Daniel 7:1-8
Expanded Bible
Daniel’s Dream About Four Animals
7 In Belshazzar’s first year as king of Babylon [C perhaps 550 bc], Daniel had a dream. He saw visions [L in his head] as he was lying on his bed, and he wrote ·down what he had dreamed [L the beginning of the words/matter].
2 Daniel said: “I saw my vision at night. In the vision the ·wind was blowing from all four directions, which made the sea very rough [L four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea; C a picture of chaos]. 3 I saw four huge ·animals [beasts] come up from the sea, and each ·animal [beast] was different from the others.
4 “The first ·animal [beast] looked like a lion, but had wings like an eagle. I watched this ·animal [beast] until its wings were torn off. It was lifted from the ground so that it stood up on two feet like a human, and it was given the ·mind [heart] of a human [C perhaps representing Babylon].
5 “Then I saw a ·second [L another] ·animal [beast] before me that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides and had three ·ribs [or tusks] in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat ·all the meat you want [much flesh; many bodies; C perhaps representing the Medes or the Medes and Persians]!’
6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another ·animal [beast]. This ·animal [beast] looked like a leopard with four wings on its back that looked like a bird’s wings. This ·animal [beast] had four heads and was given ·power to rule [authority; C perhaps representing the Persians or the Greeks].
7 “After that, in my vision at night I saw in front of me a fourth ·animal [beast] that was ·cruel [fearsome], ·terrible [terrifying], and very strong [C perhaps the Greeks or Romans]. It had large iron teeth. It crushed and ate what it killed, and then it ·walked on [L stamped with its feet] whatever was left. This fourth ·animal [beast] was different from any ·animal [beast] I had seen before, and it had ten horns [C representing strength and power].
8 “While I was ·thinking about [reflecting on] the horns, another horn grew up among them. It was a little horn with eyes like a human’s eyes. It also had a mouth, and the mouth was bragging. The little horn ·pulled out [uprooted] three of the other horns.
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Daniel 7:1-8
New International Version
Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts
7 In the first year of Belshazzar(A) king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions(B) passed through his mind(C) as he was lying in bed.(D) He wrote(E) down the substance of his dream.
2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven(F) churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts,(G) each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
4 “The first was like a lion,(H) and it had the wings of an eagle.(I) I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.
5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’(J)
6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard.(K) And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.
7 “After that, in my vision(L) at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron(M) teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled(N) underfoot whatever was left.(O) It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.(P)
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little(Q) one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being(R) and a mouth that spoke boastfully.(S)
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