Daniel 7:1-8
International Standard Version
The Vision of the Four Beasts
7 In the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel dreamed a dream, receiving visions in his mind while in bed, after which he recorded the dream, relating this summary of events.
2 Daniel said, “I observed the vision during the night. Look! The four winds of the skies were stirring up the Mediterranean[a] Sea. 3 Four magnificent animals were rising from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first resembled a lion, but it had eagles’ wings. I continued to watch until its wings were plucked off, it was lifted up off the ground, and it was forced to stand on two feet like a man. A human soul[b] was imparted to it.
5 “Then look!—a second animal resembling a bear followed it.[c] It was raised up on one side, with three ribs held between the teeth in its mouth. Therefore people kept telling it, ‘Get up and devour lots of meat!’
6 “After this, I continued to watch—and look!—there was another one, resembling a leopard with four birds’ wings on its back. The animal also had four heads, and authority was imparted to it.
7 “After this, I continued to observe the night visions. And look!—there was a fourth awe-inspiring, terrifying, and viciously strong animal! It had large, iron teeth. It devoured and crushed things,[d] and trampled under its feet whatever remained. Different from all of the other previous animals, it had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns—look—another horn, this time[e] a little one, grew up among them. Three of the first horns were yanked up by their roots right in front of it. Look! It had eyes like those of a human being and a mouth that boasted with audacious claims.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Daniel 7:2 Lit. Great
- Daniel 7:4 Lit. heart
- Daniel 7:5 The Aram. lacks it
- Daniel 7:7 The Aram. lacks things
- Daniel 7:8 The Aram. lacks this time
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