8. Daniel, who is called Belteshazzar after the name of my god, was the last to come before me. In him is the breath of the holy gods! I told Daniel the dream:
9. “Belteshazzar, chief of the dream interpreters, I know the breath of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Tell me the meaning of the visions I had in my dream.
10. In my mind, as I lay in bed, I saw a vision:At the center of the earth was a towering tree.
11. The tree grew in size and strength;it was as high as the sky;it could be seen from every corner of the earth.
12. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant;it had enough food for everyone.Wild animals took shade under it;birds nested in its branches.All living things lived off that tree.
13. “In my mind, as I lay in bed, I saw another vision: A holy watcher came down from heaven.
14. He proclaimed loudly:‘Cut down the tree and shear off its branches!Strip its leaves and scatter its fruit!The creatures should flee from its shelter;the birds should take flight from its branches.
15. But leave its deepest root in the earth,bound with iron and bronze in the field grass.Dew from heaven is to wash it,and it must live with the animals in the earth’s vegetation.
16. Its human mind is to be changed:it will be given the mind of an animal.Seven periods of time will pass over it.
17. This sentence is by the watchers’ decree;this decision is the holy ones’ wordso that all who live might knowthat the Most High dominates human kingship.The Most High gives kingship to anyone he wantsand sets over it the lowest of people.’
18. "This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. So now Belteshazzar, tell me the meaning because all the sages in my kingdom were unable to interpret it for me. But you are able to do it because the breath of the holy gods is in you."
19. Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar, was shocked for a bit. What he thought about frightened him.The king declared, "Don’t let the dream and its meaning scare you, Belteshazzar."Then Belteshazzar answered, “Sir, I wish the dream to be for those who hate you and its meaning to be for your enemies!
20. The tree you saw that grew in size and strength, that was as high as the sky, that could be seen from every corner of the earth,
21. with its beautiful leaves and its abundant fruit, and that had enough food for everyone, with wild animals living under it and birds nesting in its branches—