24 Therefore Daniel went in to ^vArioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

25 Then ^vArioch brought in Daniel before the king ^win haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^xamong the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, ^ywhose name was Belteshazzar, ^z“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^aenchanters, ^amagicians, or ^bastrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but ^cthere is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^dwhat will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^ethe visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^fand he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But ^gas for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^hyou may know the thoughts of your mind.

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 Is Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^hfell upon his face and ⁱpaid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^jan offering and ^kincense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^lGod is God of gods and ^mLord of kings, and ⁿa revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^ogifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^pprovince of Babylon and ^qchief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^rappointed ^sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^pthe province of Babylon. But Daniel ^tremained at the king’s court.

Rejoicing in Heaven

1 After this I heard ⁿwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

3 Once more they cried out,

4 And ^tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be ^wthe voice of a great multitude, like ^xthe roar of many waters and ^ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is ^dthe righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said¹ to me, “Write this: ^eBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^f“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then ^gI fell down at his feet to worship him, ^hbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ⁱthe testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw ^jheaven opened, and behold, ^ka white horse! The one sitting on it is called ^lFaithful and True, and ^min righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 ⁿHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are ^omany diadems, and he has ^pa name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in ^qa robe dipped in² blood, and the name by which he is called is ^rThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, ^sarrayed in fine linen, white and pure, ^twere following him on white horses. 15 ^uFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword ^vwith which to strike down the nations, and ^whe will rule³ them with a rod of iron. ^xHe will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh ^yhe has a name written, ^zKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to ^aall the birds that fly directly overhead, ^b“Come, gather for ^cthe great supper of God, 18 ^dto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁴ both small and great.” 19 And I saw ^ethe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^fgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it ^gthe false prophet ^hwho in its presence⁵ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ⁱworshiped its image. These two were ^jthrown alive into the lake of ^kfire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword ^lthat came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and ^mall the birds were gorged with their flesh.