In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.
Parallel translations
- WEB In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.
- KJV In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
- NKJV In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.
- NASB In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and told the following summary of it.
- NLT Earlier, during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon, Daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In Belshazzar's first year Daniel receives a dream and visions, which he records. This opens the prophetic visions that fill the book's second half.
Overview
The narrative turns from court stories to Daniel's own visions, the first dated to Belshazzar's reign. Daniel writes down the dream, underscoring that this is revelation to be preserved and pondered. The chapter inaugurates a series of prophecies tracing God's sovereign plan through the kingdoms of the world to His eternal reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 30
- Dan 1:17To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. And Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.
- Amos 3:7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
- Dan 4:5I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.
- Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
- Dan 5:1Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
- Jer 23:28Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.
- Gen 46:2And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob.
- Rev 1:19Therefore write down the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that will happen after this.
- Job 33:14–16For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices.
- Dan 7:15I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit, and the visions in my mind alarmed me.
- Acts 2:17–18‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
- Dan 2:1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
- Dan 7:13In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
- Hab 2:2Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
- Num 12:6He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- Ezek 1:1In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
- Isa 8:1Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
- Jer 27:7All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
- Jer 36:4So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and at the dictation of Jeremiah, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words that the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah.
- Dan 5:22But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
- Dan 7:7After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.
- Gen 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
- Dan 8:1In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one that had appeared to me earlier.
- Isa 30:8Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
- Rev 10:4When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
- Dan 2:28–29But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
- 2 Cor 12:1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
- Job 4:13In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
- Dan 5:30That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,
- Rom 15:4For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 7:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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