Daniel 7:1–8

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