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 ^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.