Dan 1, Dan 7 | ESV | STEP | In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it .

1 In the third year of ^athe reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of ^bthe vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to ^cthe land of Shinar, to the house of his god, ^dand placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ^ehis chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family ^{▼▼Hebrew of the seed of the kingdom} and of ^gthe nobility, 4 youths without ^hblemish, of good appearance and ⁱskillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to ^jteach them the literature and language of the ^kChaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of ^lthe food that the king ate, and of ^mthe wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ⁿthree years, and at the end of that time they were to ^ostand before the king. 6 Among these were ^pDaniel, ^qHananiah, ^rMishael, and ^sAzariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And ^tthe chief of the eunuchs ^ugave them names: ^vDaniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel’s Faithfulness

8 But Daniel ^wresolved that he would not ^xdefile himself with ^ythe king’s food, or with ^zthe wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^aadefile himself. 9 ^abAnd God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ^acten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^adthe king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^aethe king’s food. 16 ^afSo the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^agvegetables.

17 As for these four youths, ^ahGod gave them learning and ^aiskill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^ajunderstanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of ^akthe time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^althey stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^amthe magicians and ^anenchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel ^aowas there until the first year of ^apKing Cyrus.

Daniel 7

Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

1 In the first year of ^aqBelshazzar king of Babylon, ^arDaniel saw a dream and ^asvisions 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, ^{▼▼Aramaic answered and said} “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, ^authe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts ^avcame 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, ^awanother 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 ^axleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and ^aydominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, ^azterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; ^bait devoured and broke in pieces ^bband stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and ^bcit had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, ^bdthere came up among them another horn, a little one, ^bebefore 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 ^bfa mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “As I looked,

^bgthrones were placed,
and the ^bhAncient of Days took his seat;
^bihis clothing was white as snow,
and ^bjthe hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
^bkits wheels were burning fire.
10 ^blA stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
^bma thousand thousands ^bnserved him,
^boand ten thousand times ten thousand ^bpstood before him;
the ^bqcourt sat in judgment,
and ^brthe books were opened.
11 “I looked then because of the sound of ^bsthe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, ^btthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed ^buand given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, ^bvtheir 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,

and ^bwbehold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the ^bxAncient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 ^byAnd to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all ^bzpeoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
^cahis dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel’s Vision Interpreted

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me ^{▼▼Aramaic within its sheath} was anxious, and ^ccthe 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 ^cd‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But ^cethe 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 ^cfthe 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 ^cgand 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 ^chmade war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the ^ciAncient of Days came, and ^cjjudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when ^ckthe saints possessed the kingdom.

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

there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
24 As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,
and another shall arise after them;
he shall be different from the former ones,
and shall put down three kings.
25 ^cmHe shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to ^cnchange the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for ^coa time, times, and half a time.
26 ^cpBut the court shall sit in judgment,
and ^cqhis dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed ^crto the end.
27 ^csAnd the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of ^ctthe saints of the Most High;
^cuhis kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’ ^{▼▼Or their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them}
28 “Here is the end of the matter. ^cwAs for me, Daniel, my ^cxthoughts greatly alarmed me, ^cyand my color changed, but ^czI kept the matter in my heart.”