Daniel 7:1–18

DANIEL’S VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS

7In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind^d as he was lying in his bed. He wrote down the dream,^e and here is the summary^A of his account. ²Daniel said, “In my vision at night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven^f stirred up the great sea. ³Four huge beasts^g came up from the sea,^h each different from the other.

⁴“The first was like a lionⁱ but had eagle’s wings. I continued watching until its wings were torn off. It was lifted up from the ground, set on its feet like a man, and given a human mind.

⁵“Suddenly, another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear.^j It was raised up on one side, with three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up! Gorge yourself on flesh.’

⁶“After this, while I was watching, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard^k with four wings of a bird on its back. It had four heads,^l and it was given dominion.

⁷“After this, while I was watching in the night visions, suddenly a fourth beast^m appeared, frightening and dreadful, and incredibly strong, with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and it trampled with its feet whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.ⁿ

⁸“While I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn,^o a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. And suddenly in this horn there were eyes like the eyes of a human and a mouth that was speaking arrogantly.^p

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS AND THE SON OF MAN

⁹“As I kept watching,

thrones were set in place,^q

and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

His clothing was white like snow,^r

and the hair of his head like whitest wool.^s

His throne was flaming fire;^t

its wheels were blazing fire.^u

¹⁰A river of fire was flowing,

coming out from his presence.

Thousands upon thousands^v served him;

ten thousand times ten thousand^w stood before him.

The court was convened,^x

and the books were opened.^y

¹¹“I watched, then, because of the sound of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued watching, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to the burning fire.^{z 12}As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time.^{aa 13}I continued watching in the night visions,

and suddenly one like a son of man^ab

was coming with the clouds of heaven.^ac

He approached the Ancient of Days

and was escorted before him.

¹⁴He was given dominion^ad

and glory and a kingdom,

so that those of every people,

nation, and language^ae

should serve^af him.

His dominion is an everlasting^ag dominion

that will not pass away,

and his kingdom is one

that will not be destroyed.

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION

¹⁵“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was deeply distressed within me,^A and the visions in my mind terrified me.^{ah 16}I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him^ai to clarify all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things:^{aj 17}‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will rise from the earth. ¹⁸But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever.’^ak