Daniel
Chapter 8
1 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s rule, I, Daniel, had a vision, after my first one.
2 I had a vision and when it happened, I was in the city of Shushan at the palace, located in Elam. In the vision, I was standing by the Ulai River.
3 I looked up and saw a ram with two horns standing by the river; both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew out last.
4 I saw the ram pushing to the west, north, and south; no animals could stand against him, nor could anyone rescue from his power; he did as he pleased and became powerful.
5 As I was thinking, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the land without touching the ground, and this goat had a large horn between its eyes.
6 He went to the ram with two horns, which I had seen by the river, and charged at it with great anger.
7 I saw him approach the ram, full of anger, and he struck the ram, breaking its two horns. The ram had no strength to resist him, and he knocked the ram to the ground and stomped on it. No one could save the ram from him.
8 So the male goat became very powerful. But when he was at his strongest, his large horn broke off. In its place, four important horns grew toward the four directions of the sky.
9 From one of them, a small horn grew and became very large, stretching south, east, and toward the beautiful land.
10 It grew big, up to the army of heaven, and it threw some of the army and the stars down to the earth and stepped on them.
11 Yes, he made himself as great as the leader of the army, and through him the regular offering was stopped, and the sacred place was overthrown.
12 An army was given to him to fight against the daily offering because of sin, and it threw the truth to the ground; and it acted and succeeded.
13 I heard one holy person talking, and another holy person asked the one who spoke, “How long will the vision last about the daily offering and the sin that destroys, allowing the holy place and the people to be trampled?”
14 He told me, “After 2,300 days, the holy place will be clean again.”
15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was looking for its meaning, suddenly, I saw someone who looked like a man standing before me.
16 I heard a man’s voice by the Ulai Canal calling out, “Gabriel, help this person understand the vision.”
17 He came close to where I was standing. When he approached, I felt scared and dropped to the ground. However, he told me, “Know this, human: the vision will happen at the end time.”
18 As he talked with me, I was deeply asleep with my face down, but he touched me and made me stand up.
19 He said, “Look, I will tell you what will happen at the very end of the anger: because at the set time, the end will come.”
20 The ram you saw with two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
21 The rough goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes stands for the first king.
22 After it is broken, four kingdoms will rise from that nation, but they will not have its power.
23 In the later time of their rule, when the wrongdoers have grown completely, a king with a harsh face and skilled in riddles will rise.
24 His strength will be great, but not by his own strength. He will cause astounding destruction, succeed, take action, and will ruin powerful and sacred people.
25 With his clever planning, he will make deceit succeed under his control; he will think highly of himself, and using peace, he will ruin many. He will even stand against the greatest leaders, but he will be defeated by no human power.
26 The dream about the evening and the morning that was described is true. So, keep the dream secret because it will happen far in the future.
27 I, Daniel, passed out and was sick for some days. Then I got up and went about the king’s work. I was amazed by the vision, but nobody understood it.