Dan 7 | NASB2020 | STEP | 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 told the following summary of it.

Daniel 7

Vision of the Four Beasts

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a ^adream and visions ^{▼▼Lit of his head}in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he ^cwrote the dream down and told the ^{▼▼Or beginning}following summary of ^{▼▼Lit words}it. 2 Daniel ^{▼▼Lit began speaking and said}said, “I was ^glooking in my vision by night, and behold, the ^hfour winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great ⁱbeasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was ^jlike a lion but had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and set up on two feet like a man; a human ^{▼▼Lit heart}mind also was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and they said this to it: ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ 6 After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, ^llike a leopard, which had on its ^{▼▼Or sides}back four wings of a bird; the beast also had ⁿfour heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a ^ofourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ^pten horns. 8 While I was thinking about the horns, behold, ^qanother horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the previous horns were plucked out before it; and behold, ^{▼▼Lit in this horn were eyes}this horn possessed eyes like human eyes, and ^sa mouth uttering great boasts.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “I kept looking
Until ^tthrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His ^ugarment was white as snow,
And the ^vhair of His head like pure wool.
His ^wthrone was ^{▼▼Lit flames of fire}ablaze with flames,
Its ^ywheels were a burning fire.
10 “A river of ^zfire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
^aaThousands upon thousands were serving Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The ^abcourt ^{▼▼Lit took its place}convened,
And ^adthe books were opened.
11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the ^{▼▼Lit great}boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the ^afburning ^{▼▼Lit of the fire}fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.

The Son of Man Presented

13 “I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a son of man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
14 “And to Him was given ^ahdominion,
Honor, and ^{▼▼Or sovereignty
,} ^aja kingdom,
^akSo that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all ^{▼▼Lit tongues}languages
Might serve Him.
^amHis dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
^anAnd His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.

The Vision Interpreted

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within ^{▼▼Lit its sheath}me, and the ^apvisions ^{▼▼Lit of my head}in my mind kept ^aralarming me. 16 I approached one of those who were ^asstanding by and began requesting of him the ^{▼▼Lit what was certain}exact meaning of all this. So he ^autold me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. 18 But the ^{▼▼Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
,} ^awsaints of the Highest One will ^axreceive the kingdom and take possession of the kingdom forever, ^{▼▼Lit and unto the age of the ages}for all ages to come.’

19 “Then I desired to know the ^{▼▼Lit truth concerning}exact meaning of the ^bafourth beast, which was different from all ^{▼▼Lit of them}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, 20 and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of the horns fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and ^{▼▼Lit its appearance was larger}which was larger in appearance than its associates. 21 I kept looking, and that horn was ^bdwaging war with the ^{▼▼Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people}saints and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and ^bfjudgment was ^{▼▼Lit given for}passed in favor of the ^{▼▼Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people}saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the ^{▼▼Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people}saints took possession of the kingdom.

23 “This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth and trample it down and crush it. 24 As for the ^bjten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will ^{▼▼Or humiliate}humble three kings. 25 And he will ^{▼▼Lit speak words
,} ^bmspeak against the ^bnMost High and ^bowear down the ^{▼▼Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people}saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make ^bqalterations in times and in law; and ^{▼▼I.e., the saints}they will be handed over to him for a ^{▼▼I.e., year(s)
,} ^bttime, ^{▼▼I.e., year(s)}times, and half a ^{▼▼I.e., year(s)}time. 26 But the court will ^{▼▼Lit take its place}convene for judgment, and his dominion will be ^bxtaken away, ^{▼▼Lit to annihilate and to destroy}annihilated and destroyed ^{▼▼Lit to the end}forever. 27 Then the ^{▼▼Or kingdom
,} ^cbsovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the ^{▼▼Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people}saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an ^cdeverlasting kingdom, and all the empires will ^ceserve and obey Him.’

28 “ ^{▼▼Lit To here the end of the word}At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were ^cggreatly alarming me and my ^{▼▼Lit brightness was changing upon me}face became pale, but I ^cikept the matter ^{▼▼Lit in my heart}to myself.”