The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ A vysyon of. iiii. beastes is shewed vnto Daniel. The vy∣syon is interpreted of. iiii. kyngdomes of the worlde. Of the power and increase of Antichryst. Of the euerlastyng kyng∣dome of Chryste.

CAPI. VII.

IN the fyrste yeare of Balthazar Kynge [unspec A] of Babylon / sawe Danyell a dreame / and a vysyon was in hys heade vpon hys bedde. Whiche dreame he wrote / and the somme of the matter is this Daniel spake / and sayde: I sawe in my vysyon by nyght /

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and beholde: the foure windes of the heauen stroue vpon the see / and foure great beastes came vp from the see one vnlyke another.

The fyrst was as * 1.1 a lyon, and yet had he * 1.2 Aegles wynges. I sawe, that his wynges were plucte from him, and he taken awaye from the earthe: that he stode vpon hys fete as a man, and that there was geuen hym a mans herte.

Beholde, y^• seconde beast was lyke a * 1.3 beare [unspec B] & stode vpon the one syde. Amonge his teeth in his mouth he had. iij. great longe teeth / & it was sayde vnto him. Aryse, eate vp much flesh. Then I loked, and beholde, there was another lyke vnto a leoparde: this had wyn¦ges as a foule, * 1.4 euen foure vpon the backe. This beast had foure heades, and there was power geuen him. After this I sawe in a vi∣syon by nyght, and beholde / the fourth beast was grymme and horrible / and maruelous stronge. It had great yron teeth, it deuoured and destroyed, & stamped the resydue vnder his fete. It was farre vnlyke the other bea∣stes y^t were before it: for it had * 1.5 ten hornes / wherof I toke good hede.

And beholde, there came vp amōg them, another lyke horne, before whom there were [unspec C] thre of the first hornes pluckte awaye. Be∣holde, this horne had eyes lyke a man, and a mouth speakynge presumptuous thynges. * 1.6 I loked tyll the seates were prepared, and tyl y^u olde aged sat him downe. His clothyng was as whyte as snowe, and the hearres of hys heade lyke the pure wol. Hys trone was lyke the fyrye flame, and hys wheles as the burnynge fyre. There drewe forth a fyrye streame, & went out from him. * 1.7 A thousāde tymes a thousande serued hym. x. M. tymes ten thousande stode before him. The iudge∣ment was set / and the bokes opened. Then toke I hede there vnto, because of the voyce of the proude worde••, whiche y^• horne spake I behelde / tyl the beaste was slayne, and his body destroyed, ‡ 1.8 & geuen ouer to be brent in the fyre.

As for the power of the other beastes also it was taken away / but their lyues were prolonged for a tyme and season. I sawe in a vysion by night, and beholde, * 1.9 there came one in the cloudes of heauen lyke the sonne of a man, whiche went vnto the olde aged / before whom they brought him: Then gaue he him ‡ 1.10 power & dignite regall, that all peo∣ple tribes and tūges shulde serue him. ‡ 1.11 Hys power is an euerlastynge power, which shal neuer be put downe: & his kyngdome endu∣reth vncorrupte. My herte was vexed, * 1.12 & I Daniel had a troubled sprete within me, & the visiōs of my heade made me afrayed: tyl I gat me vnto ‡ 1.13 one of them that stode by, to knowe the trueth, concernyng all these thin∣ges. So he tolde me, & made me vnderstande the interpretacyon of these thinges.

These foure greate beastes / are foure [unspec E] kynges whiche shall aryse out of the earth. These shall take in y^• kingdome of the saint{is} of the most hyest / and possesse it styll more & more for a longe season. After this I requy∣red diligently to knowe the trueth, concer∣nynge y^• fourth beast, which was so farre vn¦lyke the other beastes, & so horrible: whose teeth were of yron / and his nayles of brasse: which deuoured and destroyed, & stāped the resydue vnder hys fete. I desyre also to knowe the trueth / as touchynge y^• ‡ 1.14 ten hor∣nes that he had vpon his head, & thys other whiche came vp afterwarde / before whose face there fell downe thre: whiche horne had eyes and mouth that spake presumptuous thinges / and loked wyth a grymmer visage then his felowes. I beheld, & the same horne [unspec F] made batayle agaynst the sayntes, yee and gat the vyctory of them: vntyl the tyme that the olde aged came / that the iudgemēt was geuen to the chefest sayntes: and tyl the tyme that y^• saynctes had the kyngdome in posses∣sion. He gaue me this answere: That fourth beast shalbe y^• fourth kyngdome vpon earth it shalbe more then all other kyngdomes, it shall deuoure / treade downe, and destroy al other landes.

* 1.15 The ten hornes / are ten kynges, y^e shall aryse out of y^• kyngdome, after whom there [unspec G] shall stande vp another, which shalbe grea∣ter then y^• fyrst. He shal subdue thre kynges, and shall speake wordes agaynste the hyest of all: he shall destroye the Sayntes of the most hiest, ‡ 1.16 and thynke that he may chaūge tymes and lawes. They shalbe geuen vn∣der his power / ‡ 1.17 vntyll a tyme / two tymes, and halfe a tyme.

But the iudgement shalbe kepte / so that his power shalbe takē from him, for he shall be destroyed / and peryshe at the last. As for the kyngdome / power / and all myght that is vnder y^• heuen: it shalbe geuen to the holy people of the most hyest, ‡ 1.18 whose kyngdome is euerlastynge: ye•• all powers shall serue & obeye hym. Thus farre extende the wordes. Neuertheles, I Danyel was so vexed in my thoughtes / that my countenaunce chaūged * 1.19 but the wordes I kepte styll in my herte.