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[a]As I watched,

Thrones were set up
    and the Ancient of Days took his throne.
His clothing was white as snow,
    the hair on his head like pure wool;
His throne was flames of fire,
    with wheels of burning fire.
10 A river of fire surged forth,
    flowing from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
    and myriads upon myriads stood before him.(A)

The court was convened, and the books were opened.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:9–10 A vision of the heavenly throne of God (the Ancient of Days), who sits in judgment over the nations. Some of the details of the vision, depicting the divine majesty and omnipotence, are to be found in Ezekiel 1. Others are paralleled in 1 Enoch, a contemporary Jewish apocalypse.

13 As the visions during the night continued, I saw coming with the clouds of heaven(A)

One like a son of man.[a]
When he reached the Ancient of Days
    and was presented before him,
14 He received dominion, splendor, and kingship;
    all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
    that shall not pass away,
    his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 7:13–14 One like a son of man: In contrast to the worldly kingdoms opposed to God, which are represented as grotesque beasts, the coming Kingdom of God is represented by a human figure. Scholars disagree as to whether this figure should be taken as a collective symbol for the people of God (cf. 7:27) or identified as a particular individual, e.g., the archangel Michael (cf. 12:1) or the messiah. The phrase “Son of Man” becomes a title for Jesus in the gospels, especially in passages dealing with the Second Coming (Mk 13 and parallels).