Daniel 7–9

Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

7In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind ^cas he was lying in his bed. He wrote down the dream, ^dand here is the summary ^eof his account. ²Daniel said, “In my vision at night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven ^fstirred up the great sea. ³Four huge beasts ^gcame up from the sea, ^heach different from the other.

⁴“The first was like a lion ⁱbut 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. ^jIt 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“While I was watching, another beast appeared. It was like a leopard ^kwith four wings of a bird on its back. It had four heads ^land was given authority to rule.

⁷“While I was watching in the night visions, a fourth beast ^mappeared, 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 10 horns. ⁿ

⁸“While I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn, ^oa little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. There were eyes in this horn like a man’s, and it had a mouth that spoke 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 ^vserved Him;

ten thousand times ten thousand ^wstood 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. ^z12As for the rest of the beasts, their authority to rule was removed, but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time. ^a13I continued watching in the night visions,

and I saw One like a son of man ^b

coming with the clouds of heaven. ^c

He approached the Ancient of Days

and was escorted before Him.

¹⁴He was given authority to rule, ^d

and glory, and a kingdom;

so that those of every people,

nation, and language ^e

should serve ^fHim.

His dominion is an everlasting ^gdominion

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, ^hand the visions in my mind terrified me. ⁱ¹⁶I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him ^jthe true meaning of all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things: ^k17‘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.’ ^l

¹⁹“Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, ^mthe 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 10 horns ⁿon 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, ^oand that was more visible than the others. ²¹As I was watching, this horn waged war ^pagainst the holy ones and was prevailing over them ²²until the Ancient of Days arrived and a judgment ^qwas 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.

²³“This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it. ²⁴The 10 horns ^rare 10 kings who will rise from this kingdom. Another, different from the previous ones, will rise after them and subdue three kings. ²⁵He will speak words against the Most High ^sand oppress ^tthe holy ones ^uof the Most High. He will intend to change religious festivals ^vand laws, ^wand the holy ones will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time. ^xy26But the court will convene, ^zand his dominion will be taken away, to be completely destroyed forever. ^a27The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, ^band all rulers will serve and obey Him.’

²⁸“This is the end of the interpretation. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts terrified me greatly, ^cand my face turned pale, ^dbut I kept the matter to myself.” ^e

The Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8In the third year of King Belshazzar’s ^freign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier. ^g2I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa, ^hin the province of Elam. ⁱI saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³I looked up, ^jand there was a ram ^kstanding beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last. ⁴I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south. ^lNo animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted ^mand became great.

⁵As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn ⁿbetween his eyes. ^o6He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. ⁷I saw him approaching the ram, and infuriated with him, he struck the ram, shattering his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. ⁸Then the male goat became very great, ^pbut when he became powerful, the large horn was shattered. ^qFour conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven. ^r

The Little Horn

⁹From one of them a little horn ^semerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. ^tu10It grew as high as the heavenly host, made some of the stars and some of the host fall to the earth, ^vand trampled them. ^w11It made itself great, ^xeven up to the Prince of the host; ^yit removed His daily sacrifice ^zand overthrew the place of His sanctuary. ¹²Because of rebellion, a host, together with the daily sacrifice, will be given over. The horn will throw truth to the ground and will be successful ^ain whatever it does.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking, ^band another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last ^c—the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?” ^d

¹⁴He said to me, ^e“For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man. ^f16I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel, ^gexplain the vision to this man.”

¹⁷So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown. ^h“Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.” ⁱ¹⁸While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, ^jwith my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up, ^k19and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end. ^l20The two-horned ram ^mthat you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king. ⁿ²²The four horns that took the place of the shattered horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.

²³Near the end of their kingdoms,

when the rebels have reached

the full measure of their sin, ^o

an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, ^p

will come to the throne.

²⁴His power will be great,

but it will not be his own.

He will cause terrible destruction ^q

and succeed in whatever he does.

He will destroy the powerful

along with the holy people. ^r

²⁵He will cause deceit to prosper

through his cunning and by his influence,

and in his own mind he will make himself great.

He will destroy many in a time of peace;

he will even stand against the Prince of princes.

Yet he will be shattered—not by human hands. ^s

²⁶The vision of the evenings and the mornings

that has been told is true.

Now you must seal up the vision ^t

because it refers to many days in the future.”

²⁷I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. ^uThen I got up and went about the king’s business. ^vI was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.

Daniel’s Prayer

9In the first year of Darius, ^wthe son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans: ²In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70. ^x3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ^y

⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring God ^zwho keeps His gracious covenant ^awith those who love Him ^band keep His commands ^c— ⁵we have sinned, ^ddone wrong, acted…