ia, and Palestine, over
which, according to Ptolemy, he reigned forty-three years.

(M176) In the fourth year of his reign he had a dream,(1040) at which he
was greatly terrified, though he could not call it again to mind. He
thereupon consulted the wise men and soothsayers of his kingdom, requiring
of them to make known to him the substance of his dream. They all
answered, that it was beyond the reach of their art to discover it; and
that the utmost they could do, was to give the interpretation of his
dream, when he had made it known to them. As absolute princes are not
accustomed to meet with opposition, but will be obeyed in all things,
Nabuchodonosor, imagining they dealt insincerely with him, fell into a
violent rage, and condemned them all to die. Now Daniel and his three
companions were included in the sentence, as being ranked among the wise
men. But Daniel, having first invoked his God, desired to be introduced to
the king, to whom he revealed the whole substance of his dream. "The thing
thou sawest," says he to him, "was an image of an enormous size, and a
terrible countenance. The head thereof was of gold, the breast and arms of
silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the feet part of iron and part
of clay. And as the king was attentively looking upon that vision, behold
a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and the stone smote the
image upon his feet, and brake them to pieces; the whole image was ground
as small as dust, and the stone became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth." When Daniel had related the dream, he gave the king likewise
the interpretation thereof, showing him how it signified the three great
empires, which were to succeed that of the Assyrians, namely, the Persian,
the Grecian, and the Roman, or (according to some,) that of the successors
of Alexander the Great. "After these kingdoms (continued Daniel) shall the
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and this
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and shall stand for ever." By which Daniel
plainly foretold the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The king, ravished with
admiration and astonishment, after having acknowledged and loudly
declared, that the God of the Israelites was truly the God of gods,
advanced Daniel to the highest offices in the kingdom, made him chief of
the governors over all the wise men, ruler of the whole province of
Baby