16. I went to someone who was standing there and asked him what all this meant. So he explained it to me.
17. He said, ‘The four great animals are four kingdoms that will come from the earth.
18. But God’s holy people will receive the kingdom, and they will have the kingdom forever and ever.’
19. “Then I wanted to know what the fourth animal was and what it meant. The fourth animal was different from all the other animals. It was very terrible and had iron teeth and bronze claws. It was the animal that crushed and ate its victims and walked on whatever was left.
20. I wanted to know about the ten horns that were on the fourth animal’s head and about the little horn that grew there. That little horn pulled out three of the other ten horns. That little horn had eyes and a mouth that kept on bragging, and it looked bigger than the other horns.
21. As I was watching, this little horn began attacking and making war against God’s holy people and killing them.