Study Desk

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile (taint, dishonor) himself with the king's finest food or with the wine which the king drank; so he asked the commander of the officials that he might [be excused so that he would] not defile himself.

So the man listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.

So the overseer continued to withhold their fine food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.

The king spoke with them, and among them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they were [selected and] assigned to stand before the king and enter his personal service.

Then the king gave a command to call the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

"But if you tell [me] the [content of the] dream along with its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation."

So the decree went out that the wise men were to be killed; and they looked for Daniel and his companions to put them to death.

he said to Arioch, the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so harsh and urgent?" Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.

So Daniel went in and asked the king to appoint a date and give him time, so that he might reveal to the king the interpretation of the dream.

in order that they might seek compassion from the God of heaven regarding this secret, so that Daniel and his companions would not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will reveal to the king the interpretation [of his dream]."

"But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because my wisdom is greater than that of any other living man, but in order to make the interpretation known to the king, and so that you may understand [fully] the thoughts of your mind.

"Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like the chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found. And the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

"As the [ten] toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong, and another part of it will be brittle.

"And as you saw the iron mixed with common clay, so they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not merge [for such diverse things or ideologies cannot unite], even as iron does not mix with clay.

"Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has revealed to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy."

So when the people heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, dulcimer, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.

"So I gave orders to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, so that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

"This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, So that the living may know [without any doubt] That the Most High [God] rules over the kingdom of mankind And He bestows it on whomever He desires And sets over it the humblest and lowliest of men."