16 ¶ Then Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar) held his [a]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,

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Footnotes

  1. 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.

16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times[a] pass by for him.(A)

17 “‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High(B) is sovereign(C) over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest(D) of people.’

18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me.(E) But you can,(F) because the spirit of the holy gods(G) is in you.”(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 4:16 Or years; also in verses 23, 25 and 32