⁴⁰ And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything,^[a] it shall crush and shatter all these.^(A)

⁷ After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns.^(A)

³⁶ “The king shall act as he pleases. He shall exalt himself and consider himself greater than any god and shall speak horrendous things against the God of gods. He shall prosper until the period of wrath is completed, for what is determined shall be done.^{(A) 37} He shall pay no respect to the gods of his ancestors or to the one beloved by women; he shall pay no respect to any other god, for he shall consider himself greater than all. ³⁸ He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his ancestors did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. ³⁹ He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall make more wealthy and shall appoint them as rulers over many and shall distribute the land for a price.

The Time of the End

⁴⁰ “At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him. But the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen and with many ships. He shall advance against countries and pass through like a flood.^{(B) 41} He shall come into the beautiful land, and tens of thousands shall fall victim, but Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites shall escape from his power.^{(C) 42} He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. ⁴³ He shall gain control of the treasures of gold and of silver and all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train.^{(D) 44} But reports from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to bring ruin and complete destruction to many. ⁴⁵ He shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with no one to help him.^(E)

¹⁹ Then I desired to know the truth concerning 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 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and concerning the other horn that came up and before which three others had fallen—the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly and that seemed greater than the others. ²¹ As I looked, that horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them,^{(A) 22} until the Ancient One^[a] came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.^(B)

²³ This is what he said: “As for the fourth beast,

⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place^[a] and our nation.”

²⁶ After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its^[a] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.^(A)

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