Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts

¹In the first year of pBelshazzar king of Babylon, qDaniel saw a dream and rvisions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. ²Daniel declared,1 “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, sthe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. ³And four great beasts tcame up out of the sea, different from one another. ⁴The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. ⁵And behold, uanother beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ ⁶After this I looked, and behold, another, like a vleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and wdominion was given to it. ⁷After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, xterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; xit devoured and broke in pieces xand stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and yit had ten horns. ⁸I considered the horns, and behold, zthere came up among them another horn, a little one, zbefore which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and aa mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

⁹“As I looked,

bthrones were placed,

and the cAncient of Days took his seat;

dhis clothing was white as snow,

and ethe hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames;

fits wheels were burning fire.

¹⁰gA stream of fire issued

and came out from before him;

ha thousand thousands iserved him,

hand ten thousand times ten thousand jstood before him;

the kcourt sat in judgment,

and lthe books were opened.

¹¹“I looked then because of the sound of athe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, mthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed mand given over to be burned with fire. ¹²As for the rest of the beasts, ntheir dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion

¹³“I saw in the night visions,

and obehold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the cAncient of Days

and was presented before him.

¹⁴pAnd to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all qpeoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

rhis dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel's Vision Interpreted

¹⁵“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me2 was anxious, and sthe visions of my head alarmed me. ¹⁶I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ¹⁷t‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But uthe saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

¹⁹“Then I desired to know the truth about vthe fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, ²⁰wand about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. ²¹As I looked, this horn xmade war with the saints and prevailed over them, ²²until the yAncient of Days came, and ujudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when uthe saints possessed the kingdom.

²³“Thus he said: ‘As for vthe fourth beast,

there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,

which shall be different from all the kingdoms,

and it shall devour the whole earth,

and trample it down, and break it to pieces.

²⁴As for the ten horns,

out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,

and another shall arise after them;

he shall be different from the former ones,

and shall put down three kings.

²⁵zHe shall speak words against the Most High,

and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,

and shall think to achange the times and the law;

and they shall be given into his hand

for ba time, times, and half a time.

²⁶cBut the court shall sit in judgment,

and dhis dominion shall be taken away,

to be consumed and destroyed eto the end.

²⁷fAnd the kingdom and the dominion

and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven

shall be given to the people of fthe saints of the Most High;

ghis kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,

and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’3

²⁸“Here is the end of the matter. hAs for me, Daniel, my ithoughts greatly alarmed me, jand my color changed, but kI kept the matter in my heart.”

Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat

¹In the third year of the reign of lKing Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, mafter that which appeared to me mat the first. ²And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in nSusa the citadel, which is in the province of oElam. And pI saw in the vision, pand I was at the qUlai canal. ³I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ra ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴I saw sthe ram charging westward and northward and southward. No tbeast ucould stand before him, vand there was no one who could rescue from his power. wHe did as he pleased and xbecame great.

⁵As I was considering, behold, a ymale goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ya conspicuous horn between his eyes. ⁶He came to zthe ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, aand he ran at him in his powerful wrath. ⁷I saw him come close to the ram, band he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. cAnd the ram had no power to stand before him, but he dcast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. ⁸Then ythe goat ebecame exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four fconspicuous horns toward fthe four winds of heaven.

⁹Out of one of them came ga little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward hthe south, toward the east, and toward ithe glorious land. ¹⁰jIt grew great, keven to the host of heaven. And some of the host kand some1 of lthe stars it threw down to the ground and mtrampled on them. ¹¹nIt became great, even as great as othe Prince of the host. pAnd the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. ¹²And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression,2 and it will throw truth to the ground, and qit will act and prosper. ¹³Then I heard ra holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, s“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, tthe transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” ¹⁴And he said to me,3 “For 2,300 uevenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

The Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I vsought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having wthe appearance of a man. ¹⁶xAnd I heard a man's voice xbetween the banks of the yUlai, and it called, z“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” ¹⁷So he came near where I stood. And when he came, aI was frightened band fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, cO son of man, that the vision is for dthe time of the end.”

¹⁸And when he had spoken to me, eI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But fhe touched me and made me stand up. ¹⁹He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of gthe indignation, for it refers to hthe appointed time of the end. ²⁰As for ithe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of jMedia and Persia. ²¹And kthe goat4 is the king of Greece. And kthe great horn between his eyes is lthe first king. ²²mAs for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his5 nation, nbut not with his power. ²³And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. ²⁴His power shall be great—obut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction pand shall succeed in what he does, qand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. ²⁵rBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind she shall become great. tWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he sshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but uby no human hand. ²⁶The vision of vthe evenings and the mornings that has been told wis true, but xseal up the vision, yfor it refers to many days from now.”

²⁷And zI, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision aand did not understand it.

Daniel's Prayer for His People

¹bIn the first year of cDarius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a dMede, who was made king over the realm of the eChaldeans— ²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to fthe word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

³Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by gprayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. ⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and hmade confession, saying, i“O Lord, the igreat and awesome God, who jkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁵kwe have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly land rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. ⁶mWe have not listened to nyour servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to oour kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷To you, pO Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, qthose who are near and qthose who are far away, in rall the lands to which you have driven them, because of sthe treachery that they have committed against you. ⁸To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because kwe have sinned against you. ⁹tTo the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him ¹⁰mand have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by nhis servants the prophets. ¹¹uAll Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, vrefusing to obey your voice. wAnd the curse and oath xthat are written in the Law of yMoses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because kwe have sinned against him. ¹²He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against zour rulers who ruled us,1 by abringing upon us a great calamity. bFor under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. ¹³xAs it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, cturning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. ¹⁴dTherefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, efor the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and fwe have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt gwith a mighty hand, and hhave made a name for yourself, as at this day, iwe have sinned, we have done wickedly.

¹⁶“O Lord, jaccording to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, kyour holy hill, lbecause for our sins, and for mthe iniquities of our fathers, nJerusalem and your people have become oa byword among all who are around us. ¹⁷Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,2 pmake your face to shine upon qyour sanctuary, which is desolate. ¹⁸rO my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see sour desolations, and tthe city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. uDelay not, vfor your own sake, O my God, because tyour city and wyour people are called by your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

²⁰xWhile I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for ythe holy hill of my God, ²¹while I was speaking in prayer, the man zGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, acame to me in swift flight at bthe time of the evening sacrifice. ²²cHe made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you dinsight and understanding. ²³eAt the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, fand I have come to tell it to you, for gyou are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word hand understand the vision.

The Seventy Weeks

²⁴i“Seventy weeks3 are decreed about your people and jyour holy city, to finish kthe transgression, to put an end to sin, land to atone for iniquity, mto bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and nto anoint a most holy place.4 ²⁵oKnow therefore and understand that pfrom the going out of the word to restore and qbuild Jerusalem to the coming of an ranointed one, a sprince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again5 with squares and moat, tbut in a troubled time. ²⁶And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall ube cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come vshall destroy the city and the sanctuary. wIts6 end shall come with a flood, xand to the end there shall be war. yDesolations are decreed. ²⁷And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,7 and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. zAnd on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until athe decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel's Terrifying Vision of a Man

¹bIn the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, cwho was named Belteshazzar. And dthe word was true, and it was a great conflict.1 And ehe understood the word and ehad understanding of the vision.

²In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for fthree weeks. ³I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I ganoint myself at all, for fthe full three weeks. ⁴On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing hon the bank of the great river (ithat is, the Tigris) ⁵jI lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, ka man clothed in linen, lwith a belt of fine mgold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶His body was like nberyl, his face olike the appearance of lightning, phis eyes like flaming torches, his arms and qlegs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and qthe sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. ⁷rAnd I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. ⁸So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and sno strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed,2 tand I retained no strength. ⁹Then I heard the sound of his words, uand as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep uwith my face to the ground.

¹⁰And behold, va hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. ¹¹And he said to me, “O Daniel, wman greatly loved, xunderstand the words that I speak to you, and ystand upright, for znow I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. ¹²Then he said to me, a“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you bset your heart to understand and bhumbled yourself before your God, cyour words have been heard, dand I have come because of your words. ¹³eThe prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me ftwenty-one days, but gMichael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, ¹⁴dand came to make you understand what is to happen to your people hin the latter days. For ithe vision is for days yet to come.”

¹⁵When he had spoken to me according to these words, jI turned my face toward the ground kand was mute. ¹⁶And behold, lone in the likeness of the children of man mtouched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and nI retain no strength. ¹⁷How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”

¹⁸Again lone having the appearance of a man mtouched me and strengthened me. ¹⁹And he said, o“O man greatly loved, pfear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” ²⁰Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the qprince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of rGreece will come. ²¹But I will tell you swhat is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except tMichael, your prince.

The Kings of the South and the North

¹“And as for me, uin the first year of uDarius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

²“And now I will show you vthe truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. ³Then wa mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and xdo as he wills. ⁴And as soon as he has arisen, yhis kingdom shall be broken and divided ytoward the zfour winds of heaven, but anot to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.

⁵“Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he band shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. ⁶After some years cthey shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported1 her in those times.

⁷“And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the dfortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. ⁸He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious evessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. ⁹Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.

¹⁰“His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming fand overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his dfortress. ¹¹Then the king of the south, gmoved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. hAnd he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. ¹²And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. ¹³For the king of the north shall again iraise a multitude, greater than the first. And jafter some years2 he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.

¹⁴“In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but kthey shall fail. ¹⁵Then the king of the north shall come and lthrow up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. ¹⁶But he who comes against him shall mdo as he wills, and nnone shall stand before him. And he shall stand in othe glorious land, with destruction in his hand. ¹⁷He shall pset his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom,3 but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. ¹⁸Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed,4 he qshall turn his insolence back upon him. ¹⁹Then he shall turn his face back toward the rfortresses of his own land, but he shall sstumble and fall, tand shall not be found.

²⁰“Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an uexactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. ²¹In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. vHe shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom wby flatteries. ²²Armies shall be xutterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. ²³And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. ²⁴yWithout warning he shall come into zthe richest parts5 of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. ²⁵And he shall stir up his power and his heart against athe king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. ²⁶Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be bswept away, and many shall fall down slain. ²⁷And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for cthe end is yet to be at the time appointed. ²⁸And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.

²⁹“At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. ³⁰For ships of dKittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and ebe enraged and etake action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. ³¹Forces from him shall appear and fprofane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And gthey shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. ³²He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. ³³hAnd the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. ³⁴When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, ³⁵and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, ipurified, and jmade white, until kthe time of the end, kfor it still awaits the appointed time.

³⁶“And the king shall ldo as he wills. mHe shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, nand shall speak astonishing things against othe God of gods. pHe shall prosper qtill the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. ³⁷He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for mhe shall magnify himself above all. ³⁸He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor rwith gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. ³⁹He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and sshall divide the land for a price.6

⁴⁰t“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack7 him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him ulike a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and vshall overflow and pass through. ⁴¹He shall come into wthe glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: xEdom and xMoab and the main part of the xAmmonites. ⁴²He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. ⁴³He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the yLibyans and the zCushites shall follow in his train. ⁴⁴But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. ⁴⁵And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.