Daniel 7
Vision of the Four Beasts
1In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a adream and visions ▼▼ Lit of his head
in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he cwrote the dream down and related the ▼▼ Or beginning
following summary of ▼▼ Lit words
it. 2Daniel ▼▼ Lit spoke and said
said, “I was glooking in my vision by night, and behold, the hfour winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3“And four great ibeasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. 4“The first was jlike a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human ▼▼ Lit heart
mind also was given to it. 5“And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ 6“After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, llike a leopard, which had on its ▼▼ Or sides
back four wings of a bird; the beast also had nfour heads, and dominion was given to it. 7“After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a ofourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had pten horns. 8“While I was contemplating the horns, behold, qanother horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, ▼▼ Lit in this horn were eyes
this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and sa mouth uttering great boasts. The Ancient of Days Reigns
9“I kept lookingUntil tthrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His uvesture was like white snow
And the vhair of His head like pure wool.
His wthrone was ▼
▼ Lit flames of fire
ablaze with flames,Its ywheels were a burning fire.
10“A river of zfire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
aaThousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The abcourt sat,
And acthe books were opened.
11“Then I kept looking because of the sound of the ▼
▼ Lit great
boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the aeburning ▼▼ Lit of the fire
fire. 12“As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. The Son of Man Presented
13“I kept looking in the night visions,And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a agSon of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
14“And to Him was given ahdominion,
Glory and ▼
▼ Or sovereignty
,
aja kingdom,akThat all the peoples, nations and men of every ▼
▼ Lit tongue
languageMight serve Him.
amHis dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
anAnd His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
The Vision Interpreted
15“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed ▼▼ Lit in the midst of its sheath
within me, and the apvisions ▼▼ Lit of my head
in my mind kept aralarming me. 16“I approached one of those who were asstanding by and began asking him the ▼▼ Lit truth concerning
exact meaning of all this. So he autold me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: 17‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. 18‘But the ▼▼ Lit holy ones
,
awsaints of the Highest One will axreceive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, ▼▼ Lit and unto the age of the ages
for all ages to come.’ 19“Then I desired to know the ▼▼ Lit truth concerning
exact meaning of the bafourth beast, which was different from all ▼▼ Lit of them
the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, 20and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and ▼▼ Lit its appearance was larger
which was larger in appearance than its associates. 21“I kept looking, and that horn was bdwaging war with the ▼▼ Lit holy ones
saints and overpowering them 22until the Ancient of Days came and bfjudgment was ▼▼ Lit given for
passed in favor of the ▼▼ Lit holy ones
saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the ▼▼ Lit holy ones
saints took possession of the kingdom. 23“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. 24‘As for the bjten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. 25‘He will bkspeak ▼▼ Lit words
out against the bmMost High and bnwear down the ▼▼ Lit holy ones
saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make bpalterations in times and in law; and ▼▼ I.e. the saints
they will be given into his hand for a ▼▼ I.e. year(s)
,
bstime, ▼▼ I.e. year(s)
times, and half a ▼▼ I.e. year(s)
time. 26‘But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be bvtaken away, ▼▼ Lit to annihilate and to destroy
annihilated and destroyed ▼▼ Lit to the end
forever. 27‘Then the ▼▼ Or kingdom
,
bzsovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the ▼▼ Lit holy ones
saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an cbeverlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will ccserve and obey Him.’ 28 ▼▼ Lit To here the end of the word
“At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were cegreatly alarming me and my ▼▼ Lit brightness was changing upon me
face grew pale, but I cgkept the matter ▼▼ Lit in my heart
to myself.”
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