Dan 4:5-18, Dan 7-8, Mat 27:19 | ESV | STEP | I saw a dream that made me afraid . As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.

5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and ^athe visions of my head alarmed me. 6 So ^bI made a decree that ^call the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then ^dthe magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but ^ethey could not make known to me its interpretation. 8 At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named ^fBelteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is ^gthe spirit of the holy gods ^{▼▼Or Spirit of the holy God; also verses 9, 18}—and I told him the dream, saying, 9 “O Belteshazzar, ⁱchief of the magicians, because I know that ^jthe spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no ^kmystery is too difficult for you, tell me ^lthe visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation. 10 ^mThe visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and ⁿbehold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 ^oThe tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 ^pIts leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. ^qThe beasts of the field found shade under it, and ^rthe birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

13 “I saw in ^sthe visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, ^ta watcher, ^ua holy one, came down from heaven. 14 He ^vproclaimed aloud and said thus: ^w‘Chop down the tree and ^xlop off its branches, ^ystrip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. ^zLet the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; ^aaand let seven periods of time ^abpass over him. 17 The sentence is by the decree of ^acthe watchers, the decision by the word of ^adthe holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High ^aerules the kingdom of men ^afand gives it to whom he will and ^agsets over it the lowliest of men.’ 18 This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O ^ahBelteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because ^aiall the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for ^ajthe spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

Daniel 7

Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

1 In the first year of ^akBelshazzar king of Babylon, ^alDaniel saw a dream and ^amvisions 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, ^aothe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts ^apcame 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, ^aqanother 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 ^arleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and ^asdominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, ^atterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; ^auit devoured and broke in pieces ^avand stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and ^awit had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, ^axthere came up among them another horn, a little one, ^aybefore 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 ^aza mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “As I looked,

^bathrones were placed,
and the ^bbAncient of Days took his seat;
^bchis clothing was white as snow,
and ^bdthe hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
^beits wheels were burning fire.
10 ^bfA stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
^bga thousand thousands ^bhserved him,
^biand ten thousand times ten thousand ^bjstood before him;
the ^bkcourt sat in judgment,
and ^blthe books were opened.
11 “I looked then because of the sound of ^bmthe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, ^bnthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed ^boand given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, ^bptheir 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 ^bqbehold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the ^brAncient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 ^bsAnd to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all ^btpeoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
^buhis 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 ^bwthe 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 ^bx‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But ^bythe 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 ^bzthe 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 ^caand 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 ^cbmade war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the ^ccAncient of Days came, and ^cdjudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when ^cethe saints possessed the kingdom.

23 “Thus he said: ‘As for ^cfthe 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 ^cgHe shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to ^chchange the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for ^cia time, times, and half a time.
26 ^cjBut the court shall sit in judgment,
and ^ckhis dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed ^clto the end.
27 ^cmAnd the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of ^cnthe saints of the Most High;
^cohis 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. ^cqAs for me, Daniel, my ^crthoughts greatly alarmed me, ^csand my color changed, but ^ctI kept the matter in my heart.”

Daniel 8

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

1 In the third year of the reign of ^cuKing Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, ^cvafter that which appeared to me ^cwat the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^cxSusa the citadel, which is in the province of ^cyElam. And ^czI saw in the vision, ^daand I was at the ^dbUlai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ^dca ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw ^ddthe ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^debeast ^dfcould stand before him, ^dgand there was no one who could rescue from his power. ^dhHe did as he pleased and ^dibecame great.

5 As I was considering, behold, a ^djmale goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ^dka conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to ^dlthe ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, ^dmand he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, ^dnand he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. ^doAnd the ram had no power to stand before him, but he ^dpcast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then ^dqthe goat ^drbecame exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four ^dsconspicuous horns toward ^dtthe four winds of heaven.

9 Out of one of them came ^dua little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^dvthe south, toward the east, and toward ^dwthe glorious land. 10 ^dxIt grew great, ^dyeven to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^dzand some ^{▼▼Or host, that is, some} of ^ebthe stars it threw down to the ground and ^ectrampled on them. 11 ^edIt became great, even as great as ^eethe Prince of the host. ^efAnd the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, ^{▼▼Or in an act of rebellion} and it will throw truth to the ground, and ^ehit will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard ^eia holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^ej“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^ekthe transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, ^{▼▼Hebrew; Septuagint, Theodotion, Vulgate to him} “For 2,300 ^emevenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

The Interpretation of the Vision

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I ^ensought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^eothe appearance of a man. 16 ^epAnd I heard a man’s voice ^eqbetween the banks of the ^erUlai, and it called, ^es“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^etI was frightened ^euand fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^evO son of man, that the vision is for ^ewthe time of the end.”

18 And when he had spoken to me, ^exI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^eyhe touched me and made me stand up. 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of ^ezthe indignation, for it refers to ^fathe appointed time of the end. 20 As for ^fbthe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^fcMedia and Persia. 21 And ^fdthe goat ^{▼▼Or the shaggy goat} is the king of Greece. And ^ffthe great horn between his eyes is ^fgthe first king. 22 ^fhAs for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his ^{▼▼Theodotion, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew the} nation, ^fjbut not with his power. 23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great— ^fkbut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^fland shall succeed in what he does, ^fmand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 ^fnBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^fohe shall become great. ^fpWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he ^fqshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^frby no human hand. 26 The vision of ^fsthe evenings and the mornings that has been told ^ftis true, but ^fuseal up the vision, ^fvfor it refers to many days from now.”

27 And ^fwI, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision ^fxand did not understand it.

Matthew 27:19

19 Besides, while he was sitting on ^fythe judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with ^fzthat righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today ^gain a dream.”