Daniel 2:31-49 (EHV)

31 You, Your Majesty, were looking, and there was a very great statue. That statue, which was large and extremely bright, was standing in front of you. Its appearance was frightening. 32 The statue looked like this: Its head was fine gold, its chest and its arms were silver, its abdomen and its thighs were bronze, 33 its shins were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. 34 You continued to watch until a stone was cut, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet that were iron and clay, and it smashed them. 35 Then all at once the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed and became like the chaff on the threshing floors of summer. The wind carried them away, and no trace of them could be found. However, the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth. 36 This is the dream.

So now we will interpret its meaning for Your Majesty. 37 You, Your Majesty, are the king of kings to whom the God of Heaven has given a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. 38 Wherever there are people, wild animals, and birds of the air, God has given them into your hand, and he has made you ruler over all of them. You are the head of gold.

39 After you another kingdom will arise that will be inferior to yours. Then another kingdom, a third kingdom of bronze will arise. This kingdom will rule the entire earth. 40 A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, since iron crushes and shatters everything. So, like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all of these other kingdoms. 41 Because you saw feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, this will be a divided kingdom. It will have some of the hardness of iron, because you saw iron mixed with common clay. [1] 42 What is more, the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay. This means that part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 You saw iron mixed with common clay. This means that the different parts of the kingdom will be a mixture of different races of people, [2] and they will not remain united to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

44 In the days of those kings, the God of Heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another race of people. It will crush and put an end to all of these kingdoms, but it will stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain, but not by human hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to Your Majesty what will happen after this. The dream is sure, and its interpretation is certain.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown and paid homage to [3] Daniel. He commanded that a sacrificial gift and incense be offered to him. 47 The king said, “Truly your God is the God of Gods, the Lord of Kings, and the Revealer of Mysteries, because you were able to reveal this mystery.”

48 Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 When Daniel requested it, the king appointed Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. Daniel remained in the royal court.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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