the king told them, "I have dreamed a dream and I will remain troubled until I can understand it."

The Chaldeans responded to the king in Aramaic: "May the king live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we'll reveal its meaning."

In reply the king told the Chaldeans, "Here is what I have commanded: If you don't tell me both the dream and its meaning, you'll be destroyed and your houses will be reduced to rubble.

But if you do relate the dream to me as well as its meaning, you'll receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. Therefore reveal the dream to me, along with its meaning."

They replied again, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we'll disclose its meaning."

So if you don't disclose the dream to me, there will be only one sentence for all of you. You have conspired together to present lies and corrupt interpretations until the situation changes. Now tell me the dream and I'll know that you can reveal its true meaning."

King Nebuchadnezzar replied by saying to Daniel (whose Babylonian name is Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me about the dream and its meaning?"

"While you were in bed, the dream and the visions that came to your head were as follows: Your majesty, when you were in bed, thoughts came to your mind about what would happen in the future, and the Revealer of Secrets has made known to you what will take place.

"This was the dream, and we'll now relate its meaning to the king.

Now, just as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without human hands and that it crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold to pieces so also the great God has revealed to the king what will take place after this. Your dream will come true, and its meaning will prove trustworthy."

I had a dream that made me afraid. The thoughts that went through my mind while in bed and the visions in my head terrified me.

So I gave an order to bring in all of the advisors of Babylon so they would tell me the interpretation of the dream.

Then the diviners, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers came in, and I told them the dream. But they could not reveal its interpretation to me.

Eventually, Daniel appeared before me. (He is called Belteshazzar, in accordance with the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is within him.) I told him my dream:

"Belteshazzar, chief of the diviners, since I know that the spirit of the holy gods is within you, and no mystery too difficult for you, explain to me the vision of my dream that I saw, along with its interpretation.

"This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning, since none of the advisors in my kingdom can tell me its interpretation. But you are able to do so because the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

Then Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was greatly troubled for a while and was terrified by his thoughts. The king said, "Belteshazzar, don't let the dream or its meaning terrify you."

Belteshazzar responded, "Your majesty, if only the dream were about your enemies and its meaning about those who oppose you! The tree that you saw, which grew large and strong until its top reached the sky and became visible to the whole earth

In the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel dreamed a dream, receiving visions in his mind while in bed, after which he recorded the dream, relating this summary of events.