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Daniel 2:44
ESV And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
NIV In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
NASB And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
CSB "In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
NLT During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.
KJV And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

What does Daniel 2:44 mean?

At the end of Nebuchadnezzar's disturbing dream (Daniel 2:1–3), he saw a supernatural stone shatter the base of a massive statue (Daniel 2:31–34). The statue's components were pulverized and the stone grew to fill the entire earth (Daniel 2:35). Daniel has explained the dream as a prophecy about the kingdoms which would rule after Babylon (Daniel 2:27–28, 36), represented by the statue's head (Daniel 2:37–38). This would be followed by the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires (Daniel 2:39–43).

In this verse, the symbolism of the stone is revealed. The stone which shattered the statue is a kingdom set up by God, which will never be overcome. Daniel reiterates that the stone—this future kingdom—would not be established by human hands, but by the power of the Lord (Daniel 2:45). While hindsight and history identify the other kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, there is some debate about the exact identity of this final realm.

Many views of the end times include belief in a millennial kingdom: Christ's personal, direct, earthly political rule over the world for a thousand years. The initial followers of Jesus anticipated this kind of rule (Acts 1:6). Descriptions in the book of Revelation (Revelation 20:1–6) and other Old Testament prophecies (Zechariah 3:8–10; Micah 4:2–4; Deuteronomy 30:15) also suggest such a political fulfillment. Some who hold this view see the nation formed by the stone in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as this literal government headed by Christ. As with some of Daniel's other prophecies (Daniel 9:24–27), this interpretation implies time gaps between events.

Other commentators interpret the final kingdom in this dream to be the spiritual rule of Christ in the hearts of Christian believers. This view includes some who believe in a literal millennial kingdom as well as those who do not. The stone in the dream strikes the brittle, clay-iron amalgam of the Roman Empire, and then grows to fill the earth (Daniel 2:34–35). According to some interpreters, this predicts the establishment of Christianity in the last days of the Roman Empire and the gospel's spread around the globe.

The phrase "in the days of those kings" may refer to the ten rulers represented in other end times prophecies (Daniel 7:7–8; Revelation 13:1).
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