King James Version › Daniel › 4

Daniel

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1 Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king, unto all peo­ple, na­tions, and lan­guages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be mul­ti­plied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and won­ders that the high God hath wrought to­ward me. 3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his won­ders! his king­dom is an ev­er­last­ing king­dom, and his do­min­ion is from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion. 4 I Neb­uchad­nez­zar was at rest in mine house, and flour­ish­ing in my palace: 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the vi­sions of my head trou­bled me. 6 There­fore made I a de­cree to bring in all the wise men of Baby­lon be­fore me, that they might make known unto me the in­ter­pre­ta­tion of the dream. 7 Then came in the ma­gi­cians, the as­trologers, the Chaldeans, and the sooth­say­ers: and I told the dream be­fore them; but they did not make known unto me the in­ter­pre­ta­tion there­of. 8 But at the last Daniel came in be­fore me, whose name was Bel­te­s­haz­zar, ac­cord­ing to the name of my god, and in whom is the spir­it of the holy gods: and be­fore him I told the dream, saying, 9 O Bel­te­s­haz­zar, mas­ter of the ma­gi­cians, be­cause I know that the spir­it of the holy gods is in thee, and no se­cret trou­bleth thee, tell me the vi­sions of my dream that I have seen, and the in­ter­pre­ta­tion there­of. 10 Thus were the vi­sions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and be­hold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height there­of was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height there­of reached unto heav­en, and the sight there­of to the end of all the earth: 12 The leaves there­of were fair, and the fruit there­of much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shad­ow un­der it, and the fowls of the heav­en dwelt in the boughs there­of, and all flesh was fed of it. 13 I saw in the vi­sions of my head upon my bed, and, be­hold, a watch­er and an holy one came down from heav­en; 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branch­es, shake off his leaves, and scat­ter his fruit: let the beasts get away from un­der it, and the fowls from his branch­es: 15 Nev­er­the­less leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the ten­der grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heav­en, and let his por­tion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be giv­en unto him; and let sev­en times pass over him. 17 This mat­ter is by the de­cree of the watch­ers, and the de­mand by the word of the holy ones: to the in­tent that the liv­ing may know that the most High ruleth in the king­dom of men, and giveth it to whom­so­ev­er he will, and set­teth up over it the basest of men. 18 This dream I king Neb­uchad­nez­zar have seen. Now thou, O Bel­te­s­haz­zar, de­clare the in­ter­pre­ta­tion there­of, foras­much as all the wise men of my king­dom are not able to make known unto me the in­ter­pre­ta­tion: but thou art able; for the spir­it of the holy gods is in thee. 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Bel­te­s­haz­zar, was as­tonied for one hour, and his thoughts trou­bled him. The king spake, and said, Bel­te­s­haz­zar, let not the dream, or the in­ter­pre­ta­tion there­of, trou­ble thee. Bel­te­s­haz­zar an­swered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the in­ter­pre­ta­tion there­of to thine en­e­mies. 20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heav­en, and the sight there­of to all the earth; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit there­of much, and in it was meat for all; un­der which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branch­es the fowls of the heav­en had their habi­ta­tion: 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and be­come strong: for thy great­ness is grown, and rea­cheth unto heav­en, and thy do­min­ion to the end of the earth. 23 And where­as the king saw a watch­er and an holy one com­ing down from heav­en, and say­ing, Hew the tree down, and de­stroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots there­of in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the ten­der grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heav­en, and let his por­tion be with the beasts of the field, till sev­en times pass over him; 24 This is the in­ter­pre­ta­tion, O king, and this is the de­cree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as ox­en, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heav­en, and sev­en times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the king­dom of men, and giveth it to whom­so­ev­er he will. 26 And where­as they com­mand­ed to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy king­dom shall be sure unto thee, af­ter that thou shalt have known that the heav­ens do rule. 27 Where­fore, O king, let my coun­sel be ac­cept­able unto thee, and break off thy sins by righ­teous­ness, and thine in­iq­ui­ties by shew­ing mer­cy to the poor; if it may be a length­en­ing of thy tran­quil­li­ty. 28 All this came upon the king Neb­uchad­nez­zar. 29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the king­dom of Baby­lon. 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Baby­lon, that I have built for the house of the king­dom by the might of my pow­er, and for the hon­our of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heav­en, saying, O king Neb­uchad­nez­zar, to thee it is spo­ken; The king­dom is de­part­ed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as ox­en, and sev­en times shall pass over thee, un­til thou know that the most High ruleth in the king­dom of men, and giveth it to whom­so­ev­er he will. 33 The same hour was the thing ful­filled upon Neb­uchad­nez­zar: and he was driv­en from men, and did eat grass as ox­en, and his body was wet with the dew of heav­en, till his hairs were grown like ea­gles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. 34 And at the end of the days I Neb­uchad­nez­zar lift­ed up mine eyes unto heav­en, and mine un­der­stand­ing re­turned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and hon­oured him that liveth for ev­er, whose do­min­ion is an ev­er­last­ing do­min­ion, and his king­dom is from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion: 35 And all the in­hab­i­tants of the earth are re­put­ed as noth­ing: and he doeth ac­cord­ing to his will in the army of heav­en, and among the in­hab­i­tants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36 At the same time my rea­son re­turned unto me; and for the glo­ry of my king­dom, mine hon­our and bright­ness re­turned unto me; and my coun­sel­lors and my lords sought unto me; and I was es­tab­lished in my king­dom, and ex­cel­lent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Neb­uchad­nez­zar praise and ex­tol and hon­our the King of heav­en, all whose works are truth, and his ways judg­ment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.