38. human beings, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell, he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all; you are the head of gold.
39. Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours, then a third kingdom, of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth.
40. There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others, just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else.
41. The feet and toes you saw, partly of clay and partly of iron, mean that it shall be a divided kingdom, but yet have some of the hardness of iron. As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile,
42. and the toes partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43. The iron mixed with clay means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.