¹⁷‘The four large animals stand for four kingdoms. The kingdoms will appear on the earth. ¹⁸But the holy people of the Most High God will receive the kingdom. They will possess it forever. It will belong to them for ever and ever.’

¹⁹“Then I wanted to know what the fourth animal stood for. It was different from the others. It was the most terrifying of all. It had iron teeth and bronze claws. It crushed those it attacked and ate them up. It stomped on anything that was left.

²⁰“I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head. And I wanted to know about the other horn that grew up later. It caused three of the ten horns to fall out. It appeared to be stronger than the others. It had eyes. And its mouth was always bragging.

²¹“I saw that the horn was at war with God’s people. It was winning the battle over them. ²²But then the Eternal God came. He decided in favor of his holy people. So the time came when the kingdom was given to them.

²³“Here’s how the angel explained it to me. He said, ‘The fourth animal stands for a fourth kingdom. It will appear on earth. It will be different from the other kingdoms. It will eat up the whole earth. It will stomp on it and crush it. ²⁴The ten horns stand for ten kings. They will come from the fourth kingdom.

“ ‘After them another king will appear. He will be different from the earlier ones. He’ll bring three kings under his control. ²⁵He’ll speak against the Most High God. He’ll treat God’s people badly. He will try to change the times and laws that were given by God. God’s people will be handed over to him for three and a half years.

²⁶“ ‘But the court will open. And the power of that king will be taken away from him. It will be completely destroyed forever. ²⁷Then the authority, power and greatness of all of the kingdoms on earth will be handed over to the people of the Most High God. His kingdom will last forever. Every ruler will worship and obey him.’

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