Daniel 4:17

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ¹  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ² 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

Daniel 4:21-22

4:21 whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals ³  used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest – 4:22 it is you, ⁴  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.

[4:17]  ¹ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

[4:17]  ² tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

[4:21]  ³ tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

[4:22]  ⁴ sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.