Study Desk

^(F1)Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all ^(F2)languages who live in all the earth: "May your ^(F3)(C1)peace be great!

"I am pleased to declare the signs and miracles that the ^(C1)Most High God has done for me.

-"How great are His ^(C1)signs And how mighty are His miracles! His ^(C2)kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation.

"^(F1)I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ^(C1)happy in my palace.

"I saw a ^(C1)dream and it startled me; and these appearances as I lay on my bed and the ^(C2)visions ^(F1)in my mind kept alarming me.

"So I gave orders to ^(C1)bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, so that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

"Then the ^(C1)soothsayer priests, the sorcerers, the ^(F1)Chaldeans, and the diviners came in and I related the dream ^(F2)to them, but they could not make its ^(C2)interpretation known to me.

"But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is ^(C1)Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ^(F1)(C2)a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream ^(F2)to him, saying,

'Belteshazzar, ^(C1)chief of the soothsayer priests, since I know that ^(C2)a spirit of the holy gods is in you and ^(C3)no secret baffles you, ^(C4)tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

'Now these were the ^(C1)visions ^(F1)in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a ^(C2)tree in the middle of the ^(F2)earth and its height was great.

-'The tree grew large and became strong And its height ^(C1)reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

-'Its foliage was ^(C1)beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The ^(C2)animals of the field ^(F1)found ^(C3)shade under it, And the ^(C4)birds of the sky lived in its branches, And all ^(F2)living creatures fed from it.

'I was looking in the ^(C1)visions ^(F1)in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, ^(C2)an angelic watcher, a ^(C3)holy one, descended from heaven.

-'He shouted out and spoke as follows: "^(C1)Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the ^(C2)animals flee from under it And the birds from its branches.

-"Yet ^(C1)leave the stump ^(F1)with its roots in the ground, But with a band of iron and bronze around it In the new grass of the field; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let ^(F2)him share with the animals in the grass of the earth.

-"Let his ^(F1)mind change from that of a human And let an animal's ^(F1)mind be given to him, And let ^(C1)seven ^(F2)periods of time pass over him.

-"This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may ^(C1)know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And ^(C2)He grants it to whomever He wishes And sets over it the ^(C3)lowliest of people."

'This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, since none of the ^(C1)wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, because a ^(C2)spirit of the holy gods is in you.'