⁷ “After that, in my vision^(A) at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron^(B) teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled^(C) underfoot whatever was left.^(D) It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.^(E)

⁸ “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little^(F) one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being^(G) and a mouth that spoke boastfully.^(H)

⁹ “As I looked,

¹¹ “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking.^(Q) I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.^{(R) 12} (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,^[a](S) coming^(T) with the clouds of heaven.^(U) He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority,^(V) glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.^(W) His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom^(X) is one that will never be destroyed.^(Y)

The Interpretation of the Dream

¹⁵ “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.^{(Z) 16} I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this.

“So he told me and gave me the interpretation^(AA) of these things: ¹⁷ ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy people^(AB) of the Most High will receive the kingdom^(AC) and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’^(AD)

¹⁹ “Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. ²⁰ I also wanted to know about the ten horns^(AE) on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully.^{(AF) 21} As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them,^{(AG) 22} until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.^(AH)

²³ “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.^{(AI) 24} The ten horns^(AJ) are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.

³ I looked up,^(A) and there before me was a ram^(B) with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. ⁴ I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power.^(C) It did as it pleased^(D) and became great.

⁵ As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. ⁶ It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. ⁷ I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it,^(E) and none could rescue the ram from its power.^{(F) 8} The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off,^(G) and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.^(H)

⁹ Out of one of them came another horn, which started small^(I) but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.^(J)

²⁰ The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.^(A)