7. Then I prayed, “Master and Lord, if it is true that you consider me more righteous than many others, and if you hear my prayers, then I beg you,
8. give me strength. Show me, Lord, the full meaning of this terrifying vision, and set my mind at ease.
9. After all, you did consider me worthy to be shown the end of the age.”
10. God's angel said to me, “Here is the interpretation of the vision you saw.
11. The eagle you saw coming up out of the sea represents the fourth kingdom in the vision that your brother Daniel saw.
12. But he was not given the same interpretation of it that I am giving you.
13. The time is coming when an empire will be established on earth that is more terrible than any before it.
14. Twelve kings will rule over it, one after the other.
15. The second king will rule longer than any of the others.
16. That is the meaning of the twelve wings that you saw.
17. “You heard the voice speaking from the middle of the eagle's body, instead of from its heads.
18. That means that after the rule of the second king, a great struggle for power will take place, and the empire will be in danger of breaking up. But that will not happen, and the empire will regain its earlier power.
19. “You saw the eight small wings growing out of the eagle's big wings. That means
20. that eight kings will rise up in the empire, but their rule will be brief and unimportant.
21. Two of them will appear briefly near the middle of the period, four of them will not appear until near the end, and two will be left until the very end.
22. “You saw the three heads that were asleep. That means
23. that in the last days of the empire, God Most High will raise up three kings; they will restore much of the empire and rule over the world