Daniel 7–9

Vision of the Four Beasts

7In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, ^aDaniel ¹had a dream and ^bvisions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling ²the main facts.

²Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. ³And four great beasts ^ccame up from the sea, each different from the other. ⁴The first was ^dlike a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a ^eman’s heart was given to it.

^5f“And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’

⁶“After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had ^gfour heads, and dominion was given to it.

⁷“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, ^ha fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, ⁱand it had ten horns. ⁸I was considering the horns, and ^jthere was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes ^kof a man, ^land a mouth speaking ³pompous words.

Vision of the Ancient of Days

⁹“I ^mwatched till thrones were ⁴put in place,

And ⁿthe Ancient of Days was seated;

^oHis garment was white as snow,

And the hair of His head was like pure wool.

His throne was a fiery flame,

^pIts wheels a burning fire;

^10qA fiery stream issued

And came forth from before Him.

^rA thousand thousands ministered to Him;

Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.

^sThe ⁵court was seated,

And the books were opened.

¹¹“I watched then because of the sound of the ⁶pompous words which the horn was speaking; ^tI watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. ¹²As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

¹³“I was watching in the night visions,

And behold, ^uOne like the Son of Man,

Coming with the clouds of heaven!

He came to the Ancient of Days,

And they brought Him near before Him.

^14vThen to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all ^wpeoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is ^xan everlasting dominion,

Which shall not pass away,

And His kingdom the one

Which shall not be destroyed.

Daniel’s Visions Interpreted

¹⁵“I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit ⁷within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ¹⁶I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: ¹⁷‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four ⁸kings which arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But ^ythe saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

¹⁹“Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; ²⁰and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke ⁹pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.

²¹“I was watching; ^zand the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, ²²until the Ancient of Days came, ^aand a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

²³“Thus he said:

‘The fourth beast shall be

^bA fourth kingdom on earth,

Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,

And shall devour the whole earth,

Trample it and break it in pieces.

^24cThe ten horns are ten kings

Who shall arise from this kingdom.

And another shall rise after them;

He shall be different from the first ones,

And shall subdue three kings.

^25dHe shall speak pompous words against the Most High,

Shall ^epersecute ¹the saints of the Most High,

And shall ^fintend to change times and law.

Then ^gthe saints shall be given into his hand

^hFor a time and times and half a time.

²⁶‘But ⁱthe court shall be seated,

And they shall ^jtake away his dominion,

To consume and destroy it forever.

²⁷Then the ^kkingdom and dominion,

And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,

Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.

^lHis kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

^mAnd all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’

²⁸“This is the end of the ²account. As for me, Daniel, ⁿmy thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I ^okept the matter in my heart.”

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8In ¹the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me ^athe first time. ²I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in ^bShushan, ²the ³citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai. ³Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was ^chigher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could ⁴withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, ^dbut he did according to his will and became great.

⁵And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable ^ehorn between his eyes. ⁶Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power. ⁷And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, ⁵attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

⁸Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it ^ffour notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. ^9gAnd out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, ^htoward the east, and toward the ⁱGlorious Land. ^10jAnd it grew up to ^kthe host of heaven; and ^lit cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. ^11mHe even exalted himself as high as ⁿthe Prince of the host; ^oand by him ^pthe daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of ⁶His sanctuary was cast down. ¹²Because of transgression, ^qan army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast ^rtruth down to the ground. He ^sdid all this and prospered.

¹³Then I heard ^ta holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression ⁷of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

¹⁴And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred ⁸days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

¹⁵Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and ^uwas seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me ^vone having the appearance of a man. ¹⁶And I heard a man’s voice ^wbetween the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, ^x“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” ¹⁷So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and ^yfell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

^18zNow, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; ^abut he touched me, and stood me upright. ¹⁹And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; ^bfor at the appointed time the end shall be. ²⁰The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹And the ⁹male goat is the ¹kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes ^cis the first king. ^22dAs for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

²³“And in the latter time of their kingdom,

When the transgressors have reached their fullness,

A king shall arise,

^eHaving fierce ²features,

Who understands sinister schemes.

²⁴His power shall be mighty, ^fbut not by his own power;

He shall destroy ³fearfully,

^gAnd shall prosper and thrive;

^hHe shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.

²⁵“Through ⁱhis cunning

He shall cause deceit to prosper under his ⁴rule;

^jAnd he shall exalt himself in his heart.

He shall destroy many in their prosperity.

^kHe shall even rise against the Prince of princes;

But he shall be ^lbroken without human means.

²⁶“And the vision of the evenings and mornings

Which was told is true;

^mTherefore seal up the vision,

For it refers to many days in the future.”

²⁷ⁿAnd I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was ⁵astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9In the first year ^aof Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—²in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through ^bJeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

^3cThen I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴And I prayed to the …