22. Your Majesty, that tree is you. Your glorious reputation has reached heaven, and your kingdom covers the earth.
23. Then you saw a holy angel come down from heaven and say, “Chop down the tree and destroy it! But leave its stump and roots in the ground, fastened there by a chain of iron and bronze. Let it stay for seven years out in the field with the wild animals, unprotected from the dew.”
24. Your Majesty, God Most High has sent you this message, and it means
25. that you will be forced to live with the wild animals, far away from humans. You will eat grass like a wild animal and live outdoors for seven years, until you learn that God Most High controls all earthly kingdoms and chooses their rulers.
26. But he gave orders not to disturb the stump and roots. This is to show that you will be king once again, after you learn that the God who rules from heaven is in control.
27. Your Majesty, please be willing to do what I say. Turn from your sins and start living right; have mercy on those who are ill-treated. Then all will go well with you for a long time.
28-30. About twelve months later, I was walking on the flat roof of my royal palace and admiring the beautiful city of Babylon, when these things started happening to me. I was saying to myself, “Just look at this wonderful capital city that I have built by my own power and for my own glory!”
31. But before I could finish speaking, a voice from heaven interrupted:King Nebuchadnezzar, this kingdom is no longer yours.
32. You will be forced to live with the wild animals, away from people. For seven years you will eat grass, as though you were an ox, until you learn that God Most High is in control of all earthly kingdoms and that he is the one who chooses their rulers.
33. This was no sooner said than done—I was forced to live like a wild animal; I ate grass and was unprotected from the dew. As time went by, my hair grew longer than eagle feathers, and my fingernails looked like the claws of a bird.
34. Finally, I prayed to God in heaven, and my mind was healed. Then I said:“I praise and honourGod Most High.He lives for ever,and his kingdomwill never end.
35. To him the nationsare far less than nothing;God controls the stars in the skyand everyone on this earth.When God does something,we cannot change itor even ask why.”
36. At that time my mind was healed, and once again I became the ruler of my glorious kingdom. My advisers and officials returned to me, and I had greater power than ever before.
37. That's why I say:“Praise and honour the Kingwho rules from heaven!Everything he doesis honest and fair,and he can shatter the powerof those who are proud.”