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Daniel 2:37-48
37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crushand break all the others.
41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle .
42And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzarfell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.
47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.
Vocabulary (words)
an dominion – an authority 統治權
beasts – animals (in this context) 動物
kingdom – King rules over the kingdom (state). 王國
to smash – to break into pieces 重擊
a clay – a mineral, which imparts plasiticity 泥土
to divide – mathematical equation, to partition 分給
to mix – John produced a nice juice mixing carrot and water. 摻
brittle – material easy to be destroyed 脆
united – standing together as for instance: United Nations 聯合 (to unite)
to lavish – in this context: to present a generous gift
to crush – to destroy, to defeat 壓碎
to endure – to last forever, to withstand, to remain 禁
trustworthy – true, credible 把穩
fell prostrate (to fall prostrate) – to bow deeply before someone, to submit 伏
paid him honor (to pay honor to someone) – to give an honor 榮耀
an incense – Middle Eastern dried plants and minerals. When burned is fragrant as perfumes 香
sending...
