2:31 「王啊，你夢見一個大像，這像甚高，極其光耀，站在你面前，形狀甚是可怕。
2:32 這像的頭是精金的，胸膛和膀臂是銀的，肚腹和腰是銅的，
2:33 腿是鐵的，腳是半鐵半泥的。
2:34 你觀看，見有一塊非人手鑿出來的石頭打在這像半鐵半泥的腳上，把腳砸碎；
2:35 於是金、銀、銅、鐵、泥都一同砸得粉碎，成如夏天禾場上的糠秕，被風吹散，無處可尋。打碎這像的石頭變成一座大山，充滿天下。
2:36 「這就是那夢。我們在王面前要講解那夢。
2:37 王啊，你是諸王之王。天上的上帝已將國度、權柄、能力、尊榮都賜給你。
2:38 凡世人所住之地的走獸，並天空的飛鳥，他都交付你手，使你掌管這一切。你就是那金頭。
2:39 在你以後必另興一國，不及於你；又有第三國，就是銅的，必掌管天下。
2:40 第四國，必堅壯如鐵，鐵能打碎剋制百物，又能壓碎一切，那國也必打碎壓制列國。
2:41 你既見像的腳和腳指頭，一半是窯匠的泥，一半是鐵，那國將來也必分開。你既見鐵與泥攙雜，那國也必有鐵的力量。
2:42 那腳指頭，既是半鐵半泥，那國也必半強半弱。
2:43 你既見鐵與泥攙雜，那國民也必與各種人攙雜，卻不能彼此相合，正如鐵與泥不能相合一樣。
2:44 當那列王在位的時候，天上的上帝必另立一國，永不敗壞，也不歸別國的人，卻要打碎滅絕那一切國，這國必存到永遠。
2:45 你既看見非人手鑿出來的一塊石頭從山而出，打碎金、銀、銅、鐵、泥，那就是至大的上帝把後來必有的事給王指明。這夢準是這樣，這講解也是確實的。」
31 "You saw, O king, and behold, a
great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you,
and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of this image was of fine gold,
its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of
iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was
cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay,
and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and
the gold, all together were 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 image became a great
mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This was the dream. Now we will
tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom
the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the
glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children
of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule
over them all—you are the head of gold. 39 Another kingdom inferior to you
shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over
all the earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because
iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it
shall break and crush all these. 41 And as 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 firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft
clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the
kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed
with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will
not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of
those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be
destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in
pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and
that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the
gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The
dream is certain, and its interpretation sure."
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但以理將夢境重新還原給尼布甲尼撒王，還加上解說，好讓他了解上帝的心意。因為這事關乎未來的事，或許沒有人明白，說不定連但以理也不明白，這其中的奧秘。
但是從但以理解夢的事情，我們發現對於上帝話語的詮釋是很重要的，而且不同時代的人，對這樣的夢境也有不同的看法，甚至不同的神學官對此夢境有不同的解釋。
就重視末世觀的人來說，就是世界無論如何變化，最後上帝國必定實現，就如「於是金、銀、銅、鐵、泥都一同砸得粉碎，成如夏天禾場上的糠秕，被風吹散，無處可尋。打碎這像的石頭變成一座大山，充滿天下。」(35)「當那列王在位的時候，天上的上帝必另立一國，永不敗壞，也不歸別國的人，卻要打碎滅絕那一切國，這國必存到永遠。你既看見非人手鑿出來的一塊石頭從山而出，打碎金、銀、銅、鐵、泥，那就是至大的上帝把後來必有的事給王指明。」(44-45)
可見上帝國的預言早就在舊約裡，所以以色列人和基督徒一樣，盼望上帝永遠掌權的國度，能快快實現！這也是啟示文學要述說的信息！
