DanielChapter 8

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¹In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I, Daniel, had a vision. It came after the vision I had before.a ²In my vision I saw myself in the fortress city of Susa. It was in the province of Elam. In the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³I looked up and saw a ram with two horns. It was standing beside the canal. Both horns were long. But one was longer than the other. The longer one grew up last. ⁴I watched the ram charge toward the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand up to him. No one could be saved from his power. He did whatever he wanted, and he became great. ⁵I was thinking about all this. Suddenly a male goat came from the west. He had one big horn between his eyes. He crossed the whole earth without touching the ground. ⁶He came toward the ram with two horns. It was the ram I had seen standing beside the canal. The goat charged at him with great anger and power. ⁷I saw the goat attack the ram in a rage. He struck the ram and broke off his two horns. The ram had no power to stand up to him. The goat knocked him to the ground and stomped on him. No one could save the ram from his power. ⁸So the goat became very great. But when he was at his strongest, his big horn was broken off. Four large horns grew up in its place. They pointed toward the four winds of heaven. ⁹Out of one of these horns came a little horn. It grew very big. It grew toward the south and the east and toward the Beautiful Land. ¹⁰It grew as high as the army of heaven. It threw some of that army and some of the stars down to the earth. Then it stomped on them. ¹¹It made itself great. It even set itself up against the Prince of the army of heaven. It took away his daily sacrifice. It tore down the place of his holy temple. ¹²In the rebellion, the army and the daily sacrifice were handed over to the horn. It threw truth to the ground. It succeeded in everything it did. ¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking. Another holy one said to him, "How long will it take for this vision to come true? It is about the daily sacrifice and the rebellion that brings ruin. It is about the holy place and the army being handed over to be stomped on." ¹⁴He said to me, "It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the holy place will be made right again." ¹⁵I, Daniel, was watching the vision. I was trying to understand it. Then someone who looked like a man stood in front of me. ¹⁶And I heard a man's voice calling from between the banks of the Ulai. He said, "Gabriel, tell this man what the vision means." ¹⁷Gabriel came near the place where I was standing. I was terrified, and I fell on my face. "Son of man," he said to me, "understand this. The vision is about the time of the end." ¹⁸While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face on the ground. Then he touched me. He helped me to my feet. ¹⁹He said, "Listen! I will tell you what will happen later, in the time of God's anger, because it is about the set time of the end. ²⁰You saw the ram with two horns. It stands for the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹The hairy goat stands for the king of Greece. The big horn between his eyes is the first king. ²²Four horns took the place of the one that was broken. They stand for four kingdoms. These kingdoms will rise from his nation. But they won't have the same power. ²³Near the end of their rule, the rebellion will grow as bad as it can get. Then a bold and fierce king will take the throne. He will be good at tricks and schemes. ²⁴He will become very powerful, but not by his own power. He will cause terrible ruin. He will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy mighty men and God's holy people. ²⁵He will be clever and use his power to make lying succeed. In his own mind he will think he is great. When people feel safe, he will destroy many of them. He will even stand against the Prince of princes. But he will be broken, and not by human hands. ²⁶The vision about the evenings and the mornings that was told to you is true. But now you must seal up the vision, because it is about a time far in the future." ²⁷I, Daniel, was worn out. I lay sick for several days. Then I got up and went back to work for the king. But the vision troubled me. No one could understand it.