28. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. He will tell King Nebuchadnezzar what is going to happen in the days to come. This is your dream, the vision you had while you were asleep:
29. Your Majesty, while you were lying in bed, thoughts about what would happen in the future came to you. The one who reveals secrets told you what is going to happen.
30. This secret wasn’t revealed to me because I’m wiser than anyone else. It was revealed so that you could be told the meaning and so that you would know your innermost thoughts.
31. “Your Majesty, you had a vision. You saw a large statue. This statue was very bright. It stood in front of you, and it looked terrifying.
32. The head of this statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were made of silver. Its stomach and hips were made of bronze.
33. Its legs were made of iron. Its feet were made partly of iron and partly of clay.
34. While you were watching, a stone was cut out, but not by humans. It struck the statue’s iron-and-clay feet and smashed them.
35. Then all at once, the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were smashed. They became like husks on a threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain which filled the whole world.
36. This is the dream. Now we’ll tell you its meaning.