Job 33:15-17, Dan 2:1-3, 4:5, 9, 19, Dan 7-8 | ESV | STEP | In a dream , in a vision of the night , when deep sleep falls on men , while they slumber on their beds ,

15 In ^aa dream, in ^ba vision of ^cthe night,
when ^ddeep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds,
16 then he ^eopens the ears of men
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 that he may turn man aside from his ^fdeed
and conceal pride from a man;

Daniel 2:1-3

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^ghis spirit was troubled, and ^hhis sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that ⁱthe magicians, ^jthe enchanters, the ^ksorcerers, and ^lthe Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^mstood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ⁿmy spirit is troubled to know the dream.”

Daniel 4:5

5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and ^othe visions of my head alarmed me.

Daniel 4:9

9 “O Belteshazzar, ^pchief of the magicians, because I know that ^qthe spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no ^rmystery is too difficult for you, tell me ^sthe visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.

Daniel 4:19

Daniel Interprets the Second Dream

19 Then Daniel, whose name was ^tBelteshazzar, was ^udismayed for a while, and ^vhis thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, ^wmay the dream be for those who hate you ^xand its interpretation for your enemies!

Daniel 7

Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts

1 In the first year of ^yBelshazzar king of Babylon, ^zDaniel saw a dream and ^aavisions 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, ^acthe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts ^adcame 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, ^aeanother 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 ^afleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and ^agdominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, ^ahterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; ^aiit devoured and broke in pieces ^ajand stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and ^akit had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, ^althere came up among them another horn, a little one, ^ambefore 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 ^ana mouth speaking great things.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “As I looked,

^aothrones were placed,
and the ^apAncient of Days took his seat;
^aqhis clothing was white as snow,
and ^arthe hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
^asits wheels were burning fire.
10 ^atA stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
^aua thousand thousands ^avserved him,
^awand ten thousand times ten thousand ^axstood before him;
the ^aycourt sat in judgment,
and ^azthe books were opened.
11 “I looked then because of the sound of ^bathe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, ^bbthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed ^bcand given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, ^bdtheir 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 ^bebehold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the ^bfAncient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 ^bgAnd to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all ^bhpeoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
^bihis 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 ^bkthe 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 ^bl‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But ^bmthe 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 ^bnthe 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 ^boand 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 ^bpmade war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the ^bqAncient of Days came, and ^brjudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when ^bsthe saints possessed the kingdom.

23 “Thus he said: ‘As for ^btthe 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 ^buHe shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to ^bvchange the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for ^bwa time, times, and half a time.
26 ^bxBut the court shall sit in judgment,
and ^byhis dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed ^bzto the end.
27 ^caAnd the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of ^cbthe saints of the Most High;
^cchis 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. ^ceAs for me, Daniel, my ^cfthoughts greatly alarmed me, ^cgand my color changed, but ^chI 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 ^ciKing Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, ^cjafter that which appeared to me ^ckat the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^clSusa the citadel, which is in the province of ^cmElam. And ^cnI saw in the vision, ^coand I was at the ^cpUlai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ^cqa 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 ^crthe ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^csbeast ^ctcould stand before him, ^cuand there was no one who could rescue from his power. ^cvHe did as he pleased and ^cwbecame great.

5 As I was considering, behold, a ^cxmale goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ^cya conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to ^czthe ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, ^daand he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, ^dband he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. ^dcAnd the ram had no power to stand before him, but he ^ddcast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then ^dethe goat ^dfbecame exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four ^dgconspicuous horns toward ^dhthe four winds of heaven.

9 Out of one of them came ^dia little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^djthe south, toward the east, and toward ^dkthe glorious land. 10 ^dlIt grew great, ^dmeven to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^dnand some ^{▼▼Or host, that is, some} of ^dpthe stars it threw down to the ground and ^dqtrampled on them. 11 ^drIt became great, even as great as ^dsthe Prince of the host. ^dtAnd 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 ^dvit will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard ^dwa holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^dx“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^dythe 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 ^eaevenings 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 ^ebsought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^ecthe appearance of a man. 16 ^edAnd I heard a man’s voice ^eebetween the banks of the ^efUlai, and it called, ^eg“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^ehI was frightened ^eiand fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^ejO son of man, that the vision is for ^ekthe time of the end.”

18 And when he had spoken to me, ^elI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^emhe 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 ^enthe indignation, for it refers to ^eothe appointed time of the end. 20 As for ^epthe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^eqMedia and Persia. 21 And ^erthe goat ^{▼▼Or the shaggy goat} is the king of Greece. And ^etthe great horn between his eyes is ^euthe first king. 22 ^evAs 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, ^exbut 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— ^eybut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^ezand shall succeed in what he does, ^faand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 ^fbBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^fche shall become great. ^fdWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he ^feshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^ffby no human hand. 26 The vision of ^fgthe evenings and the mornings that has been told ^fhis true, but ^fiseal up the vision, ^fjfor it refers to many days from now.”

27 And ^fkI, 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 ^fland did not understand it.