In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a ^adream and visions in his head as he lay on his bed; then he ^bwrote the dream down and said the ¹following summary of the matter. 2 Daniel answered and said, “I was ^alooking in my vision by night, and behold, the ^bfour winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great ^abeasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was ^alike a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; and a heart of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one in the likeness of a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ 6 After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, ^alike a leopard, which had on its ¹back four wings of a bird; the beast also had ^bfour heads, and ²dominion was given to it. 7 After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a ^afourth beast, fearsome and terrifying and extraordinarily strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ^bten horns. 8 While I was contemplating the horns, behold, ^aanother horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, ¹this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and ^ba mouth speaking great boasts.

11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the great boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the ^aburning ¹fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their ¹dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was given to them for an appointed season of time.

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed ¹within me, and the ^avisions of my head kept ^balarming me. 16 I came near to one of those who were ^astanding by and began seeking out from him the ¹exact meaning of all this. So he ^bsaid it to me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. 18 But the ^1asaints of the Highest One will ^breceive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, ²for all ages to come.’

19 “Then I desired to know the ¹exact meaning of the ^afourth beast, which was different from all ²the others, extraordinarily fearsome, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, 20 and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth speaking great boasts and ¹which was larger in appearance than its associates. 21 I kept looking, and that horn was ^awaging war with the saints and overcoming them 22 until the Ancient of Days came and ^ajudgment was given in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the season arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.

23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. 24 As for the ^aten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will make low three kings. 25 He will ^aspeak words against the ^bMost High and ^cwear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make ^dchanges in seasons and in law; and ¹they will be given into his hand for a ^2etime, ³times, and half a ⁴time. 26 But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be ^ataken away, ¹annihilated and destroyed ²forever. 27 Then the ^1areign, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an ^beverlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will ^cserve and obey Him.’

28 “¹At this point the matter of this revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were ^agreatly alarming me, and the ²splendor of my face changed, but I ^bkept the matter in my heart.”

In the ¹first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a ^adream and visions appeared in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he ^bwrote the dream down and related a summary of it. 2 Daniel said, “I ^asaw in my vision by night, and behold, the ^bfour winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (the nations) . 3 And four great ^abeasts, each different from the other, were coming up out of the sea in succession. 4 The first (the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar) was ^alike a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind was given to it. Dan 2:37, 38 5 And behold, another beast, a second one (the Medo-Persian Empire) , was like a bear, and it was raised up on one side (domain) , and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much meat.’ 6 After this I kept looking, and behold, another one (the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great) , ^alike a leopard, which had on its back four wings like those of a bird; the beast also had ^bfour heads (Alexander’s generals, his successors) , and power to rule was given to it. Dan 2:39; 8:20-22 7 After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, I saw a ^afourth beast (the Roman Empire) , terrible and extremely strong; and it had huge iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ^bten horns (ten kings) . Dan 2:40-43; 7:23 8 While I was considering the horns, behold, there came up among them ^1aanother horn, a little one, and three of the first horns were pulled up by the roots before it; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and ^ba mouth boasting of great things.

11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the great and boastful words which the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to be ^aburned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their power was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for the length of their lives was fixed for a predetermined time.

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed and anxious within me, and the ^avisions that appeared in my mind kept ^balarming (agitating) me. 16 I approached one of those who ^astood by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he ^btold me and explained to me the interpretation of the things: 17 ‘These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth. 18 But the ^1asaints (believers) of the Most High God will ^breceive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’ Rom 8:17; 1+@Pet 2:9; Rev 3:21

19 “Then I wished to know the exact meaning of the ^afourth beast, which was different from all the others, extremely dreadful, with teeth of iron and claws of bronze, which devoured, crushed and trampled down what was left with its feet, 20 and the meaning of the ten horns (kings) that were on its head and the other horn which came up later, and before which three of the horns fell, specifically, that horn which had eyes and a mouth that boasted great things and which looked larger than the others. 21 As I kept looking, that horn was ^amaking war with the saints (believers) and overpowering them Rev 13:7-9 22 until the Ancient of Days came and ^ajudgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Most High God, and the time arrived when the saints (believers) took possession of the kingdom.

23 “Thus the angel said, ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down, and crush it. 24 As for the ^aten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the former ones, and he will subdue three kings. 25 He will ^aspeak words against the ^bMost High God and ^cwear down the saints of the Most High, and he will intend to ^dchange the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand for a ^etime, two times, and half a time three and one-half years. Rev 13:1-6 26 But the court of the Most High will sit in judgment, and his dominion will be ^ataken away, first to be consumed gradually and then to be destroyed forever. 27 Then the ^akingdom and the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints (believers) of the Most High; His kingdom will be an ^beverlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will ^cserve and obey Him.’

28 “This is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my waking thoughts were extremely troubling and ^aalarming and my face grew pale; but I ^bkept the matter of the vision and the angel’s explanation to myself.”