The vision that God gave Daniel
1One night Daniel dreamed and God gave him a vision. It was the first year after Belshazzar had become king of Babylon. Daniel dreamed he saw something and he wrote down everything he saw.
2Daniel wrote: ‘I dreamed I saw something. The wind was blowing from all sides. There was a storm and the waves of the sea became very big. 3There were 4 big beasts that came out of the sea. All the beasts looked different.
4The first beast looked like a lion, but it had wings like an eagle. I looked at it and I saw someone pulling off its wings and it had to stand on 2 legs like a man. Then it could also think like a man.
5The 2nd beast looked like a bear standing on its back legs, with one paw that was lifted up. It was ready to kill someone. There were 3 ribs in its mouth. Someone told the bear: “You must stand up. You must eat a lot of meat.”
6I looked again and I saw another beast. It looked like a leopard, but there were 4 wings on its back. The beast had 4 heads and it was very strong.
7In my vision I saw there was a 4th beast. It was a beast that made a lot of people afraid. The beast was very strong. It had long teeth of iron and it broke things and people into pieces and then ate them, and then trampled on what was left over. This 4th beast was not like the other 3 beasts. It had 10 horns.
8I wondered what the horns meant and then I saw another horn coming out among the other horns. It was a small horn. Someone pulled out 3 of the other horns and then there was place for this little horn. There were eyes on this little horn. The eyes were like the eyes of a man and this horn also had a mouth. The mouth was proud and it boasted a lot.’
God will judge everyone
9‘I saw the angels take thrones
and put them in place, and the God who lives forever
went to his throne and He sat down on it.
His clothes were as white as snow
and his hair was like pure white wool.
He sat down on flames of fire
and his throne had wheels that were burning.
10From his throne came a river of fire.
There were thousands of angels
standing in front of Him, many thousands.
God, the Judge, started to judge the people.
The angels opened the books,
in which they wrote
what every person had done.
11I saw what happened because the horn was proud and it boasted. I saw how they killed the beast and burnt it. There was nothing left of it. 12The 3 other beasts could not keep on doing what they wanted to, but they could stay alive for a while.
13In the vision I had that night
I saw Someone coming.
He was like a Son of Man and He came on the clouds.
He came to God who lives forever.
The angels brought Him to God.
14God made Him a King
who is strong and important.
All people will serve Him.
People of all nations in all the lands
and in all the languages will serve Him.
He will be strong forever
and his Kingdom will never stop.
15I, Daniel, became afraid. I was shocked at the things that I saw in my vision. 16I went to one of the angels who was standing there and I asked him what all of this meant and he explained everything to me. 17He said: “These 4 big beasts are 4 kings who will rule the earth. 18But the holy people of the Most High God will become kings who will rule forever. Yes, forever and ever.”
19I, Daniel, wanted to know more about the 4th beast. This beast was not like the other beasts. All the people were afraid of its teeth of iron and feet of bronze that broke everything into pieces and ate it, and trampled everything that was left over. 20There were 10 horns on its head but 3 of the horns fell off and a new horn came out. That horn had eyes and a mouth that was proud and it boasted a lot, and it looked as if this horn became bigger than the other horns. 21I saw that this horn made war_against the holy people of God and it defeated them. 22And then God came, the God who lives forever. He said: “The holy people of the Most High God are the people who lived in the right way. Now is the right time for these holy people to become kings.”
23The angel said: “The 4th beast means there will be kings who will destroy the whole world and trample it and break it into pieces. They will not be like the other kings. 24The 10 horns mean there will be 10 kings and after them there will be another king. He will not be like the other kings and he will defeat 3 other kings. 25That king will be proud and he will boast against the Most High God and he will persecute the holy people of the Most High God. He will try to change the laws of God and also the time when they must celebrate_the_feasts. He will do it for 3 and a half years.
26Then God, the Judge, will start to judge the people and that last king will never again be able to do what he wants. 27Then the holy people of the Most High God will become kings. They will be great and powerful kings who rule all the world. The Most High God will be King forever. All the other kings will serve Him and do what He says.”
28This is what I, Daniel, dreamed and what I saw. I was shocked and my face became pale. But I did not tell anyone about it.’
