Finally, Daniel came before me. (I had renamed him Belteshazzar, after my own god.) The spirit of the holy gods resides in him. I then told Daniel my dream:
But the chief official of the palace gave them Babylonian names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
I have heard so much about you. I’ve been told that you have the Spirit of God and that you possess divine illumination, brilliant insight, and extraordinary wisdom.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar concluded, “That was my dream. Now it is for you, Belteshazzar, to interpret its meaning, since not one of the wise men in my kingdom has been able to interpret it for me, but I know that you can, since the spirit of the holy gods resides in you.”
“Belteshazzar, chief of all my wise men, I know that the spirit of the holy gods resides in you and that there is no mystery that you cannot solve. So, listen to my dream and tell me what it means.
“Tell the nations the news; proclaim it everywhere. Publicize it far and wide; make no secret of it, and declare: ‘Babylon has fallen! Her god Marduk is greatly humiliated, and his power is broken. Her idols are disgraced; her filthy images are shattered.’
Then they remembered God’s deeds in days past, the days of Moses and his people. And they asked: “Where now is Yahweh, who brought them miraculously through the Red Sea along with Moses, the shepherd-leader of his flock, and put his Holy Spirit among them?
I will plant it on the highest mountain in Israel, where it will put out branches and bear fruit and grow into a stately cedar tree. Every kind of bird will find a home in it. Yes, in the shade of its branches the birds will make their nests.