Daniel 7:9–22

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

¹⁹“Then I wanted to be clear about the fourth beast,^al the one different from all the others, extremely terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws, devouring, crushing, and trampling with its feet whatever was left. ²⁰I also wanted to know about the ten horns^a on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three fell—the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly,^b and that looked bigger than the others. ²¹As I was watching, this horn waged war^c against the holy ones and was prevailing over them ²²until the Ancient of Days arrived and a judgment^d was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.