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In King Nebuchadnezzar's dream God was telling the king (and us) what the "Big Picture" of the world will look like. In this dream God used a statue of a man who was divided into 5 sections and made of 4 different metals (and a little clay), each metal represented a different kingdom or nation. Verses1-30 tell the story, verses 31-35 tell the dream, and verses 36-45 give the meaning of the dream. These three sections of text are shown below.
2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep
brake from him.
2:2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the
sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and
stood before the king.
2:3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was
troubled to know the dream.
2:4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell
thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
2:5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if
ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye
shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
2:6 But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive
of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and the
interpretation thereof.
2:7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and
we will show the interpretation of it.
2:8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time,
because ye see the thing is gone from me.
2:9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, [there is but] one decree
for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till
the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can
show me the interpretation thereof.
2:10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon
the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore [there is] no king, lord,
nor ruler, [that] asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
2:11 And [it is] a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other
that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with
flesh.
2:12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise [men] of Babylon.
2:13 And the decree went forth that the wise [men] should be slain; and they
sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
2:14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the
king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise [men] of Babylon:
2:15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why [is] the decree [so]
hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
2:16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time,
and that he would show the king the interpretation.
2:17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
2:18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret;
that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise [men] of
Babylon.
2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel
blessed the God of heaven.
2:20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for
wisdom and might are his:
2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth
up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know
understanding:
2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what [is] in the
darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
2:23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me
wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for
thou hast [now] made known unto us the king's matter.
2:24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy
the wise [men] of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise
[men] of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the
interpretation.
2:25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto
him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the
king the interpretation.
2:26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, Art
thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the
interpretation thereof?
2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the
king hath demanded cannot the wise [men], the astrologers, the magicians, the
soothsayers, show unto the king;
2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to
the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the
visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
2:29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed, what
should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to
thee what shall come to pass.
2:30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for [any] wisdom that I
have more than any living, but for [their] sakes that shall make known the
interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy
heart.
2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This
great image, whose brightness [was] excellent, stood before thee; and the form
thereof [was] terrible.
2:32 This image's head [was] of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass,
2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the
image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to
pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and
the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that
smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
2:36 This [is] the dream; and we will tell the
interpretation thereof before the king.
2:37 Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee
a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the
fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over
them all. Thou [art] this head of gold.
2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another
third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all [things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall
it break in pieces and bruise.
2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part
of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength
of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
2:42 And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so]
the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even
as iron is not mixed with clay.
2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever.
2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without
hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver,
and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass
hereafter: and the dream [is] certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
For further study, read:
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