Daniel 7
1 [Previously, ] during the first year that Belshazzar was the king of Babylonia, I had a dream and a vision one night as I lay on my bed. [The next morning] I wrote down what I had dreamed. This is what I wrote:
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel hath seen a dream, and the visions of his head on his bed, then the dream he hath written, the chief of the things he hath said.
2 I, Daniel, had a vision last night. In the vision I saw that strong winds were blowing from all four directions, stirring up [the water in] the ocean.
Answered hath Daniel and said, 'I was seeing in my vision by night, and lo, the four winds of the heavens are coming forth to the great sea;
3 Then [I saw] four beasts coming out of the ocean. All four of them were different.
and four great beasts are coming up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4 The first one resembled a lion, but it had wings like an eagle has. But as I watched, something tore off its wings {its wings were pulled off}. The beast was left there, standing on its two hind/rear legs, like a human being stands. And it was given a mind like humans have.
The first [is] like a lion, and it hath an eagle's wings. I was seeing till that its wings have been plucked, and it hath been lifted up from the earth, and on feet as a man it hath been caused to stand, and a heart of man is given to it.
5 The second beast resembled a bear. It was crouching, and it held between its teeth three ribs [from another animal that it had killed and eaten]. Someone said to it {It was told}, “Stand up and eat as much meat [as you want]!”
And lo, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and to the same authority it hath been raised, and three ribs [are] in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus they are saying to it, Rise, consume much flesh.
6 Then I saw in front of me the third of those beasts. It resembled a leopard, but it had four wings protruding from its back. The wings were like a bird’s wings. It had four heads. It was given the power/authority to rule [people].
'After this I was seeing, and lo, another like a leopard, and it hath four wings of a fowl on its back, and four heads hath the beast, and dominion is given to it.
7 In the vision I saw a fourth beast. It was stronger than the other beasts, and it was more terrifying. It crushed other creatures with its huge iron teeth and ate their flesh. The parts of animals that it did not grind with its teeth, it trampled [on the ground]. It was different from the other three beasts: It had ten horns [on its head].
'After this I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong; and it hath iron teeth very great, it hath consumed, yea, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled; and it [is] diverse from all the beasts that [are] before it; and it hath ten horns.
8 While I was looking at those horns, I saw a little horn appear [on the head of that beast]. It tore out three of the other horns. This little horn had eyes like humans have, and it had a mouth [with which it spoke] very boastfully.
'I was considering about the horns, and lo, another horn, a little one, hath come up between them, and three of the first horns have been eradicated from before it, and lo, eyes as the eyes of man [are] in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.
9 [Then] while I watched, thrones were put in the places [where they belonged], and [God], the one who had been living forever, sat on one of the thrones. His clothes were as white as snow, and his hair was as white as pure/clean wool. His throne had wheels that were blazing with fire, and his throne was [also] blazing.
'I was seeing till that thrones have been thrown down, and the Ancient of Days is seated, His garment as snow [is] white, and the hair of his head [is] as pure wool, His throne flames of fire, its wheels burning fire.
10 A fire was rushing out of in front of him like a stream. Many thousands [of people] (OR, [angels]) [were there] serving him, and millions [of other people] (OR, [angels]) were standing in front of him. They started (the court session/judging people), and they opened the books [in which they had written the record of all the good and bad things that people had done].
A flood of fire is proceeding and coming forth from before Him, a thousand thousands do serve Him, and a myriad of myriads before Him do rise up, the Judge is seated, and the books have been opened.
11 While I was watching, I could hear the little horn speaking very boastfully. As I [continued to] watch, the [fourth] beast was killed. Its corpse was thrown into a fire and completely burned.
'I was seeing, then, because of the voice of the great words that the horn is speaking, I was seeing till that the beast is slain, and his body hath been destroyed, and given to the burning fire;
12 The power/authority of the other [three] beasts was taken away from them, but they were allowed to continue to live for a while.
and the rest of the beasts have caused their dominion to pass away, and a prolongation in life is given to them, till a season and a time.
13 While I [continued to] see the vision that night, I saw someone who resembled a human being. He was coming [closer to me], surrounded by clouds. Then he was taken to [God], the one who had been living forever.
'I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, with the clouds of the heavens as a son of man was [one] coming, and unto the Ancient of Days he hath come, and before Him they have brought him near.
