Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts

7 In the first year of ^(A)Belshazzar king of Babylon, ^(B)Daniel saw a dream and ^(C)visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. ² Daniel declared,^[a] “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, ^(D)the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. ³ And four great beasts ^(E)came up out of the sea, different from one another. ⁴ The 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. ⁵ And behold, ^(F)another 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.’ ⁶ After this I looked, and behold, another, like a ^(G)leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and ^(H)dominion was given to it. ⁷ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, ^(I)terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; ^(J)it devoured and broke in pieces ^(K)and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and ^(L)it had ten horns. ⁸ I considered the horns, and behold, ^(M)there came up among them another horn, a little one, ^(N)before 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 ^(O)a mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

⁹ “As I looked,

¹¹ “I looked then because of the sound of ^(AB)the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, ^(AC)the beast was killed, and its body destroyed ^(AD)and given over to be burned with fire. ¹² As for the rest of the beasts, ^(AE)their 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,

Daniel's Vision Interpreted

¹⁵ “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me^[b] was anxious, and ^(AK)the visions of my head alarmed me. ¹⁶ I 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. ^17 (AL)‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸ But ^(AM)the 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 ^(AN)the 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, ^20 (AO)and 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. ²¹ As I looked, this horn ^(AP)made war with the saints and prevailed over them, ²² until the ^(AQ)Ancient of Days came, and ^(AR)judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when ^(AS)the saints possessed the kingdom.

²³ “Thus he said: ‘As for ^(AT)the fourth beast,

²⁸ “Here is the end of the matter. ^(BD)As for me, Daniel, my ^(BE)thoughts greatly alarmed me, ^(BF)and my color changed, but ^(BG)I kept the matter in my heart.”

Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of ^(BH)King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, ^(BI)after that which appeared to me ^(BJ)at the first. ² And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^(BK)Susa the citadel, which is in the province of ^(BL)Elam. And ^(BM)I saw in the vision, ^(BN)and I was at the ^(BO)Ulai canal. ³ I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(BP)a 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. ⁴ I saw ^(BQ)the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^(BR)beast ^(BS)could stand before him, ^(BT)and there was no one who could rescue from his power. ^(BU)He did as he pleased and ^(BV)became great.

⁵ As I was considering, behold, a ^(BW)male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ^(BX)a conspicuous horn between his eyes. ⁶ He came to ^(BY)the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, ^(BZ)and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. ⁷ I saw him come close to the ram, ^(CA)and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. ^(CB)And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he ^(CC)cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. ⁸ Then ^(CD)the goat ^(CE)became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four ^(CF)conspicuous horns toward ^(CG)the four winds of heaven.

⁹ Out of one of them came ^(CH)a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^(CI)the south, toward the east, and toward ^(CJ)the glorious land. ^10 (CK)It grew great, ^(CL)even to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^(CM)and some^[d] of ^(CN)the stars it threw down to the ground and ^(CO)trampled on them. ^11 (CP)It became great, even as great as ^(CQ)the Prince of the host. ^(CR)And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. ¹² And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression,^[e] and it will throw truth to the ground, and ^(CS)it will act and prosper. ¹³ Then I heard ^(CT)a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^(CU)“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^(CV)the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” ¹⁴ And he said to me,^[f] “For 2,300 ^(CW)evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

The Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I ^(CX)sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^(CY)the appearance of a man. ^16 (CZ)And I heard a man's voice ^(DA)between the banks of the ^(DB)Ulai, and it called, ^(DC)“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” ¹⁷ So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^(DD)I was frightened ^(DE)and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^(DF)O son of man, that the vision is for ^(DG)the time of the end.”

¹⁸ And when he had spoken to me, ^(DH)I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^(DI)he touched me and made me stand up. ¹⁹ He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of ^(DJ)the indignation, for it refers to ^(DK)the appointed time of the end. ²⁰ As for ^(DL)the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^(DM)Media and Persia. ²¹ And ^(DN)the goat^[g] is the king of Greece. And ^(DO)the great horn between his eyes is ^(DP)the first king. ^22 (DQ)As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his^[h] nation, ^(DR)but not with his power. ²³ And 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. ²⁴ His power shall be great—^(DS)but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^(DT)and shall succeed in what he does, ^(DU)and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. ^25 (DV)By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^(DW)he shall become great. ^(DX)Without warning he shall destroy many. And he ^(DY)shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^(DZ)by no human hand. ²⁶ The vision of ^(EA)the evenings and the mornings that has been told ^(EB)is true, but ^(EC)seal up the vision, ^(ED)for it refers to many days from now.”

²⁷ And ^(EE)I, 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 ^(EF)and did not understand it.

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(A)And Jesus, ^(B)full of the Holy Spirit, ^(C)returned from the Jordan and was led ^(D)by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for ^(E)forty days, ^(F)being tempted by the devil. ^(G)And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^(H)he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are ^(I)the Son of God, command ^(J)this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, ^(K)“It is written, ^(L)‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ^5 (M)And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶ and said to him, “To you ^(N)I will give all this authority and their glory, ^(O)for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered him, ^(P)“It is written,

^9 (S)And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are ^(T)the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ^(W)‘You shall not ^(X)put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him ^(Y)until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (Z)And Jesus returned ^(AA)in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^(AB)a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And ^(AC)he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16 (AD)And he came to ^(AE)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(AF)as was his custom, ^(AG)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(AH)to read. ¹⁷ And ^(AI)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^(AQ)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(AR)fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today ^(AS)this Scripture ^(AT)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^(AU)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^(AV)“Is not this ^(AW)Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^(AX)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ^(AY)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AZ)no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^(BA)the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them ^(BB)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And ^(BC)there were many lepers^[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^(BD)but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and ^(BE)drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But ^(BF)passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

^31 (BG)And he ^(BH)went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^(BI)he was teaching them ^(BJ)on the Sabbath, ³² and ^(BK)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(BL)for his word possessed authority. ³³ And ^(BM)in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha!^{[b] (BN)}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(BO)I know who you are—^(BP)the Holy One of God.” ³⁵ But Jesus ^(BQ)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶ And ^(BR)they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^(BS)For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And ^(BT)reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

^38 (BU)And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now ^(BV)Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. ³⁹ And he stood over her and ^(BW)rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and ^(BX)he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (BY)And demons also came out of many, ^(BZ)crying, “You are ^(CA)the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^(CB)would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ^(CC)the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

^42 (CD)And when it was day, he departed and went ^(CE)into a desolate place. And ^(CF)the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³ but he said to them, ^(CG)“I must ^(CH)preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching ^(CI)in the synagogues of Judea.^[c]