Chapter 113
1 But that we may not be diverted from what lies before us, and that the things seen by the prophet may be shown to be true, and the things understood and spoken by us, by the grace of the Lord, to be exact, let us see whether the angel who instructs the blessed Daniel bears witness to our words. For he speaks thus: “These four beasts are four kingdoms that shall arise upon the earth, which shall be taken away. And the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and shall possess it unto the ages of ages.”
2 This is necessary, then: for the three beasts having already run their course and passed away, as has been shown above, and the one being still at its height and present, if this too be taken away, then the earthly things cease and the heavenly begin, so that the indissoluble and eternal kingdom of the saints may be shown forth, and the heavenly King be displayed openly to all—no longer seen through an appearance as on Mount Sinai, nor revealed in a pillar of cloud upon the summit of a mountain, but with hosts and armies of angels, God incarnate and man, Son of God and Son of man, coming from the heavens as judge to the world.
3 He it is who shall remove all the kingdoms that are in this world, and shall thresh and winnow and scatter them like dust from a summer threshing-floor, and shall give the kingdom to the saints of the Most High—gathering the wheat into His storehouse, but burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. He who is now despised by the godless and impious, and blasphemed by the unbelieving, who neither understand the things that are written, nor to whom the authority of judgment has been delivered.
4 For even if He now tarries for a while, not willing to bring judgment upon the world before the time, fulfilling the command of His own Father, yet coming He shall come with His armies, and shall render to each according to his works.