Vision of the Four Beasts

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a (A)dream and visions [a]in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he (B)wrote the dream down and told the [b]following summary of [c]it. Daniel [d]said, “I was (C)looking in my vision by night, and behold, the (D)four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great (E)beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first was (F)like a lion but had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and set up on two feet like a man; a human [e]mind also was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and they said this to it: ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, (G)like a leopard, which had on its [f]back four wings of a bird; the beast also had (H)four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a (I)fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had (J)ten horns. While I was thinking about the horns, behold, (K)another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the previous horns were plucked out before it; and behold, [g]this horn possessed eyes like human eyes, and (L)a mouth uttering great boasts.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 7:1 Lit of his head
  2. Daniel 7:1 Or beginning
  3. Daniel 7:1 Lit words
  4. Daniel 7:2 Lit began speaking and said
  5. Daniel 7:4 Lit heart
  6. Daniel 7:6 Or sides
  7. Daniel 7:8 Lit in this horn were eyes

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.).