Nebuchadnezzar Confesses God’s Kingdom

1Nabuchodonosor kynge, vnto all people, kynreddes and tunges that dwell vpon the whole earth: peace be multiplied amoge you 2I thought it good to shewe the tokes & maruelous workes, yt ye hye God hath wrought vpon me.

3O how greate are his tokes, & how mightie are his wonders? His kyngdome is an euerlastinge kyngdome, and his power lasteth for euer and euer.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree

4I Nabuchodonosor beynge at rest in myne house, ad florishinge in my palace, 5sawe a dreame, which made me afrayed: ad thoughtes that I had vpo my bed, with the visions of myne heade, troubled me. 6Then sent I out a commission, that all they which were of wisdome at Babilo shulde be brought before me, to tell me the interpretacion of the dreame. 7So there came the soythsayers, charmers, Caldees and coniurers of deuels: to whom I tolde the dreame, but what it betokened, they coude not shewe me: 8till at the last, there came one Daniel (otherwyse called Balthasar, acordinge to the name of my God) which hath the sprete of the holy goddes in him: to whom I tolde the dreame, sayenge: 9O Balthasar, thou prynce of saythsayers: For so moch as I knowe, that thou hast the sprete of the holy goddes, and no secrete is hyd from the: tel me therfore, what ye visio of my dreame (yt I haue sene) maye signifie.

10I sawe a vision in my heade vpon my bed: and beholde, there stode a tre vpon the grounde,

11which was very hye, greate and mightie: ye heyth reached vnto the heaue, and the bredth extended to all the endes of the earth:

12his leaues were fayre, he had very moch frute, so yt euery ma had ynough to eate therin. The beastes of the felde had shadowes vnder it, and the foules off the ayre dwelt in the bowes therof. Shortly, all creatures fed of it.

13I sawe in my heade a vision vpon my bed: & beholde, a watcher (eue an holy angel) came downe from heauen,

14and cryed mightely, sayenge: Hew downe the tre, breake off his braunches, shake of his leaues, and scatre his frute abrode: that all the beestes maye get them awaye from vnder him, and the foules from his braunches.

15Neuertheles leaue the grounde of his rote still in the earth, and bynde him vpon the playne felde, with cheynes of yron and stele. With the dew of heauen shall he be wet, and he shall haue his parte in the herbes of the grounde with other wylde beastes.

16That mans herte off his shall be taken from him, and a beastes herte shall be geuen him, till seuen yeares be come and gone vpon him.

17This erande of the watcher, is a comaundemet grounded and sought out in the councel off him, that is most holy: to lerne men for to vnderstonde, that the hyest hath power ouer the kyngdomes off men, ad geueth them, to whom it liketh him, and bryngeth the very outcastes off men ouer them.

18This is the dreame, yt I kynge Nabuchodonosor haue sene. Therfore o Balthasar, tell thou me what it signifieth: for so moch as all the wyse men off my kyngdome are not able to shewe me, what it meaneth. But thou canst do it, for ye sprete of the holy Goddes is in the.

Daniel Interprets the Second Dream

19Then Daniel (whose name was Balthasar) helde his peace by the space of an houre ad his thoughtes troubled him. So the kynge spake, and sayde: O Balthasar, let nether the dreame ner the interpretacion theroff feare the. Balthasar answered, sayenge: O my LORDE, this dreame happen to thyne enemies, and the interpretacion to thyne aduersaries. 20As for the tre that thou sawest which was so greate & mightie, whose heyth reached vnto the heauen, and his bredth in to all the worlde: 21whose leaues were fayre, ad the frute moch: vnder the which the beastes of the felde had their habitacion, and vpon whose braunches the foules of the ayre dyd syt: 22Euen thou (o kynge) art the tre, greate & stroge. Thy greatnesse increaseth, & reacheth vnto the heauen, so doth thy power to the endes of the earth. 23But where as the kynge sawe a watcher euen an holy angel, that came downe from heauen, and sayde: hew downe the tre, and destroye it: yet leaue the groun of the rote in the earth, and bynde him vpon the playne felde with cheynes off yron and stele: He shall be wet with the dew off heauen, and his parte shalbe with the beestes of the felde, till seuen yeares be come and gone vpon him: 24This (o kynge) is ye interpretacio, yee it is the very deuyce of him, yt is hyest of all, & it toucheth my LORDE the kynge. 25Thou shalt be cast out fro men, and thy dwellinge shalbe with the beestes of the felde: with grasse shalt thou be fed like an oxe. Thou must be wet with the dew of the heauen: yee seuen yeares shall come and go vpon the, till thou knowe, that the hyest hath power vpon the kyngdomes of men, & geueth them, to whom he lyst. 26Morouer, where as it was sayde, that the rote of the tre shulde be be left still in the grounde: it betokeneth, yt thy kyngdome shall remayne whole vnto ye, after thou hast lerned to knowe, that the power commeth from heauen. 27Wherfore (o kinge) be contet with my councel, that thou mayest lowse thy synnes with rightuousnesse, ad thyne offences with mercy to poore people: for soch thinges shall prolonge thy peace.

The Second Dream Fulfilled

28All these thynges touch the kynge Nabuchodonosor. 29So after xij. monethes, the kynge walked vp and downe in the paalace off the kyngdome off Babilon, 30and sayde: This is the greate cite off Babilo, which I myself (with my power & strength) haue made a kynges courte, for the honoure off my magesty. 31Whyle these wordes were yet in the kynges mouth, there fell a voyce from heaue, sayengt: O kinge Nabuchodonosor, to the be it spoke: Thy kyngdome shall departe from the, 32thou shalt be cast out of mens company: thy dwellinge shalbe with the beestes off the felde, so that thou shalt eate grasse like as an oxe, till seuen yeares be come and gone ouer the: euen vntill thou knowest, that the hyest hath power vpon the kyngdomes off men, and that he maye geue them, vnto whom it pleaseth him. 33The very same houre was this matter fulfylled vpo Nabuchodonosor: so that he was cast out off mes copany, & ate grasse like an oxe. His body was wet with the dew of heauen, till his hayres were as greate as Aegles fethers, and his nales like byrdes clawes.

Nebuchadnezzar Restored

34When this tyme was past, I Nabuchodonosor lift vp myne eyes vnto heauen, and myne vnderstondinge was restored vnto me agayne. Then gaue I thankes vnto the hyest. I magnified and praysed him that lyueth for euermore, whose power endureth allwaye, and his kyngdome from one generacion to another:

35in comparyson off whom, all they that dwell vpon the earth, are to be reputed as nothinge. He handleth acordinge to his will, amoge ye powers of heauen & amonge the inhabitours of the earth: and there is none that maye resiste his honde, or saye: what doest thou?

36At the same tyme was myne vnderstondynge geuen me agayne, and I was restored to the honoure of my kingdome, to my dignite, and to myne owne shappe agayne. My great estates and prynces sought vnto me, and I was set in my kyngdome agayne, so that I had yet greater worshipe. 37The dyd I Nabuchodonosor, loaue, magnifie and prayse the kynge of heauen: for all his workes are true, and his wayes right. As for those that go on proudly, he is able to bri bringe them downe.