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Visions of the Four Beasts

In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream:[a](A) I,[b] Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.(B) The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.(C) Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks[c] in its mouth among its teeth, and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads, and dominion was given to it.(D) After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns.(E) I was considering the horns when another horn appeared, a little one that came up among them. Three of the original horns were plucked up from before it. There were eyes like human eyes in this horn and a mouth speaking arrogantly.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 7.1 Q ms Theodotion: MT adds the beginning of the words; he said
  2. 7.2 Theodotion: Aram Daniel answered and said, I
  3. 7.5 Or ribs

Daniel’s Vision of Four Beasts and the Son of Man

In the first year of Belshazzar the king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions[a] of his head as he lay on his bed; then he wrote down the dream and the summary[b] of the words as follows:[c] Daniel explained[d] and said, “I was looking in my vision in the night, and look, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, differing from one another.[e] The first was like a lion and had[f] the wings of an eagle. I was watching until its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth and it was raised on its feet like a human, and a human heart was given to it. And look, another beast, a second one, looking like a bear. And it was raised up on one side and three tusks[g] were in its mouth between its teeth, and so it was told,[h] “Arise, eat much flesh!” After this I was watching and look, another beast like a leopard; it had four wings[i] of a bird on its back, and the beast had[j] four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this in the visions of the night I was looking and there was a fourth beast, terrifying and frightful and exceedingly strong, and it had[k] great iron teeth,[l] and it was devouring and crushing, and it stamped the remainder[m] with its feet; and it was different from all the other beasts that preceded it[n] and it had ten horns.[o] I was considering the horns, and look, another little horn came up among[p] them, and three of the earlier horns were rooted out[q] from before it, and there were eyes like the eyes of a human[r] in this horn and also a mouth that was speaking boastfully.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 7:1 Or “the visions”
  2. Daniel 7:1 Literally “head”
  3. Daniel 7:1 Literally “saying”
  4. Daniel 7:2 Literally “answered”
  5. Daniel 7:3 Literally “this from this”
  6. Daniel 7:4 Literally “for him/it”
  7. Daniel 7:5 Or “ribs”
  8. Daniel 7:5 Literally “they were saying”
  9. Daniel 7:6 Literally “and there were to it four wings”
  10. Daniel 7:6 Literally “to the beast”
  11. Daniel 7:7 Literally “were to it”
  12. Daniel 7:7 Literally “teeth of iron for it great”
  13. Daniel 7:7 Or “residue”
  14. Daniel 7:7 Literally “that preceding her/it”
  15. Daniel 7:7 Literally “and ten horns for her/it”
  16. Daniel 7:8 Literally “between”
  17. Daniel 7:8 Literally “dehorned”
  18. Daniel 7:8 Or “humankind”