Daniel 7:1–6

Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts

In the first year of Belshazzar^a king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions^b passed through his mind^c as he was lying in bed.^d He wrote^e down the substance of his dream.

Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven^f churning up the great sea. Four great beasts,^g each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

“The first was like a lion,^h and it had the wings of an eagle.ⁱ I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.

“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’^j

“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard.^k And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.