1In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions passed through his mind as he slept; then he wrote the substance of that dream, and what he saw. 2Daniel said, “In my vision of the night, I saw the four winds of the heaven blowing in every direction and churning up a great sea. 3And four great beasts, no two alike, came up out of the sea. 4The first was like a lion, but had eagle's wings; as I watched, its wings were torn off, and it was lifted above the ground, and made to stand upon its feet like a man, and the mind of a human was given to it. 5And then a second beast appeared that looked like a bear, and it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs between its teeth; and then a voice said to it, ‘Arise, and devour many people’. 6And then a third beast, that looked like a leopard, but had on its back four wings of a bird; this beast also had four heads; and great authority was given to it. 7And after this I saw yet a fourth beast, dreadful, terrifying, and exceedingly strong; and it had big iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims; and trampled others under its feet; and it was certainly different from the other three beasts that came before it; and it also had ten horns. 8And while I was wondering about those horns, there came up among them yet another little horn, and it uprooted three of the first ten horns; and this horn had eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth that uttered arrogant words.

9“I watched as thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothes were as white as snow, and the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was like a fiery flame, with wheels of flame. 10A fiery stream came out from before Him; and millions (ten thousand times ten thousand) of angels stood to attend Him, and stood before Him; the court was convened; and the judgment books were opened.

11“I watched with keen interest because of the boastful voice of arrogant words which the horn was uttering; and I continued to watch until that beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and thrown into the fire. 12As for the other beasts, they had their power stripped away; but were allowed to live for a while longer. 13In the vision of that night, I saw One like the Son of Man come with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and the angels brought Him into His presence. 14And He was given authority, glory, and dominion over a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall never pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall never be destroyed.

15“I, Daniel, was perplexed in my spirit; and these visions were troubling to me. 16I approached one of them (angels) that stood by, and asked him the meaning of all this. So he explained it to me like this: 17‘These four great beasts are four kings, who shall arise out of the earth. 18But the saints of the Most High shall receive and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’ 19Then I wanted to know the significance of the fourth beast, which was quite different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with teeth of iron, and nails of bronze; which crushed, devoured, and trampled others under his feet; 20And about the ten horns that were in his head, as well as the other little horn that came up, and uprooted three other horns; that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke such arrogant things, who looked more stout than his fellows. 21I had watched, and this same horn made war with the saints, and was defeating them, 22Until the Ancient of Days came, and justice was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

23“Then he said, ‘The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all kingdoms, and will devour (conquer) the entire earth, trampling it down, and breaking it in pieces. 24And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise out of this kingdom; and yet another shall rise after them; and he shall be different from the earlier ones, and he shall subdue three of them. 25And he shall speak arrogant words against the Most High, and shall oppress the saints of the Most High, and try to change set times and laws; and His saints shall be placed in his hand for a period of a time, times and a half time. 26But the judgment court shall be convened, which shall take away his dominion, to be consumed and utterly destroyed forever. 27And the kingdom, power and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to His people, the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers shall worship and obey Him.’

28“Here is the end of the matter: I, Daniel, was much troubled by these visions, to the point where the color left my face; but I kept the matter to myself.”