Daniel 4
1599 Geneva Bible
4 2 Another dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which Daniel declareth. 29 The Prophet declareth how of a proud king, he should become as a beast. 31 After he confesseth the power of God, and is restored to his former dignity.
1 I Nebuchadnezzar being at [a]rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace,
2 Saw a [b]dream, which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed, and the visions of mine head troubled me.
3 Therefore made I a decree, that they should bring all the wise men of Babel before me, that they might declare unto me the interpretation of the dream.
4 So came the enchanters, the astrologians, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers, to whom I told the dream, but [c]they could not show me the interpretation thereof,
5 Till at the last Daniel came before me, (whose name was [d]Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, which hath the spirit of the holy gods in him) and before him I told the dream, saying,
6 O Belteshazzar, [e]chief of the enchanters, 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.
7 Thus were the visions of my head in my bed, and behold, I saw a [f]tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great:
8 A great tree and strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the ends of all the earth.
9 The boughs thereof were fair and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: it made a shadow under it for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh fed of it.
10 I saw in the visions of mine head upon my bed, and behold, a [g]watchman and an holy one came down from heaven,
11 And cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and break off his branches: shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit, that the beasts may flee from under it, and the fowls from his branches.
12 Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, and with a band of iron and brass bind it among the grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts among the grass of the field.
13 [h]Let his heart be changed from man’s nature, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him, and let seven times be passed over him.
14 [i]The sentence is according to the decree of the watchmen, and according to the word of the holy ones: the demand was answered, to the intent that living men may know, that the most High hath power over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and appointeth over it the most abject among men.
15 This is the dream, that I King Nebuchadnezzar have seen: therefore thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof: for all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to show me the interpretation: but thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
16 ¶ Then Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar) held his [j]peace by the space of one hour, and his thoughts troubled him, and the King spake and said, Belteshazzar, let neither the dream, nor 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.
17 The tree that thou sawest, which was great and mighty, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof through all the world,
18 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all, under the which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven did sit,
19 It is thou, O king, that art great and mighty: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the ends of the earth.
20 Whereas the King saw a watchman, and an holy one that came down from heaven, and said, Hew down the tree, and destroy it, yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, and with a band of iron and brass bind it among the 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, [k]till seven times pass over him.
21 This is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king,
22 That 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 the [l]oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven: and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know, that [m]the most High beareth rule over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
23 Whereas they said, that one should leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall remain unto thee: after that, thou shalt know, that the heavens have the rule.
24 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and [n]break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by mercy towards the poor: lo, let there be a [o]healing of thine error.
25 All these things shall come upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
26 ¶ At the end of twelve [p]months, he walked in the royal palace of Babel.
27 And the king spake and said, Is not this great Babel that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?
28 While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee be it spoken, Thy kingdom is departed from thee,
29 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 the oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou knowest, that the most High beareth rule over the kingdom of men, and giveth it unto whomsoever he will.
30 The very same hour was this thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as the oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown as eagles feathers, and his nails like birds claws.
31 And at the end of these [q]days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding was restored unto me, and I gave thanks unto the most High, and I praised and honored him, that liveth forever, (A)whose power is an everlasting power, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
32 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and according to his [r]will he worketh in the army of heaven, and in the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, nor say unto him, What doest thou?
33 At the same time was mine understanding restored unto me, and I returned to the honor of my kingdom: my glory and my beauty was restored unto me, and my counselors and [s]my princes sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and my glory was augmented toward me.
34 Now therefore I Nebuchadnezzar [t]praise, and extol and magnify the king of heaven, whose works are all truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride, he is able to abase.
Footnotes
- Daniel 4:1 There was no trouble that might cause me to dream, and therefore it came only of God.
- Daniel 4:2 This was another dream besides that which he saw of the four Empires, for Daniel both declared what that dream was, and what it meant, and here he only expoundeth the dream.
- Daniel 4:4 In that that he sent abroad to others, whose ignorance in times past he had experimented, and left Daniel which was ever ready at hand, it declareth the nature of the ungodly, which never seek to the servants of God, but for very necessity, and then they spare no flatterings.
- Daniel 4:5 This no doubt was a great grief to Daniel not only to have his name changed, but to be called by the name of a vile idol, which thing Nebuchadnezzar did to make him forget the true religion of God.
- Daniel 4:6 Which also was a great grief to the Prophet to be numbered among the sorcerers and men whose practices were wicked and contrary to God’s word.
- Daniel 4:7 By the tree is signified the dignity of a king whom God ordaineth to be a defense for all kind of men, and whose state is profitable for mankind.
- Daniel 4:10 Meaning the Angel of God, which neither eateth nor sleepeth, but is ever ready to do God’s will, and is not infected with man’s corruption, but is ever holy: and in that that he commandeth to cut down this tree, he knew that it should not be cut down by man, but by God.
- Daniel 4:13 Hereby he meaneth that Nebuchadnezzar should not only for a time lose his kingdom, but be like a beast.
- Daniel 4:14 God hath decreed this judgment and the whole army of heaven have as it were subscribed unto it, like as also they desire the execution of his decree against all them that lift up themselves against God.
- Daniel 4:16 He was troubled for the great judgment of God, which he saw ordained against the king, and so the Prophets used on the one part to denounce God’s judgments for the zeal they bare to his glory, and on the other part to have compassion upon man, and also to consider that they should be subject to God’s judgments, if he did not regard them with pity.
- Daniel 4:20 Whereby he meaneth a long space, as seven years. Some interpret seven months, and others seven weeks, but it seemeth he means of years.
- Daniel 4:22 Not that his shape or form was changed into a beast, but that he was either stricken mad, and so avoided man’s company, or was cast out for his tyranny, and so wandered among the beasts, and ate herbs and grass.
- Daniel 4:22 Daniel showeth the cause why God thus punished him.
- Daniel 4:24 Cease from provoking God to anger any longer by thy sins, that he may mitigate his punishment, if thou show by thine upright life that thou hast true faith and repentance.
- Daniel 4:24 Suffer the errors of thy former life to be redressed.
- Daniel 4:26 After that Daniel had declared this vision: and this his pride declareth that it is not in man to convert to God, except his Spirit move him: seeing that these terrible threatenings could not move him to repent.
- Daniel 4:31 When the term of these seven years was accomplished.
- Daniel 4:32 He confesseth God’s will to be the rule of all justice, and a most perfect law, whereby he governeth both man and Angels and devils, so that none ought to murmur or ask a reason of his doings, but only to stand content therewith and give him the glory.
- Daniel 4:33 By whom it seemeth that he had been put from his kingdom before.
- Daniel 4:34 He doth not only praise God for his deliverance, but also confesseth his fault that God may only have the glory, and man the shame, and that he may be exalted and man cast down.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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