Daniel 7–8

In the first year of ^aBelshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had ^bca dream and ^cvisions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. ²Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, ^dthe four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. ³And four great beasts ^efcame up from the sea, ^sdiverse one from another. ⁴The first was ^ghlike a lion, and had ^eieagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were pluckt, and ^lit was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and ^ja man’s heart was given to it. ⁵And behold, ^kanother beast, a second, ^glike to a bear, and ^lit raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. ⁶After this I beheld, and lo ^kanother, ^gmlike a leopard, ⁿwhich had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also ⁿⁿfour heads; and dominion was given to it. ⁷After this I saw ^oin the night visions, and behold, ^pqa fourth beast, ^qdreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and ^qit had great ^riron teeth: ^qit devoured and ^qrbrake in pieces, and ^qstamped the residue with the feet of it: and it ^qswas diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and ^tit had ten horns. ⁸I considered the horns, and behold, ^uthere came up among them another little horn, ^ubefore whom there were three of the first horns pluckt up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were ^uueyes like the eyes ^vof man, and ^wa mouth ^xspeaking great things.

⁹I beheld till ^ythe thrones were cast down, and ^zthe Ancient of days did sit, ^awhose garment was ^bwhite as snow, and ^athe hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like ^cthe fiery flame, and ^dhis wheels as burning fire. ^10eA fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: ^fthousand thousands ^gministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand ^ggstood before him: ^hthe judgment was set, and ⁱthe books were opened. ¹¹I beheld then because of the voice of ^kthe great words which the horn spake: I beheld even ^ltill the beast was slain, and ^lhis body destroyed, and ^mgiven to the burning flame. ¹²As concerning the rest of the beasts, ⁿthey had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. ^13pI saw in the night visions, and behold, one like ^qrthe Son of man ^rcame with the clouds of heaven, and came to ^sthe Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. ¹⁴And ^tthere was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, ^uthat all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: ^vhis dominion is an everlasting dominion, ⁿwhich shall not pass away, and ^vhis kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

¹⁵I Daniel ^wwas grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and ^xthe visions of my head troubled me. ¹⁶I came near unto ^yone of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

^17zThese great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But ^athe saints of the most High ^bshall take the kingdom, and ^bpossess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. ¹⁹Then I would know the truth of ^cthe fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, ^cexceeding dreadful, ^cwhose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which ^cdevoured, ^cbrake in pieces, and ^cstamped the residue with his feet; ²⁰and of ^cthe ten horns that were in his head, and of ^dthe other which came up, and ^dbefore whom three fell; even of ^dthat horn that had eyes, and ^da mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. ²¹I beheld, and the same horn ^emade war with ^athe saints, and ^eprevailed against them; ²²until ^fthe Ancient of days came, and ^gjudgment was given to ^hthe saints of the most High; and the time came that ^hithe saints possessed the kingdom. ²³Thus he said, ^cThe fourth beast shall be ^cthe fourth kingdom upon earth, ^cwhich shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and ^cshall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and ^cbreak it in pieces. ²⁴And ^cthe ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and ^danother shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and ^dhe shall subdue three kings. ²⁵And ^djhe shall speak ^kgreat words against ^lthe most High, and ^ejshall wear out ^hthe saints of the most High, and think ^mto change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand ⁿuntil a time and times and the dividing of time. ²⁶But ^othe judgment shall sit, and ^pthey shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it ^qunto the end. ²⁷And ^hthe kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of ^hthe saints of the most High, ^rwhose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. ²⁸Hitherto is the end of the matter. ^sAs for me Daniel, ^tmy cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but ^uI kept the matter in my heart.

VIII.In the third year of the reign of king ^aBelshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me ^bat the first. ²And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at ^cShushan in ^cdthe palace, which is in the province of ^eElam; and ^fI saw in a vision, and I was by ^gthe river of ^hUlai. ³Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before ^gthe river ⁱa ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. ⁴I saw the ram ^kpushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no ^lbeasts ^mmight stand before him, ^mneither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he ⁿdid according to his will, and became great. ⁵And as I was considering, behold, ^oa he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and ^ptouched not the ground: and the goat had ^qa notable horn between his eyes. ⁶And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before ^gthe river, and ^rran unto him in the fury of his power. ⁷And I saw him come close unto the ram, and ^she was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and ^mthere was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down ^tto the ground, and ^tstamped upon him: and ^mthere was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. ⁸Therefore ^othe he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn ^uwas broken; and for it came up ^vfour notable ones toward ^wthe four winds of heaven. ⁹And out of one of them came forth ^xa little horn, which waxed exceeding great, ^ytoward the south, and ^ztoward the east, and toward ^athe pleasant land. ¹⁰And ^bit waxed great, even ^cto the host of heaven; and ^dit cast down some of the host and of the stars ^eto the ground, and ^estamped upon them. ¹¹Yea, ^fhe magnified himself even to ^gthe prince of the host, and by him ^hithe daily sacrifice ^hwas taken away, and ^jthe place of his sanctuary ^kwas cast down. ¹²And ^la host was given him against ⁱthe daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and ^kmit cast down ⁿthe truth to the ground; and it ^opractised, and ^oprospered. ¹³Then I heard ^pone saint speaking, and ^qanother saint said unto that certain saint which spake, ^rHow long shall be the vision concerning ⁱthe daily sacrifice, and ^rrthe transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and ^sthe host ^tto be trodden under foot? ¹⁴And he said unto me, ^uUnto two thousand and three hundred days; ^uthen shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

¹⁵And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and ^vsought for the meaning, then behold, there stood before me ^was the appearance of a man. ¹⁶And I heard a man’s voice ^xbetween the banks of ^yUlai, which called, and said, ^zGabriel, make this man to understand the vision. ¹⁷So he came near where I stood: and when he came, ^aI was afraid, and ^bfell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, ^cO son of man: for at ^ccthe time of the end shall be the vision. ¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me, ^dI was in a deep sleep ^deon my face toward the ground: but ^eehe touched me, and ^fset me upright. ¹⁹And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of ^hthe indignation: for at ⁱthe time appointed the end shall be. ^20kThe ram which thou sawest having two horns are ^lthe kings of ^mMedia and Persia. ²¹ⁿAnd ^othe rough goat is ^lthe king of ^pGrecia: and ⁿthe great horn that is between his eyes ^qis the first king. ²²Now ^rthat being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, ^sbut not in his power. ²³And in the latter time of their kingdom, ^twhen the transgressors are come to the full, a king ^uof fierce countenance, and ^vunderstanding dark sentences, shall stand up. ²⁴And his power shall be mighty, ^wbut not by his own power: and he shall destroy ^xwonderfully, and ^yshall prosper, and ^ypractise, and ^zashall destroy the mighty and ^zthe holy people. ²⁵And ^bthrough his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and ^che shall magnify himself in his heart, and ^dby peace ^eshall destroy many: he shall also stand up ^cagainst the Prince of princes; but ^fhe shall be broken ^gwithout hand. ²⁶And the vision ^hof the evening and the morning which was told ⁱis true: wherefore ^kshut thou up the vision; for ^lit shall be for many days. ²⁷And ^mI Daniel fainted, and was sick ⁿcertain days; afterward I rose up, and ^odid the king’s business; and I ^pwas astonished at the vision, but ^qnone understood it.

IX.