Daniel 2:18

2:18 He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:47

2:47 The king replied to Daniel, “Certainly your God is a God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery!”

Genesis 40:8

40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me.”

Genesis 41:16

41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, but God will speak concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.”

Isaiah 41:22-23

41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,

so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled.

Or decree for us some future events!

41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 10 

so we might know you are gods.

Yes, do something good or bad,

so we might be frightened and in awe. 11 

Amos 4:13

4:13 For here he is!

He 12  formed the mountains and created the wind.

He reveals 13  his plans 14  to men.

He turns the dawn into darkness 15 

and marches on the heights of the earth.

The Lord, the God who commands armies, 16  is his name!”


tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.

tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”

tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

tn Heb “not within me.”

tn Heb “God will answer.”

tn The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה (shÿlom paroh) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).

tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”

10 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”

11 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnireh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).

12 tn Heb “For look, the one who.” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.

13 tn Or “declares” (NAB, NASB).

14 tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term אָדַם (’adam, “men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.

15 tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, add the conjunction (“and”) between the two nouns. (2) “He turns darkness into glimmering dawn” (NJPS). See S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 154), who takes שָׁחַר (shakhar) as “blackness” rather than “dawn” and עֵיפָה (’efah) as “glimmering dawn” rather than “darkness.”

16 tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”