1 “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the earth: Your peace be great! 2 The signs and wonders that God Most High has done with me, it is good before me to show. 3 How great His signs! And how mighty His wonders! His kingdom [is] a continuous kingdom, and His rule [is] with generation and generation. 4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, have been at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace: 5 a dream I have seen, and it makes me afraid, and the conceptions on my bed, and the visions of my head, trouble me. 6 And by me a decree is made, to cause all the wise men of Babylon to come up before me, that the interpretation of the dream they may cause me to know. 7 Then coming up are the scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and the dream I have told before them, and its interpretation they are not making known to me. 8 And at last Daniel has come up before me, whose name [is] Belteshazzar—according to the name of my god—and in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods, and the dream before him I have told: 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the scribes, as I have known that the spirit of the holy gods [is] in you, and no secret presses you, the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation, tell. 10 As for the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height [is] great: 11 the tree has become great, indeed, strong, and its height reaches to the heavens, and its vision to the end of the whole land; 12 its leaves [are] beautiful, and its budding great, and food for all [is] in it: under it the beast of the field takes shade, and in its boughs dwell the birds of the heavens, and of it are all flesh fed. 13 I was looking, in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold, a sifter, even a holy one, from the heavens is coming down. 14 He is calling mightily, and thus has said, Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its budding, move away let the beast from under it, and the birds from off its branches; 15 but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens is it wet, and with the beasts [is] his portion in the herb of the earth; 16 his heart from man’s is changed, and the heart of a beast is given to him, and seven times pass over him; 17 by the decree of the sifters [is] the sentence, and by the saying of the holy ones the requirement, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He wills He gives it, and the lowest of men He raises up over it. 18 This dream I have seen, I King Nebuchadnezzar; and you, O Belteshazzar, tell the interpretation, because that all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to cause me to know the interpretation, and you [are] able, for the spirit of the holy gods [is] in you.” 19 Then Daniel, whose name [is] Belteshazzar, has been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts trouble him; the king has answered and said, “O Belteshazzar, do not let the dream and its interpretation trouble you.” Belteshazzar has answered and said, “My lord, the dream—to those hating you, and its interpretation—to your enemies! 20 The tree that you have seen, that has become great and strong, and its height reaches to the heavens, and its vision to all the land, 21 and its leaves [are] beautiful, and its budding great, and food for all [is] in it, under it the beast of the field dwells, and on its boughs the birds of the heavens sit. 22 It [is] you, O king, for you have become great and mighty, and your greatness has become great, and has reached to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth; 23 and that which the king has seen—a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he has said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field [is] his portion, until seven times pass over him. 24 This [is] the interpretation, O king, and it [is] the decree of the Most High that has come against my lord the king: 25 and they are driving you away from men, and your dwelling is with the beast of the field, and they cause you to eat the herb as oxen, and they are wetting you by the dew of the heavens, and pass over you seven times, until you know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He wills He gives it. 26 And that which they said—to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom abides for you, after that you know that the heavens are ruling. 27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and your sins by righteousness break off, and your perversity by pitying the poor, behold, it is a lengthening of your ease.” 28 All—has come on Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29 At the end of twelve months, on the palace of the kingdom of Babylon he has been walking; 30 the king has answered and said, “Is this not that great Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength, and for the glory of my honor?” 31 While the word is [in] the king’s mouth a voice from the heavens has fallen: “They are saying to you: O Nebuchadnezzar the king, the kingdom has passed from you, 32 and from men they are driving you away, and your dwelling [is] with the beast of the field, they cause you to eat the herb as oxen, and pass over you seven times, until you know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He wills He gives it.” 33 In that hour the thing has been fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and from men he is driven, and he eats the herb as oxen, and his body is wet by the dew of the heavens, until his hair has become great as eagles, and his nails as birds. 34 “And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, have lifted up my eyes to the heavens, and my understanding returns to me, and I have blessed the Most High, and the Perpetual Living One I have praised and honored, whose dominion [is] a continuous dominion, and His kingdom with generation and generation; 35 and all who are dwelling on the earth are reckoned as nothing, and according to His will He is doing among the forces of the heavens and those dwelling on the earth, and there is none that claps with his hand and says to Him, What have You done? 36 At that time my understanding returns to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and my brightness return to me, and to me my counselors and my great men seek, and over my kingdom I have been made right, and abundant greatness has been added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honoring the King of the heavens, for all His works [are] truth, and His paths judgment, and those walking in pride He is able to humble.”
