1 In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and a vision in his head on his bed. And, writing down the dream, he understood it in a concise manner, and so, summarizing it tersely, he said:
2 I saw in my vision at night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens fought upon the great sea.
3 And four great beasts, different from one another, ascended from the sea.
4 The first was like a lioness and had the wings of an eagle. I watched as its wings were plucked off, and it was raised from the earth and stood on its feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.
5 And behold, another beast, like a bear, stood to one side, and there were three rows in its mouth and in its teeth, and they spoke to it in this way: "Arise, devour much flesh."
6 After this, I watched, and behold, another like a leopard, and it had wings like a bird, four upon it, and four heads were on the beast, and power was given to it.
7 After this, I watched in the vision of the night, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible yet wondrous, and exceedingly strong; it had great iron teeth, eating yet crushing, and trampling down the remainder with his feet, but it was unlike the other beasts, which I had seen before it, and it had ten horns.