Daniel, by divine revelation, declares the dream of Nabuchodonosor, and
the interpretation of it. He is highly honoured by the king.
2:1. In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor
had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of
his mind.
The second year. . .Viz., from the death of his father Nabopolassar; for
he had reigned before as partner with his father in the empire.
2:2. Then the king commanded to call together the diviners and the wise
men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans: to declare to the king his
dreams: so they came and stood before the king.
The Chaldeeans. . .That is, the astrologers, that pretended to divine by
stars.
2:3. And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in
mind I know not what I saw.
2:4. And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king, live for
ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the
interpretation thereof.
2:5. And the king, answering, said to the Chaldeans: The thing is gone
out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream, and the meaning thereof,
you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.
2:6. but if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you shall
receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour: therefore, tell 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 declare the interpretation of it.
2:8. The king answered and said: I know for certain, that you seek to
gain time, since you know that the thing is gone from me.
2:9. If, therefore, you tell me not the dream, there is one sentence
concerning you, that you have also framed a lying interpretation, and
full of deceit, to speak before me till the time pass away. Tell me,
therefore, the dream, that I may know that you also give a true
interpretation thereof.
2:10. Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said: There is
no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king; neither doth
any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or
wise man, or Chaldean.
2:11. For the thing that thou asketh, O king, is difficult: nor can any
one be found that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose
conversation is not with men.
2:12. Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath,
commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.
2:13. And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain: and
Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be put to death.
2:14. Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence, of
Arioch, the general of the king's army, who was gone forth to kill the
wise men of Babylon.
2:15. And he asked him that had received the orders of the king, why so
cruel a sentence was gone forth from the face of the king. And when
Arioch had told the matter to Daniel,
2:16. Daniel went in, and desired of the king, that he would give him
time to resolve the question, and declare it to the king.
2:17. And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and
Misael, and Azarias, his companions:
2:18. To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of the God of
heaven, concerning this secret, and that Daniel and his companions
might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
2:19. Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night:
and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,
2:20. And speaking, he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from
eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude are his.
2:21. And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms, and
establisheth them: giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them
that have understanding:
2:22. He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in
darkness: and light is with him.
2:23. To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee:
because thou hast given me wisdom and strength: and now thou hast shewn
me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us the king's
discourse.
2:24. After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king had given
orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke thus to him:
Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I
will tell the solution to the king.
2:25. Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king, and said to
him: I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Juda, that
will resolve the question to the king.
2:26. The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltassar:
Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and
the interpretation thereof?
2:27. And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The secret that
the king desireth to know, none of the wise men, or the philosophers,
or the diviners, or the soothsayers, can declare to the king.
2:28. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath
shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pass in the
latter times. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are
these:
2:29. Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come
to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what
shall come to pass.
2:30. To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom that I have
more than all men alive: but that the interpretation might be made
manifest to the king, and thou mightest know the thought of thy mind.
2:31. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great
statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood
before thee, and the look thereof was terrible.
2:32. The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the
arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass.
2:33. And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.
2:34. Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without
hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron
and clay, and broke them in 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 a summer's
threshing floor, and they were carried away by the wind: and there was
no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statue became a
great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
2:36. This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof
before thee, O king.
2:37. Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a
kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:
2:38. And all places wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the
field do dwell: he hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand,
and hath put all things under thy power: thou, therefore, art the head
of gold.
2:39. And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee,
of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over
all the world.
Another kingdom. . .Viz., that of the Medes and Persians. Ibid. Third
kingdom. . .Viz., that of Alexander the Great.
2:40. And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into
pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break, and destroy all
these.
The fourth kingdom, etc. . .Some understand this of the successors of
Alexander, the kings of Syria and Egypt, others of the Roman empire,
and its civil wars.
2:41. And whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part of potter's
clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but yet it shall
take its origin from the iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed
with the miry clay.
2:42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay:
the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
2:43. And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall
be mingled indeed together with the seed of man, but they shall not
stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.
2:44. But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up
a kingdom that shall never by destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be
delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall
consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever.
A kingdom. . .Viz., the kingdom of Christ in the Catholic Church which
cannot be destroyed.
2:45. According as thou sawest, that the stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands, and broke in pieces the clay and the iron, and
the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shewn the
king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the
interpretation thereof is faithful.
2:46. Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel,
and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and
incense.
2:47. And the king spoke to Daniel, and said: Verily, your God is the
God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things: seeing
thou couldst discover this secret.
2:48. Then the king advanced Daniel to a high station, and gave him
many and great gifts: and he made him governor over all the provinces
of Babylon: and chief of the magistrates over all the wise men of
Babylon.
2:49. And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Sidrach,
Misach, and Abdenago, over the works of the province of Babylon: but
Daniel himself was in the king's palace.