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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”

Daniel’s vision: four beasts

In the first year of Babylon’s King Belshazzar, Daniel had a dream—a vision in his head as he lay on his bed. He wrote the dream down. Here is the beginning of the account:

I am Daniel. In the vision I had during the night I saw the four winds of heaven churning the great sea. Four giant beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the others. The first was like a lion with eagle’s wings. I observed it until its wings were pulled off, and it was lifted up from the ground. It was then set on two feet, like a human being, and it received a human mind. Then I saw another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told: “Get up! Devour much flesh!” I kept watching, and suddenly there was another beast, this one like a leopard. On its back it had four wings like bird wings. This beast had four heads. Authority was given to it.

After this, as I continued to watch this night vision, I saw a fourth beast, terrifying and hideous, with extraordinary power and with massive iron teeth. As it ate and crushed, its feet smashed whatever was left over. It was different from all the other beasts before it, and it had ten horns. I was staring at the horns when, suddenly, another small horn came up between them. Three of the earlier horns were ripped out to make room for it. On this new horn were eyes like human eyes and a mouth that bragged and bragged.

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