Visions of the Four Beasts

7 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream:^{[a](A) 2} I,^[b] Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, ³ and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.^{(B) 4} The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.^{(C) 5} Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks^[c] in its mouth among its teeth, and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” ⁶ After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads, and dominion was given to it.^{(D) 7} After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns.^{(E) 8} I was considering the horns when another horn appeared, a little one that came up among them. Three of the original horns were plucked up from before it. There were eyes like human eyes in this horn and a mouth speaking arrogantly.^(F)

Judgment before the Ancient One

¹¹ I watched then because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.^{(I) 12} As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. ¹³ As I watched in the night visions,

Daniel’s Visions Interpreted

¹⁵ As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me,^[g] and the visions of my head terrified me.^{(L) 16} I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter:^{(M) 17} “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”^(N)

¹⁹ Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet; ²⁰ and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and concerning the other horn that came up and before which three others had fallen—the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly and that seemed greater than the others. ²¹ As I looked, that horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them,^{(O) 22} until the Ancient One^[h] came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.^(P)

²³ This is what he said: “As for the fourth beast,

²⁸ Here the account ends. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly terrified me, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter in my mind.^(V)

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me at first.^{(W) 2} In the vision^[j] I saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam,^[k] and I was by the Ulai Gate.^{[l](X) 3} I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the gate.^[m] It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second.^{(Y) 4} I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it, and no one could rescue from its power; it did as it pleased and became strong.^(Z)

⁵ As I was watching, a male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn^[n] between its eyes.^{(AA) 6} It came toward the ram with the two horns that I had seen standing beside the gate,^[o] and it ran at it with savage force.^{(AB) 7} I saw it approaching the ram. It was enraged against it and struck the ram, breaking its two horns. The ram did not have power to withstand it; it threw the ram down to the ground and trampled upon it, and there was no one who could rescue the ram from its power.^{(AC) 8} Then the male goat grew exceedingly great, but at the height of its power the great horn was broken, and in its place there came up four prominent horns toward the four winds of heaven.^(AD)

⁹ Out of one of them came another^[p] horn, a little one, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful land.^{(AE) 10} It grew as high as the host of heaven. It threw down to earth some of the host and some of the stars and trampled on them.^{(AF) 11} Even against the prince of the host it acted arrogantly; it took the regular burnt offering away from him and overthrew the place of his sanctuary.^{(AG) 12} Because of wickedness, the host was given over to it together with the regular burnt offering;^[q] it cast truth to the ground and kept prospering in what it did. ¹³ Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is this vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled?”^{[r](AH) 14} And he answered him,^[s] “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I tried to understand it. Then someone appeared standing before me, having the appearance of a man,^{(AI) 16} and I heard a human voice by the Ulai, calling, “Gabriel, help this man understand the vision.”^{(AJ) 17} So he came near where I stood, and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate. But he said to me, “Understand, O mortal,^[t] that the vision is for the time of the end.”^(AK)

¹⁸ As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set me on my feet.^{(AL) 19} He said, “Listen, and I will tell you what will take place later in the period of wrath, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.^{(AM) 20} As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ The male goat^[u] is the king of Greece, and the great horn between its eyes is the first king.^{(AN) 22} As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his^[v] nation but not with his power.^(AO)

²⁶ “The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true. As for you, seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”^(AR)

²⁷ So I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days; then I arose and went about the king’s business. But I was dismayed by the vision and did not understand it.^(AS)

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, by birth a Mede, who became king over the realm of the Chaldeans,^{(AT) 2} I,^[x] Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, must be fulfilled for the devastation of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.^(AU)

³ Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.^{(AV) 4} I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,

“Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you^[y] and keep your^[z] commandments,^{(AW) 5} we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.^{(AX) 6} We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

⁷ “Righteousness is on your side, O Lord, but open shame, as at this day, falls on us, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them because of the treachery that they have committed against you.^{(AY) 8} Open shame, O Lord, falls on us, our kings, our princes, and our ancestors because we have sinned against you. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, but we have rebelled against him^{(AZ) 10} and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

¹¹ “All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. So the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against you.^{(BA) 12} He has confirmed his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a calamity so great that what has been done against Jerusalem has never before been done under the whole heaven.^{(BB) 13} Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us. We did not entreat the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and reflecting on his^[aa] fidelity.^{(BC) 14} So the Lord kept watch over this calamity until he brought it upon us. Indeed, the Lord our God is right in all that he has done, for we have disobeyed his voice.^(BD)

¹⁵ “And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made your name renowned even to this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly.^{(BE) 16} O Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath, we pray, turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a disgrace among all our neighbors.^{(BF) 17} Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, and for your own sake, Lord,^[ab] let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary.^{(BG) 18} Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness but on the ground of your great mercies.^{(BH) 19} O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name!”^(BI)

The Seventy Weeks

²⁰ While I was speaking and was praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God,^{(BJ) 21} while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before in a vision, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.^{(BK) 22} He came^[ac] and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. ²³ At the beginning of your supplications a word went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved. So consider the word and understand the vision:^(BL)

²⁴ “Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.^{[ad](BM) 25} Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.^{(BN) 26} After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its^[ae] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.^{(BO) 27} He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease, and in their place^[af] shall be a desolating sacrilege until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.”^(BP)