Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

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. Daniel said, “In my vision at night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven(C) stirred up the great sea. Four huge beasts(D) came up from the sea,(E) each different from the other.

“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.

“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.’

“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.

“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)

“While I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn,(L) a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. And suddenly in this horn there were eyes like the eyes of a human and a mouth that was speaking arrogantly.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. 7:1 Lit beginning

Daniel’s Vision of Four Beasts

Earlier, during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon,[a] Daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw.

In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.

The first beast was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was left standing with its two hind feet on the ground, like a human being. And it was given a human mind.

Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I heard a voice saying to it, “Get up! Devour the flesh of many people!”

Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four bird’s wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast.

Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns.

As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:1 The first year of Belshazzar’s reign (who was co-regent with his father, Nabonidus) was 556 B.c. (or perhaps as late as 553 B.c.).