After this, Abram had a vision and heard the LORD say to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward."

When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.

One night God appeared to him in a dream and said, "You are going to die, because you have taken this woman; she is already married."

God replied in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience; so I kept you from sinning against me and did not let you touch her.

But now, give the woman back to her husband. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will not die. But if you do not give her back, I warn you that you are going to die, you and all your people."

One time Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.

We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat, when my sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle around mine and bowed down to it."

Then Joseph had another dream and told his brothers, "I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me."

Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the whole matter.

Some time later the king of Egypt's wine steward and his chief baker offended the king.

and put them in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same place where Joseph was being kept.

One night there in prison the wine steward and the chief baker each had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.

He asked them, "Why do you look so worried today?"

So the wine steward said, "In my dream there was a grapevine in front of me

I was holding the king's cup; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to him."

In three days the king will release you, pardon you, and restore you to your position. You will give him his cup as you did before when you were his wine steward.

After all, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here in Egypt I didn't do anything to deserve being put in prison."

In the top basket there were all kinds of baked goods for the king, and the birds were eating them."

In three days the king will release you---and have your head cut off! Then he will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh."

He restored the wine steward to his former position,

But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought---he forgot all about him.

and the LORD said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams.

Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it.

I trembled and shuddered; my whole body shook with fear.

I could see something standing there; I stared, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I heard a voice out of the silence:

God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels.

We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes.

At night when people are asleep, God speaks in dreams and visions.

He makes them listen to what he says, and they are frightened at his warnings.

In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep,

he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means."

The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins.

They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it."

to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means."

What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings."

So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends.

he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened.

Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened.

Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven:

He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings; it is he who gives wisdom and understanding.

I praise you and honor you, God of my ancestors. You have given me wisdom and strength; you have answered my prayer and shown us what to tell the king."

At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, "I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream."

Daniel replied, "Your Majesty, there is no wizard, magician, fortuneteller, or astrologer who can tell you that.

"While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about the future; and God, who reveals mysteries, showed you what is going to happen.

"Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at.

its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.

Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honor.

After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole earth.

You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay.

You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay.

You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning."

The king said, "Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery."

At Daniel's request the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel, however, remained at the royal court.

King Nebuchadnezzar sent the following message to the people of all nations, races, and languages in the world: "Greetings!

"How great are the wonders God shows us! How powerful are the miracles he performs! God is king forever; he will rule for all time.

But I had a frightening dream and saw terrifying visions while I was asleep.

Then all the fortunetellers, magicians, wizards, and astrologers were brought in, and I told them my dream, but they could not explain it to me.

Belteshazzar, chief of the fortunetellers, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that you understand all mysteries. This is my dream. Tell me what it means.

It grew bigger and bigger until it reached the sky and could be seen by everyone in the world.

"While I was thinking about the vision, I saw coming down from heaven an angel, alert and watchful.

But leave the stump in the ground with a band of iron and bronze around it. Leave it there in the field with the grass. " 'Now let the dew fall on this man, and let him live with the animals and the plants.

This is the decision of the alert and watchful angels. So then, let all people everywhere know that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses---even to those who are least important.'

At this, Daniel, who is also called Belteshazzar, was so alarmed that he could not say anything. The king said to him, "Belteshazzar, don't let the dream and its message alarm you." Belteshazzar replied, "Your Majesty, I wish that the dream and its explanation applied to your enemies and not to you.

Its leaves were beautiful, and it had enough fruit on it to feed the whole world. Wild animals rested under it, and birds made their nests in its branches.

While Your Majesty was watching, an angel came down from heaven and said, 'Cut the tree down and destroy it, but leave the stump in the ground. Wrap a band of iron and bronze around it, and leave it there in the field with the grass. Let the dew fall on this man, and let him live there with the animals for seven years.'

You will be driven away from human society and will live with wild animals. For seven years you will eat grass like an ox and sleep in the open air, where the dew will fall on you. Then you will admit that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses.

So then, Your Majesty, follow my advice. Stop sinning, do what is right, and be merciful to the poor. Then you will continue to be prosperous."

Only twelve months later, while he was walking around on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon,

Before the words were out of his mouth, a voice spoke from heaven, "King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to what I say! Your royal power is now taken away from you.

The words came true immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his nails as long as bird claws.

He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does.

"And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

In the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylonia, I had a dream and saw a vision in the night. I wrote the dream down, and this is the record

While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived.

Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, "Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave."

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets,

As Jacob went on his way, some angels met him.

When he saw them, he said, "This is God's camp"; so he named the place Mahanaim.

The LORD keeps close watch over the whole world, to give strength to those whose hearts are loyal to him. You have acted foolishly, and so from now on you will always be at war."

Do not be afraid---I am with you! I am your God---let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.

And he said to them, "I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man."

No one stood by me the first time I defended myself; all deserted me. May God not count it against them!

But the Lord stayed with me and gave me strength, so that I was able to proclaim the full message for all the Gentiles to hear; and I was rescued from being sentenced to death.

What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation.