mysteries. King Nebuchadnezzar, he has shown you what is going to happen. Here is what you dreamed while lying in bed. And here are the visions that passed through your mind.
29“Your Majesty, while you were still in bed your mind was troubled. You were thinking about things that haven’t happened yet. The God who explains mysteries showed these things to you. 30Now the mystery has been explained to me. But it isn’t because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive. It’s because God wants you to know what the mystery means, Your Majesty. He wants you to understand what went through your mind.
31“King Nebuchadnezzar, you looked up and saw a large statue standing in front of you. It was huge. It shone brightly. And it terrified you. 32The head of the statue was made out of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made out of silver. Its stomach and thighs were made out of bronze. 33Its legs were made out of iron. And its feet were partly iron and partly baked clay. 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out. But human hands didn’t do it. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay. It smashed them. 35Then the iron and clay were broken to pieces. So were the bronze, silver and gold. All of them were broken to pieces. They became like straw on a threshing floor at harvest time. The wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain. It filled the whole earth.
36“This was your dream. Now I will tell you what it means. 37King Nebuchadnezzar, you are the greatest king of all. The God of heaven has given you authority and power. He has given you might and glory. 38He has put everyone under your control. He has also given you authority over the wild animals and the birds in the sky. It doesn’t matter where they live. He has made you ruler over all of them. You are that head of gold.
39“After you, another kingdom will take over. It won’t be as powerful as yours. Next, a third kingdom will rule over the whole earth. The bronze part of the statue stands for that kingdom. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom. It will be as strong as iron. Iron breaks and smashes everything to pieces. And the fourth kingdom will crush and break all the others. 41You saw that the feet and toes were made out of iron and baked clay. And the fourth kingdom will be divided up. But it will still have some of the strength of iron. That’s why you saw iron mixed with clay. 42The toes were partly iron and partly clay. And the fourth kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. 43You saw the iron mixed with baked clay. And the fourth kingdom will be made up of all kinds of people. They won’t hold together any more than iron mixes with clay.
44“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. It will never be destroyed. And no other nation will ever take it over. It will crush all those other kingdoms. It will bring them to an end. But it will last forever. 45That’s what the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain means. Human hands didn’t cut out the rock. It broke the statue to pieces. It smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold.
“The great God has shown you what will take place in days to come. The dream is true. And you can trust the meaning of it that I have explained to you.”
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low in front of Daniel. He wanted to honor him. So he ordered that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47The king said to Daniel, “I’m sure your God is the greatest God of all. He is the Lord of kings. He explains mysteries. That’s why you were able to explain the mystery of my dream.”
48Then the king put Daniel in a position of authority. He gave him many gifts. He made him ruler over the city of Babylon and the towns around it. He put him in charge of all its other wise men. 49The king also did what Daniel asked him to. He appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to help Daniel govern Babylon and the towns around it. Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