14 He was honored and given great authority to rule over all the nations in the world, in order that people from every people-group and every nation, people from all language groups, would worship/serve him. He will rule forever; he will never stop ruling. The kingdom that he rules will never be destroyed.
And to him is given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages do serve him, his dominion [is] a dominion age-during, that passeth not away, and his kingdom that which is not destroyed.
15 As for me, Daniel, I was very terrified by what I had seen in that vision, and I did not know what to think about it.
'Pierced hath been my spirit — I, Daniel — in the midst of the sheath, and the visions of my head trouble me;
16 I went to one of those who were standing in front of the throne of God, and I asked him to tell me what it meant. So he told me the meaning of it.
I have drawn near unto one of those standing, and the certainty I seek from him of all this; and he hath said to me, yea, the interpretation of the things he hath caused me to know:
17 [He said], “The four huge beasts represent four kingdoms/empires that will exist on the earth.
'These great beasts, that [are] four, [are] four kings, they rise up from the earth;
18 But the Supreme God will give power/authority to his people [to rule], and they shall rule forever.”
and receive the kingdom do the saints of the Most High, and they strengthen the kingdom unto the age, even unto the age of the ages.
19 Then I wanted to know what the fourth beast signified—[the beast] that was different from the other three, the beast that crushed [those that it attacked] with its bronze claws, and [then] ate [their flesh] with its iron teeth, and trampled on the parts of their bodies [that it did not eat].
'Then I wished for certainty concerning the fourth beast, that was diverse from them all, fearful exceedingly; its teeth of iron, and its nails of brass, it hath devoured, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled;
20 [I also wanted to know about] the ten horns on its head, and about the horn that appeared later, which got rid of three of the other horns. [I wanted to know what it meant that] it had eyes and a mouth with which it spoke very boastfully. [The beast that was represented by] that horn was more terrifying than the other beasts.
and concerning the ten horns that [are] in its heads, and of the other that came up, and before which three have fallen, even of that horn that hath eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose appearance [is] great above its companions.
21 While I was having the vision, I saw that this horn attacked God’s people and was defeating them.
'I was seeing, and this horn is making war with the saints, and hath prevailed over them,
22 But then the Supreme God, the one who had been living forever, came and judged in favor of the people who belonged to him. And [I knew that] it was time for God’s people to receive authority [to rule].
till that the Ancient of Days hath come, and judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, and the time hath come, and the saints have strengthened the kingdom.
23 [Then] the man who was standing there said [to me], “The fourth beast represents an empire that will exist on the earth; that [empire] will be different from all [other] empires. [The army of] that empire will crush/kill [people all over] the world and trample [on their bodies].
'Thus he said: The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom in the earth, that is diverse from all kingdoms, and it consumeth all the earth, and treadeth it down, and breaketh it small.
24 As for its ten horns, they represent ten kings who will rule that empire, [one after the other]. Then another [king] will appear. He will be different from the previous kings. He will defeat the three kings [that were represented by the three horns that were pulled out].
And the ten horns out of the kingdom [are] ten kings, they rise, and another doth rise after them, and it is diverse from the former, and three kings it humbleth;
25 He will revile the Supreme God, and he will oppress God’s people. He will try to change the [sacred] festivals and their [religious] laws/regulations. He will control them for three and a half years.
and words as an adversary of the Most High it doth speak, and the saints of the Most High it doth wear out, and it hopeth to change seasons and law; and they are given into its hand, till a time, and times, and a division of a time.
26 But there will be a session/meeting of the court/judges in heaven, and that king’s authority/power will be taken away, and he will be completely destroyed.
'And the Judge is seated, and its dominion they cause to pass away, to cut off, and to destroy — unto the end;
27 Then all the power and the greatness of all the kingdoms on the earth will be given to the people who belong to the Supreme God. The kingdom that he rules (OR, they rule) will endure forever. And the rulers of all the nations on the earth will serve and obey him (OR, them).”
and the kingdom, and the dominion, even the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens, is given to the people — the saints of the Most High, His kingdom [is] a kingdom age-during, and all dominions do serve and obey Him.
28 That is [what I saw in] my vision/dream. I, Daniel, was terrified, with the result that my face became pale. But I did not tell anyone about the vision [that I had seen].
'Hitherto [is] the end of the matter. I, Daniel, greatly do my thoughts trouble me, and my countenance is changed on me, and the matter in my heart I have kept.
