Bible Reading Plan – Day 241

₁In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem and surrounded the city. ₂The Lord let him capture King Jehoiakim and seize some of the temple treasures. He took some prisoners back with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon, and put the captured treasures in the temple storerooms.

₃The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families. ₄They had to be handsome, intelligent, well trained, quick to learn, and free from physical defects, so that they would be qualified to serve in the royal court. Ashpenaz was to teach them to read and write the Babylonian language. ₅The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king. ₆Among those chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all of whom were from the tribe of Judah. ₇The chief official gave them new names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

₈Daniel made up his mind not to let himself become ritually unclean by eating the food and drinking the wine of the royal court, so he asked Ashpenaz to help him, ₉and God made Ashpenaz sympathetic to Daniel. ₁₀Ashpenaz, however, was afraid of the king, so he said to Daniel, “The king has decided what you are to eat and drink, and if you don't look as fit as the other young men, he may kill me.”

₁₁So Daniel went to the guard whom Ashpenaz had placed in charge of him and his three friends. ₁₂“Test us for ten days,” he said. “Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. ₁₃Then compare us with the young men who are eating the food of the royal court, and base your decision on how we look.”

₁₄He agreed to let them try it for ten days. ₁₅When the time was up, they looked healthier and stronger than all those who had been eating the royal food. ₁₆So from then on the guard let them continue to eat vegetables instead of what the king provided.

₁₇God gave the four young men knowledge and skill in literature and philosophy. In addition, he gave Daniel skill in interpreting visions and dreams.

₁₈At the end of the three years set by the king, Ashpenaz took all the young men to Nebuchadnezzar. ₁₉The king talked with them all, and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah impressed him more than any of the others. So they became members of the king's court. ₂₀No matter what question the king asked, or what problem he raised, these four knew ten times more than any fortune teller or magician in his whole kingdom. ₂₁Daniel remained at the royal court until Cyrus the emperor of Persia conquered Babylonia.

₁In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, ₂so he sent for his fortune tellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, ₃he said to them, “I'm worried about a dream I have had. I want to know what it means.”

₄They answered the king in Aramaic, “May Your Majesty live for ever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you.”

₅The king said to them, “I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. ₆But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honour. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means.”

₇They answered the king again, “If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it.”

₈At that, the king exclaimed, “Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind ₉to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means.”

₁₀The advisers replied, “There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortune tellers, magicians, and wizards. ₁₁What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings.”

₁₂At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. ₁₃So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends.

₁₄Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, ₁₅he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened.

₁₆Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. ₁₇Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ₁₈He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. ₁₉Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven:

₂₄So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, “Don't put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”

₂₅At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, “I have found one of the Jewish exiles, who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream.”

₂₆The king said to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar), “Can you tell me what I dreamt and what it means?”

₂₇Daniel replied, “Your Majesty, there is no wizard, magician, fortune teller, or astrologer who can tell you that. ₂₈But there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries. He has informed Your Majesty what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you the dream, the vision you had while you were asleep.

₂₉“While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamt about the future; and God, who reveals mysteries, showed you what is going to happen. ₃₀Now, this mystery was revealed to me, not because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that Your Majesty may learn the meaning of your dream and understand the thoughts that have come to you.

₃₁“Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at. ₃₂Its head was made of the finest gold; its chest and arms were made of silver; its waist and hips of bronze; ₃₃its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ₃₄While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. ₃₅At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.

₃₆“This was the dream. Now I will tell Your Majesty what it means. ₃₇Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honour. ₃₈He has made you ruler of all the inhabited earth and ruler over all the animals and birds. You are the head of gold. ₃₉After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. ₄₀And then there will be a fourth empire, as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters everything, it will shatter and crush all the earlier empires. ₄₁You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay. ₄₂The toes — partly iron and partly clay — mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. ₄₃You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay. ₄₄At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires, and then last for ever. ₄₅You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamt, and have given you its true meaning.”

₄₆Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground and gave orders for sacrifices and offerings to be made to Daniel. ₄₇The king said, “Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery.” ₄₈Then he gave Daniel a high position, presented him with many splendid gifts, put him in charge of the province of Babylon, and made him the head of all the royal advisers. ₄₉At Daniel's request the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel, however, remained at the royal court.