5. Then King Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “No, you must tell me the dream, and then you must tell me what it means. If you don’t, I will give an order for you to be cut into pieces. And I will order your houses to be destroyed until they are nothing but piles of dust and ashes.
6. But if you tell me my dream and explain its meaning, I will give you gifts, rewards, and great honor. So tell me about my dream and what it means.”
7. Again the wise men said to the king, “Please, Sir, tell us about the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”
8. Then King Nebuchadnezzar answered, “I know that you are trying to get more time. You know that I meant what I said.
9. You know that you will be punished if you don’t tell me about my dream. So you have all agreed to lie to me. You are hoping for more time so that I will forget what I want you to do. Now tell me the dream. If you can tell me the dream, I will know that you can tell me what it really means.”
10. The Chaldeans answered the king. They said, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king is asking! No king has ever asked the wise men, the men who do magic, or the Chaldeans to do something like this. Not even the greatest and most powerful king has ever asked his wise men to do such a thing.
11. The king is asking something that is too hard to do. Only the gods could tell the king his dream and what it means. But the gods don’t live with people.”
12. When the king heard that, he became very angry. So he gave an order for all the wise men of Babylon to be killed.
13. King Nebuchadnezzar’s order to kill all the wise men was announced. The king’s men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
14. Arioch was the commander of the king’s guards. He was going to kill the wise men of Babylon, but Daniel talked to him. Daniel spoke politely to Arioch
15. and said, “Why did the king order such a severe punishment?” Then Arioch explained the whole story about the king’s dreams, and Daniel understood.
16. When Daniel heard the story, he went to King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel asked the king to give him some more time. Then he would tell the king what the dream meant.
17. So Daniel went to his house. He explained the whole story to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
18. Daniel asked his friends to pray to the God of heaven that God would be kind to them and help them understand this secret. Then Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the other wise men of Babylon.
19. During the night, God explained the secret to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.
20. He said, “Praise God’s name forever and ever! Power and wisdom belong to him.
21. He changes the times and seasons. He gives power to kings, and he takes their power away. He gives wisdom to people, so they become wise. He lets people learn things and become wise.