Vision of the Four Beasts

7 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, ^(A)Daniel ^[a]had a dream and ^(B)visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling ^[b]the main facts.

² Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. ³ And four great beasts ^(C)came up from the sea, each different from the other. ⁴ The first was ^(D)like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a ^(E)man’s heart was given to it.

^5 (F)“And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’

⁶ “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had ^(G)four heads, and dominion was given to it.

⁷ “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, ^(H)a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, ^(I)and it had ten horns. ⁸ I was considering the horns, and ^(J)there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes ^(K)of a man, ^(L)and a mouth speaking ^[c]pompous words.

Vision of the Ancient of Days

¹¹ “I watched then because of the sound of the ^[f]pompous words which the horn was speaking; ^(T)I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. ¹² As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Daniel’s Visions Interpreted

¹⁵ “I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit ^[g]within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ¹⁶ I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: ¹⁷ ‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four ^[h]kings which arise out of the earth. ¹⁸ But ^(Y)the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

¹⁹ “Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; ²⁰ and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke ^[i]pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.

²¹ “I was watching; ^(Z)and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came, ^(AA)and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

²³ “Thus he said:

²⁸ “This is the end of the ^[k]account. As for me, Daniel, ^(AN)my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I ^(AO)kept the matter in my heart.”

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In^[a] the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me ^(A)the first time. ² I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in ^(B)Shushan,^[b] the ^[c]citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai. ³ Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was ^(C)higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴ I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could ^[d]withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, ^(D)but he did according to his will and became great.

⁵ And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable ^(E)horn between his eyes. ⁶ Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power. ⁷ And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, ^[e]attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

⁸ Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it ^(F)four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. ^9 (G)And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, ^(H)toward the east, and toward the ^(I)Glorious Land. ^10 (J)And it grew up to ^(K)the host of heaven; and ^(L)it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. ^11 (M)He even exalted himself as high as ^(N)the Prince of the host; ^(O)and by him ^(P)the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of ^[f]His sanctuary was cast down. ¹² Because of transgression, ^(Q)an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast ^(R)truth down to the ground. He ^(S)did all this and prospered.

¹³ Then I heard ^(T)a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression ^[g]of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

¹⁴ And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred ^[h]days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

¹⁵ Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and ^(U)was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me ^(V)one having the appearance of a man. ¹⁶ And I heard a man’s voice ^(W)between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, ^(X)“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” ¹⁷ So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and ^(Y)fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

^18 (Z)Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; ^(AA)but he touched me, and stood me upright. ¹⁹ And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; ^(AB)for at the appointed time the end shall be. ²⁰ The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ And the ^[i]male goat is the ^[j]kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes ^(AC)is the first king. ^22 (AD)As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

^27 (AN)And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was ^[o]astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9 In the first year ^(A)of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through ^(B)Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

^3 (C)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴ And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O ^(D)Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, ^5 (E)we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. ^6 (F)Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. ⁷ O Lord, ^(G)righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

⁸ “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ^9 (H)To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yes, ^(I)all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the ^(J)Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. ¹² And He has ^(K)confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; ^(L)for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

^13 (M)“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; ^(N)yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord has ^(O)kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for ^(P)the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, ^(Q)who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself ^(R)a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

¹⁶ “O Lord, ^(S)according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, ^(T)Your holy mountain; because for our sins, ^(U)and for the iniquities of our fathers, ^(V)Jerusalem and Your people ^(W)are a reproach to all those around us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, ^(X)and ^(Y)for the Lord’s sake ^[a]cause Your face to shine on ^[b]Your sanctuary, ^(Z)which is desolate. ^18 (AA)O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes ^(AB)and see our desolations, and the city ^(AC)which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

The Seventy-Weeks Prophecy

²⁰ Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, ²¹ yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man ^(AD)Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, ^[c]being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. ²² And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. ²³ At the beginning of your supplications the ^[d]command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly ^(AE)beloved; therefore ^(AF)consider the matter, and understand the vision:

The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(A)

19 So then ^(B)Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. ^3 [a]Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they ^(C)struck Him with their hands.

⁴ Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, ^(D)that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

Pilate’s Decision

⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

^6 (E)Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

⁷ The Jews answered him, ^(F)“We have a law, and according to ^[b]our law He ought to die, because ^(G)He made Himself the Son of God.”

⁸ Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, ⁹ and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” ^(H)But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰ Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have ^[c]power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, ^(I)“You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(J)the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^(K)Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

^13 (L)When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now ^(M)it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵ But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, ^(N)“We have no king but Caesar!”

^16 (O)Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus ^[d]and led Him away.

The King on a Cross^(P)

^17 (Q)And He, bearing His cross, ^(R)went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, ¹⁸ where they crucified Him, and ^(S)two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. ^19 (T)Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁰ Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

²¹ Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

^23 (U)Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. ²⁴ They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Behold Your Mother

^25 (W)Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of ^(X)Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and ^(Y)the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ^(Z)“Woman, behold your son!” ²⁷ Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her ^(AA)to his own home.

It Is Finished

²⁸ After this, Jesus, ^[e]knowing that all things were now accomplished, ^(AB)that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” ²⁹ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and ^(AC)they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. ³⁰ So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ^(AD)“It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

^31 (AE)Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, ^(AF)that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a ^(AG)high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately ^(AH)blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is ^(AI)true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may ^(AJ)believe. ³⁶ For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ^(AK)“Not one of His bones shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(AL)“They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb^(AM)

^38 (AN)After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, ^(AO)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. ³⁹ And ^(AP)Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of ^(AQ)myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰ Then they took the body of Jesus, and ^(AR)bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So ^(AS)there they laid Jesus, ^(AT)because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God