Dan 7-8 | ESV | STEP | In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon , Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed . Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter .

1 In the first year of ^aBelshazzar king of Babylon, ^bDaniel saw a dream and ^cvisions 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, ^ethe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts ^fcame 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, ^ganother 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 ^hleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and ⁱdominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, ^jterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; ^kit devoured and broke in pieces ^land stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and ^mit had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, ⁿthere came up among them another horn, a little one, ^obefore 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 ^pa mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “As I looked,

^qthrones were placed,
and the ^rAncient of Days took his seat;
^shis clothing was white as snow,
and ^tthe hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
^uits wheels were burning fire.
10 ^vA stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
^wa thousand thousands ^xserved him,
^yand ten thousand times ten thousand ^zstood before him;
the ^aacourt sat in judgment,
and ^abthe books were opened.
11 “I looked then because of the sound of ^acthe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, ^adthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed ^aeand given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, ^aftheir 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 ^agbehold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the ^ahAncient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 ^aiAnd to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all ^ajpeoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
^akhis 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 ^amthe 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 ^an‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But ^aothe 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 ^apthe 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 ^aqand 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 ^armade war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the ^asAncient of Days came, and ^atjudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when ^authe saints possessed the kingdom.

23 “Thus he said: ‘As for ^avthe 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 ^awHe shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to ^axchange the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for ^aya time, times, and half a time.
26 ^azBut the court shall sit in judgment,
and ^bahis dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed ^bbto the end.
27 ^bcAnd the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of ^bdthe saints of the Most High;
^behis 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. ^bgAs for me, Daniel, my ^bhthoughts greatly alarmed me, ^biand my color changed, but ^bjI 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 ^bkKing Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, ^blafter that which appeared to me ^bmat the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^bnSusa the citadel, which is in the province of ^boElam. And ^bpI saw in the vision, ^bqand I was at the ^brUlai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ^bsa 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 ^btthe ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^bubeast ^bvcould stand before him, ^bwand there was no one who could rescue from his power. ^bxHe did as he pleased and ^bybecame great.

5 As I was considering, behold, a ^bzmale goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ^caa conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to ^cbthe ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, ^ccand he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, ^cdand he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. ^ceAnd the ram had no power to stand before him, but he ^cfcast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then ^cgthe goat ^chbecame exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four ^ciconspicuous horns toward ^cjthe four winds of heaven.

9 Out of one of them came ^cka little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^clthe south, toward the east, and toward ^cmthe glorious land. 10 ^cnIt grew great, ^coeven to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^cpand some ^{▼▼Or host, that is, some} of ^crthe stars it threw down to the ground and ^cstrampled on them. 11 ^ctIt became great, even as great as ^cuthe Prince of the host. ^cvAnd 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 ^cxit will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard ^cya holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^cz“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^dathe 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 ^dcevenings 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 ^ddsought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^dethe appearance of a man. 16 ^dfAnd I heard a man’s voice ^dgbetween the banks of the ^dhUlai, and it called, ^di“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^djI was frightened ^dkand fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^dlO son of man, that the vision is for ^dmthe time of the end.”

18 And when he had spoken to me, ^dnI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^dohe 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 ^dpthe indignation, for it refers to ^dqthe appointed time of the end. 20 As for ^drthe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^dsMedia and Persia. 21 And ^dtthe goat ^{▼▼Or the shaggy goat} is the king of Greece. And ^dvthe great horn between his eyes is ^dwthe first king. 22 ^dxAs 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, ^dzbut 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— ^eabut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^eband shall succeed in what he does, ^ecand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 ^edBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^eehe shall become great. ^efWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he ^egshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^ehby no human hand. 26 The vision of ^eithe evenings and the mornings that has been told ^ejis true, but ^ekseal up the vision, ^elfor it refers to many days from now.”

27 And ^emI, 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 ^enand did not understand it.