Daniel 2 – NIVUK & NASV

New International Version – UK

Daniel 2:1-49

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.

New Amharic Standard Version

ዳንኤል 2:1-49

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።