Daniel 7:15-28

New International Reader's Version

An Angel Tells Daniel What His Dream Means

¹⁵ “My spirit was troubled. The visions that passed through my mind upset me. ¹⁶ I approached an angel who was standing there. I asked him what all these things really meant.

“So he explained to me what everything meant. ¹⁷ He said, ‘The four large animals stand for four kings. The kings will appear on the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy people of the Most High God will receive the kingdom. They will possess it forever. It will belong to them for ever and ever.’

¹⁹ “Then I wanted to know what the fourth animal stood for. It was different from the others. It was the most terrifying of all. It had iron teeth and bronze claws. It crushed everyone it attacked and ate them up. It stomped on anything that was left. ²⁰ I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head. And I wanted to know about the other horn that grew up later. It caused three of the ten horns to fall out. It appeared to be stronger than the others. It had eyes. And its mouth was always bragging. ²¹ I saw that the horn was at war with God’s holy people. It was winning the battle over them. ²² But then the Eternal God came. He decided in favor of his holy people. So the time came when the kingdom was given to them.

²³ “Here’s how the angel explained it to me. He said, ‘The fourth animal stands for a fourth kingdom. It will appear on earth. It will be different from the other kingdoms. It will eat up the whole earth. It will stomp on it and crush it. ²⁴ The ten horns stand for ten kings. They will come from the fourth kingdom. After them another king will appear. He will be different from the earlier ones. He’ll bring three kings under his control. ²⁵ He’ll speak against the Most High God. He’ll treat God’s holy people badly. He will try to change the times and laws that were given by God. God’s holy people will be placed under his power for three and a half years.

²⁶ “ ‘But the court will be seated. And the power of that king will be taken away from him. It will be completely destroyed forever. ²⁷ Then the authority, power and greatness of all the kingdoms on earth will be taken from them. And all they had will be given to the holy people of the Most High God. His kingdom will last forever. Every ruler will worship and obey him.’

²⁸ “That’s all I saw. My thoughts deeply troubled me. My face turned pale. But I kept those things to myself.”