Daniel Interprets the Dream

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 ⁱThe head of this image was of fine gold, ^jits chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^jthighs of bronze, 33 ^kits legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out ^lby no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^mbroke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ⁿlike the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^onot a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^pa great mountain ^qand filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, ^rthe king of kings, to whom ^sthe God of heaven ^thas given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^uthe beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^vthe head of gold. 39 ^wAnother kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^vof bronze, ^xwhich shall rule over all the earth. 40 And ^ythere shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^zbreaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^zbreak and crush all these. 41 And as you saw ^athe feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^yfirmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,¹ but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings ^bthe God of heaven will set up ^ca kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^dIt shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^cit shall stand forever, 45 just as ^eyou saw that ^fa stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^dit broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^ggreat God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

1 In the first year of ^pBelshazzar king of Babylon, ^qDaniel saw a dream and ^rvisions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2 Daniel declared,¹ “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, ^sthe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts ^tcame up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, ^uanother beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a ^vleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and ^wdominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, ^xterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; ^xit devoured and broke in pieces ^xand stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and ^yit had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, ^zthere came up among them another horn, a little one, ^zbefore which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and ^aa mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “As I looked,

11 “I looked then because of the sound of ^athe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, ^mthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed ^mand given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, ⁿtheir dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion

13 “I saw in the night visions,

Daniel’s Vision Interpreted

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me² was anxious, and ^sthe visions of my head alarmed me. 16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 ^t‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But ^uthe saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

19 “Then I desired to know the truth about ^vthe 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 ^wand about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. 21 As I looked, this horn ^xmade war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the ^yAncient of Days came, and ^ujudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when ^uthe saints possessed the kingdom.

23 “Thus he said: ‘As for ^vthe fourth beast,

28 “Here is the end of the matter. ^hAs for me, Daniel, my ⁱthoughts greatly alarmed me, ^jand my color changed, but ^kI kept the matter in my heart.”

The Interpretation of the Vision

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I ^vsought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^wthe appearance of a man. 16 ^xAnd I heard a man’s voice ^xbetween the banks of the ^yUlai, and it called, ^z“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^aI was frightened ^band fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^cO son of man, that the vision is for ^dthe time of the end.”

18 And when he had spoken to me, ^eI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^fhe touched me and made me stand up. 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of ^gthe indignation, for it refers to ^hthe appointed time of the end. 20 As for ⁱthe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^jMedia and Persia. 21 And ^kthe goat¹ is the king of Greece. And ^kthe great horn between his eyes is ^lthe first king. 22 ^mAs for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his² nation, ⁿbut not with his power. 23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great—^obut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^pand shall succeed in what he does, ^qand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 ^rBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^she shall become great. ^tWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he ^sshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^uby no human hand. 26 The vision of ^vthe evenings and the mornings that has been told ^wis true, but ^xseal up the vision, ^yfor it refers to many days from now.”