Daniel 4:7-23

⁷Then the soothsayer priests, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. ⁸But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying, ⁹‘Belteshazzar, chief of the soothsayer priests, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no secret baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

¹⁰‘Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the middle of the earth and its height was great.

11‘The tree grew large and became strong

And its height reached to the sky,

And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

12‘Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant,

And in it was food for all.

The animals of the field found shade under it,

And the birds of the sky lived in its branches,

And all living creatures fed from it.

¹³‘I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.

14‘He shouted out and spoke as follows:

“Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,

Shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit;

Let the animals flee from under it

And the birds from its branches.

15“Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,

But with a band of iron and bronze around it

In the new grass of the field;

And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,

And let him share with the animals in the grass of the earth.

16“Let his mind change from that of a human

And let an animal’s mind be given to him,

And let seven periods of time pass over him.

17“This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers,

And the decision is a command of the holy ones,

In order that the living may know

That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind,

And He grants it to whomever He wishes

And sets over it the lowliest of people.”

¹⁸This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, since none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, because a spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries! ²⁰The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, ²¹and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the animals of the field lived and in whose branches the birds of the sky settled— ²²it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth. ²³And in that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the animals of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,”