Daniel · Literal Standard Version
Daniel 4 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (36)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Daniel 6:25; 1 Peter 1:2; Daniel 3:4; 1 Chronicles 12:18; Ephesians 1:2
- 2 Daniel 3:26; Psalm 66:16; Acts 22:3–16; Psalm 51:14; Joshua 7:19
- 3 Psalm 145:13; Isaiah 25:1; Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Revelation 11:15
- 4 Isaiah 47:7–8; Ezekiel 29:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3; Psalm 30:6–7; Isaiah 56:12
- 5 Daniel 2:1; Daniel 7:28; Job 7:13–14; Daniel 5:5–6; Daniel 2:28–29
- 6 Daniel 2:2; Genesis 41:7–8; Isaiah 47:12–14; Isaiah 8:19
- 7 Isaiah 44:25; Daniel 2:7; Daniel 2:27; Genesis 41:8; 2 Timothy 3:8–9
- 8 Daniel 1:7; Daniel 5:14; Daniel 4:18; Daniel 2:11; Daniel 4:9
- 9 Daniel 5:11; Daniel 2:48; Daniel 4:8; Genesis 41:38; Ezekiel 28:3
- 10 Daniel 4:5; Jeremiah 12:2; Isaiah 10:33–34; Psalm 37:35–36; Ezekiel 31:3–18
- 11 Daniel 4:21–22; Matthew 11:23; Deuteronomy 9:1; Genesis 11:4
- 12 Luke 13:19; Lamentations 4:20; Ezekiel 17:23; Ezekiel 31:6–7; Mark 13:32
- 13 Deuteronomy 33:2; Daniel 7:1; Daniel 8:13; Zechariah 14:5; Daniel 4:23
- 14 Matthew 3:10; Ezekiel 31:12–13; Daniel 4:23; Daniel 4:12; Luke 3:9
- 15 Job 14:7–9; Daniel 4:25–27; Ezekiel 29:14–15
- 16 Daniel 4:23; Revelation 12:14; Isaiah 6:10; Daniel 4:25; Hebrews 1:11
- 17 Daniel 2:21; Daniel 4:25; 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 75:6–7; Jeremiah 27:5–7
- 18 Genesis 41:8; Daniel 5:15; Genesis 41:15; Daniel 5:8; Daniel 4:7–9
- 19 Daniel 8:27; Daniel 7:28; 1 Samuel 3:17; Daniel 4:24; Daniel 10:16–17
- 20 Ezekiel 31:3; Daniel 4:10–12; Ezekiel 31:16
- 22 2 Samuel 12:7; Daniel 2:37–38; Jeremiah 27:6–8; Daniel 5:18–23; Psalm 108:4
- 23 Daniel 5:21; Daniel 4:13–16
- 24 Psalm 107:40; Isaiah 46:10–11; Job 40:11–12; Job 1:12–19; Psalm 2:7
- 25 Daniel 4:17; Jeremiah 27:5; Psalm 83:18; Daniel 2:21; Psalm 106:20
- 26 Daniel 4:15; Matthew 21:20; Daniel 2:37; Matthew 5:34; Luke 15:21
- 27 Isaiah 55:6–7; Jonah 3:9; Acts 8:22; Ezekiel 18:27–32; James 4:8–10
- 28 Numbers 23:19; Zechariah 1:6; Proverbs 10:24; Matthew 24:35
- 29 Revelation 2:21; Genesis 6:3; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:15; Ecclesiastes 8:11
- 30 Proverbs 16:18; Revelation 17:5; Ezekiel 29:3; Isaiah 10:8–15; Revelation 18:10
- 31 Acts 9:3–5; Revelation 16:7; Luke 12:20; Daniel 4:24; Daniel 5:28
- 32 Daniel 5:21; Jeremiah 27:5; Proverbs 8:15–16; Job 12:18–21; Exodus 9:29
- 33 Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32; Daniel 5:21; Isaiah 30:14; Job 20:5
- 34 Revelation 4:10; Daniel 12:7; Psalm 145:13; Daniel 2:44; Jeremiah 10:10
- 35 Job 42:2; Psalm 135:6; Psalm 115:3; Romans 11:33–36; Isaiah 40:15–17
- 36 Proverbs 22:4; Daniel 4:34; Daniel 4:32; Daniel 4:15–16; Matthew 6:33
- 37 James 4:6–7; Psalm 33:4–5; 1 Peter 5:5–6; 1 Samuel 2:3; Deuteronomy 32:4
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… quencheth fire, so alms quencheth sin." Again it is written, "Shut up alms in the heart of a poor man, and it shall make supplication for thee before the Lord." Again it is written, "Hear, O king, my counsel, and redeem thy sins by alms." And many other testimonies of the Divine oracles are there, whereby it is shown that …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
After this, saith he, I, Nabuchodonosor, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and I blessed the Most High, and to Him that liveth for ever I gave praise and glory.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… think also that I have the Spirit of God," and again, "that good thing which was committed to thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." And of Daniel it is fitting to say that "the Holy Spirit of God is in him," and similarly of men who are like these in virtue.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)
And what [of this], that he called him "Belteshazzar, the name of" his own "god"? Thus [it seems] they accounted their gods to be nothing wonderful, when he called even the captive thus; he who commands all men to worship the image, manifold and of various colors, and who adores the dragon.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 14 (1889)
They are kings of men, who reign upon earth, but not without the power from above: and this Nebuchadnezzar once learned by experience, when he said; For His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His power from generation to generation.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)