Daniel 7-8

Daniel 7

¹In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.

²Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven brake forth upon the great sea.

³And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

⁴The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

⁵And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in his mouth between his teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

⁶After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

⁷After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

⁸I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before 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 a mouth speaking great things.

⁹I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire.

¹⁰A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

¹¹I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and he was given to be burned with fire.

¹²And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

¹³I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

¹⁴And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

¹⁵As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

¹⁶I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

¹⁷These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

¹⁸But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

¹⁹Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

²⁰and concerning the ten horns that were on his head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell; even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

²¹I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

²²until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

²³Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

²⁴And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.

²⁵And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.

²⁶But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

²⁷And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

²⁸Here is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

Daniel 8

¹In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

²And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.

³Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

⁴I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

⁵And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

⁶And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power.

⁷And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him: but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

⁸And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.

⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.

¹⁰And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them.

¹¹Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

¹²And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

¹⁴And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

¹⁵And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

¹⁶And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

¹⁷So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.

¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

¹⁹And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation: for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end.

²⁰The ram which thou sawest that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

²¹And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

²²And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

²³And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

²⁴And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure: and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.

²⁵And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

²⁶And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come.

²⁷And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.