Realize ¹  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ²  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ³ 

They will no longer be prey for the nations and the wild beasts will not devour them. They will live securely and no one will make them afraid.

As I watched, I saw ¹  tendons on them, then muscles appeared, ²  and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath ³  in them.

They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid.

For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers ¹  were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones.

I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal ¹  was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power. ²  It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly. ³ 

I, Daniel, was exhausted ¹  and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.

However, I will first tell you what is written in a dependable book. ¹  (There is no one who strengthens me against these princes, ²  except Michael your ³  prince.

Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. ¹  The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. ²  They will have no strength to prevail.

He will pitch his royal tents between the seas ¹  toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with no one to help him.

I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear them to pieces, then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!

All of them are blazing like an oven; they devour their rulers. All of their kings fall – and none of them call on me!

They sow the wind, and so they will reap the whirlwind! The stalk does not have any standing grain; it will not produce any flour. Even if it were to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it all up.

Very soon they will say, “We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?”

For a nation ¹  has invaded ²  our ³  land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ⁴  Their teeth are like those ⁵  of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ⁶ 

Listen to the cattle groan! ¹  The herds of livestock wander around in confusion ²  because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the Lord your God; there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.

Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey? ¹  Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?

Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?

Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out ¹  like fire against Joseph’s ²  family; ³  the fire ⁴  will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ⁵