Daniel 7-8

New American Standard Bible

Vision of the Four Beasts

7 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a ^(A)dream and visions ^[a]in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he ^(B)wrote the dream down and told the ^[b]following summary of ^[c]it. ² Daniel ^[d]said, “I was ^(C)looking in my vision by night, and behold, the ^(D)four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. ³ And four great ^(E)beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. ⁴ The first was ^(F)like a lion but had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and set up on two feet like a man; a human ^[e]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 they said this to it: ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ ⁶ After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, ^(G)like a leopard, which had on its ^[f]back four wings of a bird; the beast also had ^(H)four heads, and dominion was given to it. ⁷ After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a ^(I)fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, 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 ^(J)ten horns. ⁸ While I was thinking about the horns, behold, ^(K)another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the previous horns were plucked out before it; and behold, ^[g]this horn possessed eyes like human eyes, and ^(L)a mouth uttering great boasts.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

¹¹ Then I kept looking because of the sound of the ^[j]boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the ^(V)burning ^[k]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

The Vision Interpreted

¹⁵ “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within ^[n]me, and the ^(AB)visions ^[o]in my mind kept ^(AC)alarming me. ¹⁶ I approached one of those who were ^(AD)standing by and began requesting of him the ^[p]exact meaning of all this. So he ^(AE)told 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 ^[q](AF)saints of the Highest One will ^(AG)receive the kingdom and take possession of the kingdom forever, ^[r]for all ages to come.’

¹⁹ “Then I desired to know the ^[s]exact meaning of the ^(AH)fourth beast, which was different from all ^[t]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, ²⁰ and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of the horns fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and ^[u]which was larger in appearance than its associates. ²¹ I kept looking, and that horn was ^(AI)waging war with the ^[v]saints and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came and ^(AJ)judgment was ^[w]passed in favor of the ^[x]saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the ^[y]saints took possession of the kingdom.

²³ “This is what 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 trample it down and crush it. ²⁴ As for the ^(AK)ten 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 ^[z]humble three kings. ²⁵ And he will ^[aa](AL)speak against the ^(AM)Most High and ^(AN)wear down the ^[ab]saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make ^(AO)alterations in times and in law; and ^[ac]they will be handed over to him for a ^[ad](AP)time, ^[ae]times, and half a ^[af]time. ²⁶ But the court will ^[ag]convene for judgment, and his dominion will be ^(AQ)taken away, ^[ah]annihilated and destroyed ^[ai]forever. ²⁷ Then the ^[aj](AR)sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the ^[ak]saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an ^(AS)everlasting kingdom, and all the empires will ^(AT)serve and obey Him.’

²⁸ “^[al]At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were ^(AU)greatly alarming me and my ^[am]face became pale, but I ^(AV)kept the matter ^[an]to myself.”

Vision of the Ram and Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, ^[ao]Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me ^[ap]previously. ² I ^(AW)looked in the vision, and while I was looking, I was in the citadel of ^(AX)Susa, which is in the province of ^(AY)Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. ³ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a ^(AZ)ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were ^[aq]long, but one was ^[ar]longer than the other, with the ^[as]longer one coming up last. ⁴ I saw the ram ^(BA)butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand against him nor was there anyone to rescue from his ^[at]power, but ^(BB)he did as he pleased and made himself great.

⁵ While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a ^(BC)prominent horn between his eyes. ⁶ He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. ⁷ And I saw him come up beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and smashed his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his ^[au]power. ⁸ Then the male goat made himself exceedingly great. But once ^(BD)he became powerful, the ^(BE)large horn was broken; and in its place four prominent horns came up toward the ^(BF)four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

⁹ And out of one of them came a rather ^(BG)small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the ^[av](BH)Beautiful Land. ¹⁰ It grew up to the heavenly ^[aw]lights, and some of the ^[ax]lights, ^[ay]that is, some of the ^(BI)stars it threw down to the earth, and it ^(BJ)trampled them. ¹¹ It even ^(BK)exalted itself ^[az]to be equal with the ^[ba]Commander of the army; and it removed the ^(BL)regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was overthrown. ¹² And because of ^[bb]an offense the army will be given to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will ^(BM)hurl truth to the ground and do as it pleases and be successful. ¹³ Then I heard a ^(BN)holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “^(BO)How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, ^[bc]while the offense causes horror, so as to allow both the sanctuary and the army ^[bd]to be ^(BP)trampled?” ¹⁴ And he said to me, “For ^(BQ)2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be ^[be]properly restored.”

Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵ When ^(BR)I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought ^[bf]to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one ^[bg]who looked like a ^(BS)man. ¹⁶ And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “^(BT)Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.” ¹⁷ So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and ^(BU)fell on my face; and he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the ^(BV)time of the end.”

¹⁸ Now while he was talking with me, I was ^(BW)dazed with my face to the ground; but he ^(BX)touched me and made me stand at my place. ¹⁹ And he said, “Behold, I am going to ^(BY)inform you of what will occur at the final period of the indignation, because it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

The Ram’s Identity

²⁰ The ^(BZ)ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

The Goat

²¹ The shaggy ^[bh]goat represents the ^[bi]kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. ²² The ^(CA)broken horn and the four horns that came up in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.

²⁷ Then I, Daniel, was ^[bw](CH)exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up and ^(CI)carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.