Daniel 2

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a series of dreams; he was perturbed by this andsleep deserted him.	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.
2 The king then had magicians and soothsayers, sorcerers and Chaldaeans summoned to tel him whathis dreams meant. They arrived and stood in the king's presence.	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.
3 The king said to them, 'I have had a dream, and my mind is troubled by a wish to understand it.'	3 And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in mind I know not what I saw.
4 The Chaldaeans answered the king: 'May your majesty live for ever! Tel your servants the dream, andwe shal reveal its meaning for you.'	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.
5 The king answered the Chaldaeans, 'This is my firm resolve: if you cannot tel me what I dreamt andwhat it means, I shal have you torn limb from limb and your houses turned into dunghil s.	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.
6 If, on the other hand, you can tel me what I dreamt and what it means, I shal give you presents,rewards and high honour. So tel me what I dreamt and what it means.'	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.
7 A second time they said, 'Let the king tel his dream to his servants, and we shal reveal its meaning.'	7 They answered again and said: Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation of it.
8 But the king retorted, 'It is plain to me that you are trying to gain time, knowing my proclaimed resolve.	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.
9 If you do not interpret my dream for me, there will be but one sentence passed on you al ; you haveagreed among yourselves to make me misleading and tortuous speeches while the time goes by. So tel mewhat my dream was, and then I shal know whether you can interpret it.'	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.
10 The Chaldaeans answered the king, 'Nobody in the world could explain the king's problem; what ismore, no other king, governor or chief would think of putting such a question to any magician, soothsayer orChaldaean.	10 Then the Chaldeains 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.
11 The question the king asks is difficult, and no one can find the king an answer to it, except the gods,whose dwelling is not with mortals.'	11 For the thing that thou askest, 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.
12 At this the king flew into a rage and ordered al the Babylonian sages to be put to death.	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.
13 On publication of the decree to have the sages killed, search was made for Daniel and hiscompanions to have them put to death.	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.
14 Then, with shrewd and cautious words, Daniel approached Arioch, the king's chief executioner, whenhe was on his way to kil the Babylonian sages.	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.
15 To this royal official Arioch he said, 'Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?' Arioch explainedmatters to Daniel,	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,
16 and Daniel went off to ask the king for a stay of execution to give him the opportunity of revealing his interpretation to the king.	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.
17 Daniel then went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah what had happened,	17 And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias his companions:
18 urging them to beg the God of heaven to show his mercy and explain the mysterious secret, so thatDaniel and his friends might be spared the fate of the other Babylonian sages.	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.
19 The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a night-vision, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.	19 Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,
20 This is what Daniel said: May the name of God be blessed for ever and ever, since wisdom and powerare his alone.	20 And speaking he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude are his.
21 It is he who controls the procession of times and seasons, who makes and unmakes kings, whoconfers wisdom on the wise, and knowledge on those with discernment,	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.
22 who uncovers depths and mysteries, who knows what lies in darkness; and light dwel s with him.	22 He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.
23 To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise for having given me wisdom and strength: to meyou have explained what we asked you, to us you have explained the king's problem.	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.
24 So Daniel went to see Arioch, whom the king had made responsible for putting the Babylonian sagesto death. Going in, he said, 'Do not put the Babylonian sages to death. Take me into the king's presence and Iwil reveal the meaning to the king.'	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.
25 Arioch lost no time in bringing Daniel to the king. 'Among the exiles from Judah,' he said, 'I havediscovered a man who can reveal the meaning to the king.'	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.
26 The king said to Daniel (who had been given the name Belteshazzar), 'Can you tel me what I dreamtand what it means?'	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?
27 Facing the king, Daniel replied, 'None of the sages, soothsayers, magicians or exorcists has beenable to tell the king the truth of the mystery which the king has propounded;	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.
28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and who has shown King Nebuchadnezzar whatis to take place in the final days. These, then, are the dream and the visions that passed through your head asyou lay in bed:	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:
29 'Your Majesty, on your bed your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future, and the Revealerof Mysteries disclosed to you what is to take place.	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.
30 This mystery has been revealed to me, not that I am wiser than anyone else, but for this sole purpose:that the king should learn what it means, and that you should understand your inmost thoughts.	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 thoughts of thy mind.
31 'You have had a vision, Your Majesty; this is what you saw: a statue, a great statue of extremebrightness, stood before you, terrible to see.	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.
32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs ofbronze,	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:
33 its legs of iron, its feet part iron, part clay.	33 And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck itsfeet of iron and clay and shattered them.	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 of clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then, iron and clay, bronze, silver and gold, al broke into pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floorin summer. The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grewinto a great mountain, fil ing the whole world.	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 thrashingfloor, 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.
36 This was the dream; we shal now explain to the king what it means.	36 This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.
37 'You, Your Majesty, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strengthand honour-	37 Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:
38 human beings, wild animals, birds of the air, wherever they live, he has entrusted to your rule, makingyou king of them al -- you are the golden head.	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.
39 And, after you, another kingdom wil rise, not as great as yours, and then a third, of bronze, which wilrule the whole world.	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.
40 There wil be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron, as iron that pulverises and crushes al . Like iron thatbreaks everything to pieces, it wil crush and break all the earlier kingdoms.	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.
41 The feet you saw, part earthenware, part iron, are a kingdom which wil be split in two, but which wilretain something of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together.	41 Arid 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.
42 The feet were part iron, part potter's clay: the kingdom wil be partly strong and partly brittle.	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.
43 And just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together, so the two wil be mixedtogether in human seed; but they wil not hold together any more than iron wil blend with clay.	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.
44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven wil set up a kingdom which wil never be destroyed, andthis kingdom wil not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms anditself last for ever-	44 But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be 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.
45 just as you saw a stone, untouched by hand, break away from the mountain and reduce iron, bronze,earthenware, silver and gold to powder. The Great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream istrue, the interpretation exact.'	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.
46 At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel; he gave orders for Daniel to be offered an oblation and a fragrant sacrifice.	46 Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.
47 The king said to Daniel, 'Your god is indeed the God of gods, the Master of kings, and the Revealer ofMysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.'	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.
48 The king then conferred high rank on Daniel and gave him many handsome presents. He also madehim governor of the whole province of Babylon and head of all the sages of Babylon.	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.
49 At Daniel's request, the king entrusted the affairs of the province of Babylon to Shadrach, Meshachand Abed-Nego; Daniel himself remained in attendance on the king.	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.