Daniel 4:1-8

Rachel Workman: 4 ^[a]King Nebuchadnezzar,
To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:
May you prosper greatly!
² It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
³ How great are his signs,
    how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
    his dominion endures from generation to generation. God turned Daniel over to one of the most wicked rulers there was. God used Daniel to show his greatness to King Nebuchadnezzar. The story isn't as much about Daniel as it is God and King Nebuchadnezzar. The king was given a second chance to see and believe and God received the glory. I have to put myself in Daniels shoes. I'm sure that Daniel was like. Really? I get taken prisoner by the evilest ruler there was? Do I deserve that God? It just goes to show us AGAIN that in the middle of all the evil around us God is still in control of it.
⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. ⁵ I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. ⁶ So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. ⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers^[b] and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. ⁸ Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

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John Burnett:  4 ^[a] King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! ² It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

³ How great are his signs,
    how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and his dominion endures from generation to generation.  Only God can change the heart of man and we have a Paul like transformation here.  King Nebuchadnezzar even sounds like Paul in his greeting, “Peace be multiplied to you!”.  Here we have one of the most wicked kings to ever live, who just one chapter earlier, threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace for not worshiping his idol he set up.  Here we have such a powerful change of the king’s heart that he is proclaiming the Most High God, Yahweh, to all peoples, nations, and languages that are present on the earth.  I would call it amazing grace.  The same amazing grace that saved me.

^4 [b] I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. ⁵ I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. ⁶ So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷ Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation. ⁸ At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods^[c]—and I told him the dream, saying,

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Krista Cook:  To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:
May you prosper greatly!
² It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

- This should be what we do, too!  Share how His story has affected your story.

³ How great are his signs,
    how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
    his dominion endures from generation to generation.
⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. ⁵ I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. ⁶ So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. ⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers^[b] and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. ⁸ Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

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Allen Micahels:  4 King Nebuchadnezzar,

To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:

May you prosper greatly!

² It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. ³ How great are his signs,
    how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
    his dominion endures from generation to generation. Although Nebuchadnezzar praised Daniel’s God, he still did not believe in him completely or submit to him alone as is demonstrated in 4:8. Many people attend church and use spiritual language, but they really don’t believe in God or obey him. Profession does not always mean possession. So we must ask ourselves, “How do my beliefs match with my obedience?”

⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. ⁵ I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. Nebuchadnezzar was comfortable. He was happy. He was the most powerful man in the whole world. He thought that he could do anything. He thought that he did not need God. But God had plans for Nebuchadnezzar. God gave him a dream.

Many people are like Nebuchadnezzar. They think that they do not need God. Perhaps they only pray when things go wrong. We do not just speak to our friends when we need them. That would not be polite. We talk to friends at all times. God wants us to be his friends. He wants us to talk to him all the time.

⁶ So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. ⁷ When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. ⁸ Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

Nebuchadnezzar called his wise men. He wanted them to tell him what his dream meant. This time he told them his dream. But they could not tell him what it meant. This is a little strange being that the king had a dream before in Daniel 2:1. That’s when the wise men made a promise that if the king told them the dream, they would tell him the meaning (Daniel 2:7). This time he did tell them the dream. But still they could not tell him what it meant. God told Daniel the king’s first dream and Daniel told the king the dream. And he told him what it meant. But Nebuchadnezzar only called for Daniel last. The king probably knew that God gave him the dream. He also knew that he was an evil man. He knew that God would tell him bad news. He may have guessed what the dream meant. He did not want to hear bad news. The wise men probably knew all this too. They did not want to tell the king bad news.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Daniel 4:9-17

⁹ I said, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. ¹⁰ These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. ¹¹ The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. ¹² Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.
¹³ “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger,^[c] coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field.
“‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. ¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times^[d] pass by for him.
¹⁷ “‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest 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. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”