¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

² Thus hath Jehovah said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck;

³ and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah.

⁴ And give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say unto your masters:

⁵ I have made the earth, man and beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give them unto whom it seemeth right in mine eyes.

⁶ And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.

⁷ And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land also come, when many nations and great kings shall reduce him to servitude.

⁸ And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I visit, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

⁹ And ye, hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak unto you saying: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon.

¹⁰ For they prophesy falsehood unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.

¹¹ But the nation that bringeth its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serveth him, will I let remain still in its own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

¹² And I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

¹³ Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

¹⁴ And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy falsehood unto you.

¹⁵ For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, yet they prophesy falsely in my name; in order that I should drive you out, and that ye should perish, ye, and the prophets who prophesy unto you.

¹⁶ And I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy falsehood unto you.

¹⁷ Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a waste?

¹⁸ But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.

¹⁹ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

²¹ yea, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

²² They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day of my visiting them, saith Jehovah; then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.

¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all the peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you.

² It hath seemed good unto me to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God hath wrought toward me.

³ How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

⁴ I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace.

⁵ I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

⁶ And I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

⁷ Then came in the scribes, the magicians, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation of it.

⁸ But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and before him I told the dream:

⁹ O Belteshazzar, master of the scribes, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret is too hard for thee, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, and the interpretation of it.

¹⁰ Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

¹¹ The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached unto the heavens, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.

¹² Its leaves were beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

¹³ I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from the heavens;

¹⁴ he cried aloud, and said thus: Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the birds from its branches.

¹⁵ Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be bathed with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

¹⁶ Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

¹⁷ This sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the decision by the word of the holy ones: that the living may know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

¹⁸ This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and thou, Belteshazzar, tell the interpretation, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation; but thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

¹⁹ Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spoke and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, nor its interpretation, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and its interpretation to thine enemies!

²⁰ The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heavens, and the sight of it to all the earth;

²¹ whose leaves were beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens had their habitation:

²² it is thou, O king, who art grown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

²³ And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the heavens, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be bathed with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him:

²⁴ this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which cometh upon my lord the king:

²⁵ They shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and thou shalt be bathed with the dew of heaven; and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

²⁶ And whereas it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom shall remain unto thee, after that thou shalt know that the heavens do rule.

²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

²⁸ All this came upon king Nebuchadnezzar.

²⁹ At the end of twelve months he was walking upon the royal palace of Babylon:

³⁰ the king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?

³¹ While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from the heavens: King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee;

³² and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

³³ The same hour was the word fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar; and he was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen; and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, till his hair grew like eagles' [feathers], and his nails like birds' [claws].

³⁴ And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto the heavens, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.

³⁵ And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of the heavens, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

³⁶ At the same time mine understanding returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my nobles sought me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added unto me.

³⁷ Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of the heavens, all whose works are truth, and his paths judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.