Daniel 2:24-45 - Daniel Praises God And Interprets The King's Dream
24 Upon this went Daniel in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise at Babylon: he went unto him, and said, "Destroy not such as are wise in Babylon, but bring me in unto the king, and I shall show the king the interpretation."
25 Then Arioch brought Daniel into the king in all the haste, and said unto him, "I have found a man among the prisoners of Judah, that shall show the king the interpretation."
26 Then answered the king, and said unto Daniel, whose name was Balteshazzar, "Art thou he, that canst show me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?"
27 Daniel answered the king to his face, and said, "As for this secret, for the which the king maketh inquisition: it is neither the wise, the sorcerer, the charmer nor the devil conjurer, that can certify the king of it: 28 Only God in heaven can open secrets; and he it is, that showeth the king Nebuchadnezzar what is for to come in the latter days. Thy dream, and that which thou hast seen in thine head upon thy bed, is this: 29 O king, thou didst cast in thy mind, what should come hereafter: So he that is the opener of mysteries, telleth thee what is for to come. 30 As for me, this secret is not showed me, for any wisdom that I have, more than any other living: but only that I might show the king the interpretation, that he might know the thoughts of his own heart.
31 Thou king sawest, and behold: there stood before thee a great Image, whose figure was marvelous great, and his visage grim. 32 The image head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his body and loins were of copper, 33 his legs were of iron, his feet were part of iron and part of earth. 34 Thou beheldest it till a stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon the feet that were both of iron and earth, and brake them to powder. 35 Then was the iron, the earth, the copper, the silver and gold broken altogether in pieces: and became like the chaff of corn, that the wind bloweth away from the summer floors, that they can no more be found. But the stone that smote the Image, became a great mountain, which fulfilleth the whole earth.
36 This is the dream. And now will we show before the king, what it meaneth. 37 O king, thou art a king of kings: For the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, riches, strength, and majesty: 38 And hath delivered thee all things that are among the children of men: the beasts of the field, and the fowls under the heaven, and given thee dominion over them all. Thou art that golden head.
39 After thee there shall arise another kingdom, which shall be less than thine. The third kingdom shall be like copper, and have domination in all lands. 40 The fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. For like as iron bruiseth and breaketh all things: Yea even as iron beateth everything down, so shall it beat down and destroy. 41 Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of earth and part of iron: that is a divided kingdom, which nevertheless shall have some of the iron ground mixed with it, forsomuch as thou hast seen the iron mixed with the clay. 42 The toes of the feet that were part of iron and part of clay, signifieth: that it shall be a kingdom partly strong and partly broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with clay: they shall mingle themselves with the seed of simple people: and yet not continue one with another, like as iron will not be soldered with a potsherd.
44 In the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up an everlasting kingdom, which shall not perish, and his kingdom shall not be given over to another people. Yea, the same shall break and destroy all these kingdoms, but it shall endure forever. 45 And whereas thou sawest that without any hands there was cut out of the mount a stone, which brake the iron, the copper, the earth, the silver and gold in pieces: by that hath the great God showed the king, what will come after this. This is a true dream, and the interpretation of it is sure."