16 I came near one of those standing there and asked what all this meant.“So he told me and explained to me what these things meant:
17 ‘The four great animals are four kingdoms that will come from the earth.
18 But the holy people who belong to the Most High God will receive the power to rule and will have the power to rule forever, from now on.’
19 “Then I wanted to know what the fourth animal meant, because it was different from all the others. It was very terrible and had iron teeth and bronze claws. It was the animal that crushed and ate what it killed and then walked on whatever was left.
20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the little horn that grew there. It had pulled out three of the other ten horns and looked greater than the others. It had eyes and a mouth that kept bragging.
21 As I watched, the little horn began making war against God’s holy people and was defeating them
22 until God, who has been alive forever, came. He judged in favor of the holy people who belong to the Most High God; then the time came for them to receive the power to rule.