Daniel 7:9-27

New King James Version

Vision of the Ancient of Days

⁹“I^(A) watched till thrones were ^[a]put in place,
And ^(B)the Ancient of Days was seated;
^(C)His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
^(D)Its wheels a burning fire;
¹⁰^(E)A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
^(F)A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
^(G)The ^[b]court was seated,
And the books were opened.

¹¹“I watched then because of the sound of the ^[c]pompous words which the horn was speaking; ^(H)I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. ¹²As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

¹³“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, ^(I)One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
¹⁴^(J)Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all ^(K)peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is ^(L)an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

Daniel’s Visions Interpreted

¹⁵“I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit ^[d]within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ¹⁶I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: ¹⁷‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four ^[e]kings which arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But ^(M)the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

¹⁹“Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; ²⁰and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke ^[f]pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.

²¹“I was watching; ^(N)and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, ²²until the Ancient of Days came, ^(O)and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

²³“Thus he said:

‘The fourth beast shall be
^(P)A fourth kingdom on earth,
Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
And shall devour the whole earth,
Trample it and break it in pieces.
²⁴^(Q)The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
²⁵^(R)He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall ^(S)persecute^[g] the saints of the Most High,
And shall ^(T)intend to change times and law.
Then ^(U)the saints shall be given into his hand
^(V)For a time and times and half a time.

²⁶‘But^(W) the court shall be seated,
And they shall ^(X)take away his dominion,
To consume and destroy it forever.
²⁷Then the ^(Y)kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
^(Z)His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
^(AA)And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’