Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers2:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 4, 5 and 10 to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3he said to them, ‘I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.2:3 Or was’
4Then the astrologers answered the king,2:4 At this point the Hebrew text has in Aramaic, indicating that the text from here to the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic. ‘May the king live for ever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.’
5The king replied to the astrologers, ‘This is what I have firmly decided: if you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.’
7Once more they replied, ‘Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.’
8Then the king answered, ‘I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realise that this is what I have firmly decided: 9if you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.’
10The astrologers answered the king, ‘There is no-one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11What the king asks is too difficult. No-one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.’
12This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
14When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15He asked the king’s officer, ‘Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?’ Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20and said:
‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
you have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.’
Daniel interprets the dream
24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, ‘Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.’
25Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, ‘I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.’
26The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), ‘Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?’
27Daniel replied, ‘No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:
29‘As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31‘Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue – an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing-floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36‘This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39‘After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron – for iron breaks and smashes everything – and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44‘In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever. 45This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
‘The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.’
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’
48Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chief ministers over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
尼布甲尼撒的夢
1尼布甲尼撒在執政第二年做了夢，心裡煩亂，無法入睡， 2便派人召來術士、巫師、行法術的和占星家2·2 「占星家」亞蘭文作「迦勒底人」，同下2·4、5、10節；3·8；4·7；5·7、11。，為他解夢。他們都來到王面前。 3王對他們說：「我做了一個夢，心裡煩亂，想知道夢的意思。」 4占星家用亞蘭話對王說：「願王萬歲！請將夢告訴僕人，僕人好解釋夢的意思。」 5王對占星家說：「我的旨意已定，你們若不能將夢和夢的意思告訴我，必被碎屍萬段，你們的家必淪為廢墟。 6你們若能將夢和夢的意思告訴我，我必給你們禮物、賞賜和極大的尊榮。所以你們要將夢和夢的意思告訴我。」 7他們再次對王說：「請王將夢告訴僕人，僕人好解釋夢的意思。」 8王說：「我敢肯定，你們是在拖延時間，因為你們知道我的旨意已定， 9你們若不將夢告訴我，我必懲治你們。你們串通起來在我面前胡言亂語，期待情況會改變。現在將夢告訴我，我就相信你們能解夢。」 10占星家說：「王所要求的，世上無人能做到，因為再偉大、再有權勢的君王也沒問過術士、巫師或占星家這樣的事。 11王問的事太難，除了不在人間居住的神明外，無人能為王解答。」 12王大怒，下令處死巴比倫所有的智者。 13於是，處死智者的諭旨發出，但以理和他的同伴都在被殺之列。
14王的護衛長亞略奉命要處死巴比倫的智者，但以理機智、謹慎地應對。 15他問王的護衛長亞略：「王的命令為何這樣緊急？」亞略就把情況告訴他。 16但以理便進宮求王寬限，以便為王解夢。 17然後，他回到居所將這事告訴同伴哈拿尼雅、米沙利和亞撒利雅， 18要同伴祈求天上的上帝施憐憫，顯明這奧秘，以免他們和其他巴比倫的智者一起被殺。 19這奧秘在夜間的異象中向但以理顯明，他便頌讚天上的上帝， 20說：
「上帝的名永永遠遠當受稱頌，
因為智慧和能力都屬於祂。
21祂改變時令和季節，廢王立王，
賜智慧給智者，賜知識給哲士。
22祂顯明深奧隱秘之事，
洞悉暗中的隱情，
有光與祂同住。
23我祖先的上帝啊，我感謝你，讚美你，
因你賜我智慧和能力，
應允我們的祈求，
使我們明白王的夢。」
但以理解夢
24於是，但以理去見王指派處死巴比倫智者的亞略，對他說：「不要處死巴比倫的智者，請帶我去見王，我要為王解夢。」 25亞略急忙帶但以理去見王，對王說：「我在被擄的猶大人中找到一個能為王解夢的。」 26王就問又名伯提沙撒的但以理：「你能將我做的夢和夢的意思告訴我嗎？」 27但以理回答說：「沒有智者、術士、巫師或占星家可以解答王所問的奧秘， 28-30但天上的上帝能揭開奧秘，祂已把將來要發生的事告訴了王。王啊，你在床上夢見了將來的事，揭開奧秘的上帝已把將來的事指示給你。上帝將王做的夢啟示給我，並非因為我的智慧勝過其他人，而是要讓王知道夢的意思和王的心事。以下是王在床上做的夢和腦中出現的異象。
31「王啊，你夢見一個高大宏偉、極其明亮的塑像站在你面前，相貌可怕， 32有純金的頭、銀的胸和臂、銅的肚腹和大腿、 33鐵的小腿和半鐵半泥的腳。 34在你觀看的時候，有一塊非人手鑿出的石頭打在塑像半鐵半泥的腳上，砸碎了腳。 35鐵、泥、銅、銀、金隨即粉碎，猶如夏天麥場上的糠秕，被風吹得無影無蹤。但打碎這像的石頭變成一座大山，充滿整個大地。
36「這就是夢的內容。現在我們要為王解夢。 37王啊，你是萬王之王，天上的上帝已將國度、權柄、能力和尊榮賜給你， 38也將居住在各地的世人、走獸和飛禽都交在你手中，讓你管理。你就是那金頭。 39在你之後，必有另一國興起，不及你的國強大。之後是將要統治天下的第三個國，是銅的。 40接著是堅如鐵的第四國，能擊垮、打碎列國，正如鐵能擊垮、打碎一切。 41你看見半鐵半陶泥的腳和腳趾，表示那將是一個分裂的國。正如你看見鐵和泥混雜在一起，它必有鐵一般的力量。 42半鐵半泥的腳趾表示那國必半強半弱。 43你看見鐵和泥混雜在一起，這表示那國的民族彼此混雜通婚，卻不能團結，正如鐵和泥無法混合。 44在以上列王統治的時候，天上的上帝必設立一國——永不滅亡、外族無法奪其政權。這國將擊垮、消滅列國，並且永遠長存。 45你看見那塊非人手從山中鑿出的石頭打碎鐵、銅、泥、銀和金。偉大的上帝已把將來的事告訴了王。這夢是真實的，解釋是可靠的。」
46尼布甲尼撒王俯伏在地，向但以理下拜，並下令給他獻供物和香。 47王對但以理說：「你們的上帝真是萬神之神、萬王之主、奧秘的啟示者，因為你能揭開這個奧秘。」 48王賜但以理高官及許多貴重的禮物，派他治理巴比倫全省，管理巴比倫所有的智者。 49王又應允但以理的請求，派沙得拉、米煞和亞伯尼歌負責巴比倫省的事務。但以理仍在朝中供職。
