¹“From Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples and nations and languages who dwell in all the earth, may your peace increase. ²It gives me pleasure to communicate the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done in connection with me.

³How great his signs are!

And how powerful his wonders are!

His kingdom is an age-abiding kingdom,

And his rule is with generation after generation.

⁴I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and thriving in my palace. ⁵I had a dream, and it frightened me, and my thoughts on my bed and the visions in my head disturbed me. ⁶And a decree was issued by me to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, for them to make the interpretation of the dream known to me. ⁷At this the magi, the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in, and I described the dream in their presence, but they did not make its interpretation known to me. ⁸And last of all Daniel came in to my presence, whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of holy gods, and I described the dream to him as follows: ⁹‘Belteshazzar, head of the magi, in whom I know that the spirit of the holy gods is, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Set out the visions of my dream which I had, and its interpretation. ¹⁰Now I saw the visions of my head on my bed,

And there was a tree in the middle of the earth,

And its height was great.

¹¹The tree grew and became strong,

And in height it reached the sky,

And it was visible at the ends of the whole world.

¹²Its foliage was beautiful

And its fruit was plentiful,

And there was food for everything in it.

Under it wild animals could find shade,

And in its branches the birds of the sky could dwell,

And from it all flesh could be nourished.

¹³I saw things in the visions of my head on my bed, and there was an angel – indeed a holy one – descending from heaven. ¹⁴He proclaimed loudly and said this:

«Cut the tree down,

And chop its branches off;

Strip its foliage off,

And scatter its fruit.

Let the animals under it flee,

And also the birds from its branches.

¹⁵But leave the stump with its roots in the ground,

And do that with iron and copper bonds

Pegged in the wild grass,

And let it be moistened with the dew from the sky,

And let its portion be with the animals

In the vegetation of the earth.

¹⁶Let his heart be changed from that of a man,

And let the heart of an animal be given to him,

And let seven timespans pass over him.

¹⁷The matter is by the decree of angels,

And the proceeding is by the edict of the holy ones,

So that the living may know

That the Most High is the ruler in the kingdom of man,

And that he may give it to whomever he wishes,

And that he may set the lowest of men over it.»

¹⁸I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw this dream. Now you, Belteshazzar, give the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom are able to make the interpretation known to me, but you are able to, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’ ¹⁹At this Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stupefied for about one hour, and his thoughts disturbed him. The king reacted and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream and the interpretation disturb you.’ Belteshazzar replied and said, ‘My lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries. ²⁰The tree which you saw, which grew and became strong, and which in height reached the sky, and which was visible over the whole world, ²¹and whose foliage was beautiful, and whose fruit was plentiful, with there being food for everything in it, with wild animals able to dwell under it, and in whose branches the birds of the sky could settle, ²²represents you, O king, who have grown and become strong, and whose greatness has increased and reached the sky, and whose rule extends to the end of the world. ²³And concerning the fact that the king saw an angel – indeed a holy one – descending from heaven saying, «Cut the tree down and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and do that with iron and copper bonds pegged in the wild grass, and let it be moistened by the dew from the sky, and let its portion be with the wild animals until seven timespans pass over it», ²⁴this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High which has come upon my lord the king. ²⁵Now you will be driven out from human society, and your habitat will be with the wild animals, and you will be fed on grass like oxen, and you will obtain drink from the dew of the sky. And seven timespans will pass over you in order that you may know that the Most High is the ruler in the kingdom of man, and that he can give it to whomever he wishes. ²⁶And concerning the fact that it was enjoined to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will remain yours after you have come to know that heaven is the ruler. ²⁷So, O king, let my counsel be commended to you, desist from your sins in favour of righteousness, and from your iniquity in favour of being compassionate to the poor, and it may be that your prosperity will have long duration.’ ” ²⁸All this came upon Nebuchadnezzar the king. ²⁹Twelve months later as he was walking in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon, ³⁰the king ventured to speak and said, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I built as a royal house by the strength of my power, and to the honour of my glory?” ³¹While the words were still in the king's mouth, a voice came down from heaven and said, “You are hereby informed, O King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has retreated from you. ³²And you are hereby driven out from human society, and your habitat is with wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven timespans will pass over you in order that you may know that the Most High is the ruler in the kingdom of man, and that he can give it to whomever he wishes.” ³³At that very moment the pronouncement was fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven out from human society, and he ate grass like oxen, and his body obtained drink from the dew of the sky, until his hair had grown like eagle's plumage, and his nails were like birds' claws. ³⁴“And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and gave glory to him who lives age-abidingly,

Whose dominion is an age-abiding dominion,

And whose kingdom is with every generation.

³⁵And all the inhabitants of the earth are considered nothing,

And as he wishes, so he acts,

With the might of heaven.

And as for the inhabitants of the earth,

Well there is no-one who can ward his hand off,

Or say to him,

‘What are you doing?’

³⁶At that very time my sanity returned to me. And to the honour of my kingdom, my glory and my splendour returned to me, and my attendants and my high-ranking officials sought me, and I was restored over my kingdom, and exceeding greatness was added to me. ³⁷So now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and whose ways are justice, and who is able to humble those who walk in arrogance.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 4: v.1 ↔ 1 Peter 1:2.