Chapter 75

¹ When he had then been summoned and was standing before the king, he answered him: “Upon my bed I was looking, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its height reached to heaven and its compass to the end of all the earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all; under it the wild beasts lodged, and in its branches the birds of heaven dwelt, and from it all flesh was fed. I was looking in the vision of the night upon my bed, and behold, a Watcher and a holy one came down from heaven and cried with strength and said: Cut down the tree and pluck off its branches and shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit; let the beasts be shaken from under it and the birds from its branches; yet leave the stock of its roots in the earth, and in a band of bronze and iron, and in the grass outside, and in the dew of heaven let it lie, and let its portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from that of men, and let the heart of a beast be given to him, and let seven seasons pass over him. By the decree of a Watcher is the word, and the demand is a holy command, so that the living may know that the Most High is Lord over the kingdom of men, and to whomever he wills he will give it, and he will raise up over it that which men account as nothing. This dream I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, saw; and you, Belshazzar, tell its interpretation; for all the wise men of my kingdom cannot make known to me its interpretation, but you, Daniel, can, because the holy Spirit is in you.”