¹ After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river,

² Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places.

³ Other seven also came up out of the river, ill favoured, and leanfleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:

⁴ And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.

⁵ He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair:

⁶ Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,

⁷ And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest:

⁸ And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it.

⁹ Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin:

¹⁰ The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers:

¹¹ Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come.

¹² There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams,

¹³ And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so. For I was restored to my office: and he was hanged upon a gibbet.

¹⁴ Forthwith at the king's command, Joseph was brought out of the prison, and they shaved him, and changing his apparel, brought him in to him.

¹⁵ And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them.

¹⁶ Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.

¹⁷ So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river,

¹⁸ And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.

¹⁹ And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:

²⁰ And the devoured and consumed the former,

²¹ And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,

²² And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, full and very fair.

²³ Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stock:

²⁴ And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.

²⁵ Joseph answered: The king's dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.

²⁶ The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.

²⁷ And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come:

²⁸ Which shall be fulfilled in this order:

²⁹ Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:

³⁰ After which shall follow other seven years of so great scacity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land,

³¹ And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.

³² And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.

³³ Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:

³⁴ That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,

³⁵ That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up under Pharao's hands and be reserved in the cities.

³⁶ And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not consumed with scarcity.

³⁷ The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants.

³⁸ And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?

³⁹ He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

⁴⁰ Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.

⁴¹ And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.

⁴² And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.

⁴³ And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made govenor over the whole land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁵ And he turned his name, and called him in the Eyyptian tounge, The saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Asenth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt:

⁴⁶ (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao) and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

⁴⁷ And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corm being bound up into sheaves was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.

⁴⁸ And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.

⁴⁹ And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.

⁵⁰ And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore unto him.

⁵¹ And he called the name of the first born Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father's house.

⁵² And he named the second Epharaim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.

⁵³ Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were past:

⁵⁴ The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt.

⁵⁵ And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you.

⁵⁶ And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also.

⁵⁷ And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.

¹ In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind.

² Then the king commanded to call together the diviners and the wise men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans: to declare to the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the king.

³ And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in mind I know not what I saw.

⁴ And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king, live for ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.

⁵ And the king answering said to the Chaldeans: The thing is gone out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream, and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.

⁶ But if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you shall receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour: therefore tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

⁷ They answered again and said: Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation of it.

⁸ The king answered, and said: I know for certain that you seek to gain time, since you know that the thing is gone from me.

⁹ If therefore you tell me not the dream, there is one sentence concerning you, that you have also framed a lying interpretation, and full of deceit, to speak before me till the time pass away. tell me therefore the dream, that I may know that you also give a true interpretation thereof.

¹⁰ Then the Chaldeains answered before the king, and said: There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king, neither doth any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man, or Chaldean.

¹¹ For the thing that thou askest, O king, is difficult; nor can any one be found that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.

¹² Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath, commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.

¹³ And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain: and Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be put to death.

¹⁴ Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence, of Arioch the general of the king's army, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁵ And he asked him that had received the orders of the king, why so cruel a sentence was gone forth from the face of the king. And when Arioch had told the matter to Daniel,

¹⁶ Daniel went in and desired of the king, that he would give him time to resolve the question and declare it to the king.

¹⁷ And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias his companions:

¹⁸ To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of the God of heaven concerning this secret, and that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,

²⁰ And speaking he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude are his.

²¹ And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms and establisheth them, giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding.

²² He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.

²³ To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee: because thou hast given me wisdom and strength: and now thou hast shewn me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us, the king's discourse.

²⁴ After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will tell the solution to the king.

²⁵ Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king, and said to him: I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Juda, that will resolve the question to the king.

²⁶ The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltassar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?

²⁷ And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The secret that the king desireth to know, none of the wise men, or the philosophers, or the diviners, or the soothsayers can declare to the king.

²⁸ But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pass in the latter times. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

²⁹ Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pass.

³⁰ To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom that I have more than all men alive: but that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and thou mightest know the thoughts of thy mind.

³¹ Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look thereof was terrible.

³² The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass:

³³ And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.

³⁴ Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and of clay, and broke them in pieces.

³⁵ Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of a summer's thrashingfloor, and they were carried away by the wind: and there was no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statue, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.

³⁷ Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:

³⁸ And all places wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the field do dwell: he hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things under thy power: thou therefore art the head of gold.

³⁹ And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world.

⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break and destroy all these.

⁴¹ Arid whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but yet it shall take its origin from the iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay.

⁴² And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

⁴³ And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall be mingled indeed together with the seed of man, but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.

⁴⁴ But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people, and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever.

⁴⁵ According as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and broke in pieces, the clay, and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shewn the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is faithful.

⁴⁶ Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.

⁴⁷ And the king spoke to Daniel, and said: Verily your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things: seeing thou couldst discover this secret.

⁴⁸ Then the king advanced Daniel to a high station, and gave him many and great gifts: and he made him governor over all the provinces of Babylon, and chief of the magistrates over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁴⁹ And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago over the works of the province of Babylon: but Daniel himself was in the king's palace.