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Daniel 7

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1 In the first year of Baltasar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream: and the vision of his head was upon his bed: and writing the dream, he comprehended it in few words: and relating the sum of it in short, he said:

2 I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea.

4 The first was like a lioness, and had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till her wings were plucked off, and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her.

5 And behold another beast like a bear stood up on one side: and there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had upon it four wings as of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and power was given to it.

7 After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding strong, it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with its feet: and it was unlike to the other beasts which I had seen before it, and had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out of the midst of them: and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence thereof: and behold eyes like the eyes of a man were in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire.

10 A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke: and I saw that the beast was slain, and the body thereof was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt:

12 And that the power of the other beasts was taken away: and that times of life were appointed them for a time, and time.

13 I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him.

14 And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.

15 My spirit trembled, I Daniel was affrighted at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me:

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

18 But the saints of the most high God shall take the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.

19 After this I would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast. which was very different from all, and exceeding terrible: his teeth and claws were of iron: he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet:

20 And concerning the ten horns that he had on his head: and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell: and of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was greater than the rest.

21 I beheld, and lo, that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them,

22 Till the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.

23 And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And the ten horns of the same kingdom, shall be ten kings: and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings.

25 And he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush the saints of the most High: and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time.

26 And judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end.

27 And that the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him, and shall obey him.

28 Hitherto is the end of the word. I Daniel was much troubled with my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the word in my heart.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #625

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625. 1 The fifth experience.

Once when I was meditating on the Lord's second coming, there suddenly appeared a beam of light, so powerful as to dazzle my eyes. So I looked up, and saw the whole heaven above me full of light; and from east to west I heard a long series of voices glorifying God. An angel came close and said: 'This is the glorifying of the Lord on account of His coming, uttered by the angels of the eastern and western heavens.' Nothing was heard from the southern or northern heavens but a polite murmur.

Since the angel could hear everything, he told me first that this glorifying and praising of the Lord was taken from the Word. Then he said: 'Now in particular they are glorifying and praising the Lord with the words spoken by the prophet Daniel.

You have seen iron mixed with common clay, but they will not hold together. But in those days the God of the heavens will cause a kingdom to rise which shall not perish for ever. It will shatter and consume all these kingdoms, but will stand itself for ever.' Daniel 2:43-44.

[2] After this I heard what sounded like singing, and yet further away to the east I saw a gleam of light more brilliant than before. I asked the angel what was the glorifying taking place there. He said it was what Daniel described:

I was watching in the visions of the night and I saw the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. To him were given dominion and the kingdom and all peoples and nations will worship him. His dominion will be a dominion for ever, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not perish, Daniel 7:13-14.

Besides this they praise the Lord with these words from Revelation:

To Jesus Christ be glory and strength. Behold, He comes with clouds. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I, John, heard this from the Son of Man from the midst of the seven lampstands, Revelation 1:5-13; 22:8, 13, Also with the words of Matthew 24:30-31.

[3] I looked again to the east of heaven, and the light was growing from the right; the brightness spread into the expanse of sky to the south, and I heard a sweet sound. I asked the angel what glorifying of the Lord was taking place there. He said it was with these words from Revelation:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; and I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared like a bride for her husband. And I heard a mighty voice out of heaven saying: Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. And the angel spoke with me and said: Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, Revelation 21:1-3, 9-10.

Also with these words:

I, Jesus, am the bright star of the morning; and the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And He said, I am coming soon. Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus, Revelation 22:16-17, 20.

[4] After this and more I heard a general glorifying from the east of heaven to the west, and also from the south to the north. I asked the angel what this was. He said it was these words from the Prophets:

Let all flesh know that I am Jehovah your Saviour and your Redeemer, Isaiah 49:26.

Thus spoke Jehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the first and the last, and there is no God beside me, Isaiah 44:6.

On that day it will be said, Behold, this is our God, whom we have awaited to free us. He is Jehovah, whom we have awaited, Isaiah 25:9.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way for Jehovah. Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes in strength. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10-11.

A child is born for us, a son is given to us, whose name is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of peace, Isaiah 9:6.

Behold, the days will come when I shall raise up for David a righteous shoot, who will reign as king. And this is his name, Jehovah our righteousness, Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16.

Jehovah Zebaoth is his name and the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He will be called the God of the whole earth, Isaiah 54:5.

On that day Jehovah will be king over the whole earth; on that day Jehovah will be one, and His name one, Zechariah 14:9.

On hearing and understanding this my heart leaped for joy and I went home rejoicing; and there I came back from the state of the spirit into that of the body, in which state I wrote down these things I had seen and heard.

Footnotes:

1. This section is repeated with slight modification from Conjugial Love 81.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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