⁵ They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting.

¹⁰ They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.

⁶ “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.”

³ Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions.

⁷ And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.

⁵ Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months.

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹⁸ Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. ²⁰ But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹ He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.

²² “You are his successor,^[a] O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself.

⁷ When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit^[a] will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them.

⁶ 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.