Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

7 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind^(A) as he was lying in his bed. He wrote down the dream,^(B) and here is the summary^[a] of his account. ² Daniel said, “In my vision at night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven^(C) stirred up the great sea. ³ Four huge beasts^(D) came up from the sea,^(E) each different from the other.

⁴ “The first was like a lion^(F) but had eagle’s wings. I continued watching until its wings were torn off. It was lifted up from the ground, set on its feet like a man, and given a human mind.

⁵ “Suddenly, another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear.^(G) It was raised up on one side, with three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up! Gorge yourself on flesh.’

⁶ “After this, while I was watching, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard^(H) with four wings of a bird on its back. It had four heads,^(I) and it was given dominion.

⁷ “After this, while I was watching in the night visions, suddenly a fourth beast^(J) appeared, frightening and dreadful, and incredibly strong, with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and it trampled with its feet whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.^(K)

Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵ “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was deeply distressed within me,^[a] and the visions in my mind terrified me.^{(A) 16} I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him^(B) to clarify all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things:^{(C) 17} ‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will rise from the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever.’^(D)

¹⁹ “Then I wanted to be clear about the fourth beast,^(E) the one different from all the others, extremely terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws, devouring, crushing, and trampling with its feet whatever was left. ²⁰ I also wanted to know about the ten horns^(F) on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three fell—the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly,^(G) and that looked bigger than the others. ²¹ As I was watching, this horn waged war^(H) against the holy ones and was prevailing over them ²² until the Ancient of Days arrived and a judgment^(I) was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.

²³ “This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.