Nebuchadnezzar Humbled

In a letter addressed to all peoples, King Nebuchadnezzar tells what the most high God has done for him. A dream terrifies him: an enormous tree, its top reaching to heaven, feeds every living creature. Then a watcher, a holy one, comes down from heaven: “Hew down the tree!” Only the stump is left in the earth, bound with a band of iron and brass, and a beast’s heart will be given to the man until seven times pass over him. The wise men of Babylon cannot explain it; Daniel speaks: “It is thou, O king.” He advises him to break off his sins by righteousness. Twelve months later, the king boasts, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built…?” A voice falls from heaven. He is driven from men at once and eats grass like oxen, his hair growing like eagles’ feathers. Then he lifts his eyes to heaven, his reason returns, and he blesses the Most High.