Daniel 2

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

1 One night, King Nebuchadnezzar had a crazy dream that messed with his head so bad, he could not sleep.

2 He called up his squad of magicians, enchanters, and astrologers, like, “Listen, you all must tell me what I dreamed and what it means.”

3 The king said, “I had this wild dream, and it is messing me up! I need to know what it means.”

4 The astrologers were like, “Aight, King, tell us the dream, and we will break it down for you.”

5 But the king was not playing. He was like, “Nah, you all must tell me what I dreamed and then explain it. If you cannot, I am going to have you all torn to pieces, and your houses turned into dumpsters.”

6 “But if you all come through, you will get mad rewards and respect. So, what is up, Tell me the dream and the meaning.”

7 The astrologers were shook, like, “For real, King, tell us the dream, and we got you with the meaning.”

8 But the king was fed up. He said, “Y’all are trying to buy time because you know I am serious. I know your game.”

9 “If you all cannot tell me the dream, I know you are straight-up lying with all these fake meanings. So, spit it out, or it is a wrap for you!”

10 The astrologers said, “King, nobody is on Earth can do what you are asking. No king has ever asked this from their magicians or enchanters.”

11 “What you want, only the gods know, and they do not live down here with us.”

12 This got the king heated, and he ordered all the wise men in Babylon to be put to death.

13 So they started rounding up the wise men, including Daniel and his boys, to take them out.

Daniel Seeks God

14 When the king’s guard, Arioch, pulled up on Daniel, he asked, “Listen, why the king tryna kill all the wise men?”

15 Daniel kept it cool, asking Arioch, “What is this about, Why is the king so mad?” Arioch broke it down for him.

16 Daniel went straight to the king and asked for some time. He was like, “Give me a minute, and I will come back with the answer.”

17 Daniel then went to his crew, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and told them what was going down.

18 He said, “We must pray and ask God to have mercy on us and give us the answer, so we do not get caught up in this mess.”

19 That night, God gave Daniel the answer in a vision. Daniel woke up, praising God.

20 He said, “Praise to God forever! He got all the wisdom and power.”

21 “He is the one who changes the times and seasons. He takes kings down and sets kings up. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the understanding.”

22 “He reveals the deep, hidden things. He knows everything, even what is hidden in the dark, because light lives with Him.”

23 “Thank you, God of my ancestors. You gave me wisdom and power, and you answered our prayer. Now I know what the king dreamed.”

Daniel Interprets the Dream

24 Daniel went to Arioch, who was about to kill the wise men, and said, “Hold up, do not kill them. I got the answer for the king.”

25 Arioch brought Daniel to the king and said, “I found someone from the exiles of Judah who can tell you what your dream means.”

26 The king asked Daniel, aka Belteshazzar, “Can you really tell me the dream I had and what it means?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, magician, or astrologer can tell you the mystery you asked about, King.”

28 “But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He showed you what is going to happen in the future. Your dream was about the days ahead.”

29 “As you lay in bed, you were thinking about what is next. God showed you what is about to go down.”

30 “God gave me the dream not because I am better than anyone else but so you can understand what it means and what is coming.”

The Kingdoms and the Rock

31 “In your dream, King, you saw a giant statue, shining bright. It was massive and terrifying.”

32 “The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,”

33 “its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay.”

34 “As you watched, a rock was cut out, not by human hands. It smashed the statue’s feet of iron and clay, and the whole thing came crashing down.”

35 “The iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were crushed to pieces, and the wind blew them away like dust. But that rock that hit the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”

36 “That is the dream, and now I will tell you what it means.”

37 “King Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king of kings. God gave you this kingdom, power, strength, and glory.”

38 “Wherever people, animals, or birds are, He put you in charge of all of it. You are the head of gold.”

39 “After you, another kingdom will rise, not as strong as yours. That is the silver. Then a third kingdom, represented by the bronze, will rule over the earth."

40 “Then a fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, iron crushes everything, and this kingdom will smash and crush all the others.”

41 “The feet and toes made of part iron and part clay mean the kingdom will be divided. It will have some strength, but it will also be weak.”

42 “Just like you saw iron mixed with clay, the kingdom will have strong and weak parts.”

43 “The iron and clay being mixed also means different people will try to unite, but they will not stick together, just like iron and clay do not mix.”

44 “But during these kings’ reigns, God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. It will crush all those other kingdoms and last forever.”

45 “That is what the rock cut out of the mountain without human hands means. It smashed the statue. God showed you what is going to happen in the future. The dream is real, and the meaning is legit.”

Daniel Promoted

46 King Nebuchadnezzar was so shook, he bowed down to Daniel, ordered gifts, and offerings for him.

47 The king said, “Listen, for real, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and the revealer of mysteries. You really broke down this dream.”

48 Then the king put Daniel on and gave him mad rewards. He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and put him in charge of all the wise men.

49 And because Daniel looked out for his boys, the king made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego managers of Babylon, while Daniel stayed posted up at the king’s crib.