16. “I drew near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the certainty of all this. And he spoke to me and made known to me the interpretation of the matters:
17. ‘These great beasts, which are four, are four sovereigns which rise up from the earth.
18. ‘Then the set-apart ones of the Most High shall receive the reign, and possess the reign forever, even forever and ever.’
19. “Then I desired for certainty concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, very fearsome, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the rest with its feet,
20. and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and of the other horn that came up, before which three fell – this horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke great words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.
21. “I was looking, and this horn was fighting against the set-apart ones, and was prevailing against them,
22. until the Ancient of Days came, and right-ruling was given to the set-apart ones of the Most High, and the time came and the set-apart ones took possession of the reign.
23. “This is what he said, ‘The fourth beast is the fourth reign on earth, which is different from all other reigns, and it devours all the earth, tramples it down and crushes it.