The Daily Audio Bible

Daniel Has a Dream About Four Animals

7 It was the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylon. Daniel had a dream. He was lying in bed. In his dream, visions passed through his mind. He wrote down what he saw.

² Daniel said, “I had a vision at night. I looked up and saw the four winds of heaven. They were stirring up the Mediterranean Sea. ³ Four large animals came up out of the sea. Each one was different from the others.

⁴ “The first animal was like a lion. It had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off. Then it was lifted up from the ground. It stood on two feet like a human being. And the mind of a human being was given to it.

⁵ “I saw a second animal. It looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides. And it had three ribs between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up! Eat meat until you are full!’

⁶ “After that, I saw another animal. It looked like a leopard. On its back were four wings like the wings of a bird. The animal I saw had four heads. And it was given authority to rule.

⁷ “After that, in my vision I looked up and saw a fourth animal. It was terrifying and very powerful. It had large iron teeth. It crushed those it attacked and ate them up. It stomped on anything that was left. It was different from the other animals. And it had ten horns.

⁸ “I thought about the horns. Then I saw another horn. It was a little one. It grew up among the other horns. Three of the first horns were pulled up by their roots to make room for it. The little horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being. Its mouth was always bragging.

⁹ “As I watched,

¹¹ “Then I continued to watch because of the way the horn was bragging. I kept looking until the fourth animal was killed. I watched until its body was destroyed. It was thrown into the blazing fire. ¹² The authority of the other animals had been stripped away from them. But they were allowed to live for a period of time.

¹³ “In my vision I saw one who looked like a son of man. He was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Eternal God. He was led right up to him. ¹⁴ And he was given authority, glory and a kingdom. People of all nations, no matter what language they spoke, worshiped him. His authority will last forever. It will not pass away. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

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.”

The Word of Life Became a Human Being

1 Here is what we announce to everyone about the Word of life. The Word was already here from the beginning. We have heard him. We have seen him with our eyes. We have looked at him. Our hands have touched him. ² This life has appeared. We have seen him. We are witnesses about him. And we announce to you this same eternal life. He was already with the Father. He has appeared to us. ³ We announce to you what we have seen and heard. We do it so you can share life together with us. And we share life with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing this to make our joy complete.

Walking in the Light

⁵ Here is the message we have heard from him and announce to you. God is light. There is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ Suppose we say that we share life with God but still walk in the darkness. Then we are lying. We are not living out the truth. ⁷ But suppose we walk in the light, just as he is in the light. Then we share life with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his Son, makes us pure from all sin.

⁸ Suppose we claim we are without sin. Then we are fooling ourselves. The truth is not in us. ⁹ But God is faithful and fair. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar. His word is not in us.

ר Resh

ש Sin and Shin

ת Taw