⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.^(A)

⁷ “After that, in my vision^(A) at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron^(B) teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled^(C) underfoot whatever was left.^(D) It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.^(E)

The King Who Exalts Himself

³⁶ “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself^(A) above every god and will say unheard-of things^(B) against the God of gods.^(C) He will be successful until the time of wrath^(D) is completed, for what has been determined must take place.^{(E) 37} He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. ³⁸ Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. ³⁹ He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.^[a]

⁴⁰ “At the time of the end the king of the South^(F) will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm^(G) out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.^{(H) 41} He will also invade the Beautiful Land.^(I) Many countries will fall, but Edom,^(J) Moab^(K) and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. ⁴² He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. ⁴³ He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt,^(L) with the Libyans^(M) and Cushites^[b] in submission. ⁴⁴ But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. ⁴⁵ He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at^[c] the beautiful holy mountain.^(N) Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

¹⁹ “Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. ²⁰ I also wanted to know about the ten horns^(A) on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully.^{(B) 21} As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them,^{(C) 22} until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.^(D)

²³ “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.^{(E) 24} The ten horns^(F) are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. ²⁵ He will speak against the Most High^(G) and oppress his holy people^(H) and try to change the set times^(I) and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.^[a](J)

²⁶ “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed^(K) forever.

⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

³ This is what the Lord says:

²⁶ After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death^(A) and will have nothing.^[a] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:^(B) War will continue until the end, and desolations^(C) have been decreed.^(D)

²⁴ He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people.^(A)

³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.