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Psalm 72

1  Give the king your judgements, O God, ♦︎
   and your righteousness to the son of a king.
2  Then shall he judge your people righteously ♦︎
   and your poor with justice.
3  May the mountains bring forth peace, ♦︎
   and the little hills righteousness for the people.
4  May he defend the poor among the people, ♦︎
   deliver the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
5  May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, ♦︎
   from one generation to another.
6  May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, ♦︎
   like the showers that water the earth.
7  In his time shall righteousness flourish, ♦︎
   and abundance of peace
      till the moon shall be no more.
8  May his dominion extend from sea to sea ♦︎
   and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9  May his foes kneel before him ♦︎
   and his enemies lick the dust.
10  The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute; ♦︎
   the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring gifts.
11  All kings shall fall down before him; ♦︎
   all nations shall do him service.
12  For he shall deliver the poor that cry out, ♦︎
   the needy and those who have no helper.
13  He shall have pity on the weak and poor; ♦︎
   he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
14  He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, ♦︎
   and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15  Long may he live;
      unto him may be given gold from Sheba; ♦︎
   may prayer be made for him continually
      and may they bless him all the day long.
16  May there be abundance of grain on the earth,
      standing thick upon the hilltops; ♦︎
   may its fruit flourish like Lebanon
      and its grain grow like the grass of the field.
17  May his name remain for ever
      and be established as long as the sun endures; ♦︎
   may all nations be blest in him
      and call him blessed.
18  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ♦︎
   who alone does wonderful things.
19  And blessed be his glorious name for ever. ♦︎
   May all the earth be filled with his glory.
      Amen. Amen.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, ‘Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will give the king the interpretation.’

25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him: ‘I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who can tell the king the interpretation.’ ²⁶The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, ‘Are you able to tell me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?’ ²⁷Daniel answered the king, ‘No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking, ²⁸but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at the end of days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed were these: ²⁹To you, O king, as you lay in bed, came thoughts of what would be hereafter, and the revealer of mysteries disclosed to you what is to be. ³⁰But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me because of any wisdom that I have more than any other living being, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

31 ‘You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its brilliance extraordinary; it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, ³³its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 ‘This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, the king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory, ³⁸into whose hand he has given human beings, wherever they live, the wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as ruler over them all—you are the head of gold. ³⁹After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything,^* it shall crush and shatter all these. ⁴¹As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. ⁴²As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage,^* but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; ⁴⁵just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.’

Daniel and His Friends Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshipped Daniel, and commanded that a grain-offering and incense be offered to him. ⁴⁷The king said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery!’ ⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.