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Then the king ^(F1)gave orders to call in the ^(C1)soothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ^(F2)Chaldeans, to ^(F3)tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

The king said to them, "I ^(F1)(C1)had a dream, and my spirit ^(F2)is anxious to ^(F3)understand the dream."

Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^(F1)(C1)Aramaic: "^(C2)O king, live forever! ^(C3)Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation."

The king replied to the Chaldeans, "The command ^(F1)from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^(F2)(C1)torn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into a rubbish heap.

"But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^(C1)gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation."

They answered a second time and said, "Let the king ^(C1)tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation."

The king replied, "I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command ^(F1)from me is firm,

that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^(C1)one ^(F1)decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ^(F2)words before me until the ^(F3)situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, so that I may ^(C2)know that you can declare to me its interpretation."

The Chaldeans answered ^(F1)the king and said, "There is no person on earth who could declare the matter ^(F2)to the king, because no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^(C1)soothsayer priest, sorcerer, or Chaldean.

"Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^(F1)to the king except ^(C1)gods, whose ^(C2)dwelling place is not with mortal flesh."