7:1  In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it.

7:2  Daniel said, "I looked in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea.

7:3  "And four great beasts came up from the sea, different from one another.

7:4  "The first resembled a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings became plucked, and it lifted up from the ground and stood on two feet like a man; it received a human mind.

7:5  "And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it raised up on one side, and three ribs appeared in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, 'Arise, devour much meat!'

7:6  "After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and it received a dominion.

7:7  "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it seemed different from all the beasts that lived before it, and it had ten horns.

7:8  "While I contemplated the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns became pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.

7:9  "I kept looking Until thrones became set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture resembled white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool His throne seemed ablaze with flames, Its wheels seemed a burning fire.

7:10  "A river of fire flowed And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands attended Him, And myriads upon myriads stood before Him; The court sat, And the books opened.

7:11  "Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn spoke; I kept looking until the beast became slain, and its body suffered destruction and given to the burning fire.

7:12  "As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion disappeared, but they received an extension of life for an appointed period of time.

7:13  "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man came, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And appeared before Him.

7:14  "And He received dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him His dominion lasts forever Which will not pass away; And His kingdom proves only one kingdom Which will not suffer destruction.

7:15  "As for me, Daniel, my spirit became distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.

7:16  "I approached one of those who stood by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:

7:17  'These great beasts, which number four, constitute four kings who will arise from the earth.

7:18  'But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.'

7:19  "Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which seemed different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet,

7:20  and the meaning of the ten horns that appeared 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 uttering great boasts and which seemed larger in appearance than its associates.

7:21   "I kept looking, and that horn waged war with the saints and overpowered them

7:22  until the Ancient of Days came and passed judgment in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.

7:23  "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will consist of a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will seem different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.

7:24  'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will seem different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.

7:25  'He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and his hand will receive them for a time, times, and half a time.

7:26  'But the court will sit for judgment, and will take away his dominion, annihilate and destroy it forever.

7:27  'Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven the court will give to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will last forever, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'

7:28  "At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself."