Daniel 8

1In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me—I, Daniel—after the one that had appeared to me at the first.

2And I saw in the vision, and when I saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.

3Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, one ram was standing before the canal, and it had two horns. The horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

4I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward, and no beasts could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his hand. He did as he pleased and became great.

5As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes.

6He came up to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing before the canal, and ran at him in the fury of his power.

7And I saw him come up to the ram, and he was enraged against him, and he struck the ram and broke its two horns. And there was no strength in the ram to stand before him; he threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his hand.

8And the male goat grew exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and in its place four conspicuous horns came up toward the four winds of heaven.

9And out of one of them came a small horn, and it grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.

10It grew as high as the host of heaven, and it cast some of the host and some of the stars down to the earth, and trampled them.

11It even magnified itself up to the Prince of the host, and from him the regular offering was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12And a host was given over with the regular burnt offering because of transgression; and it cast truth to the ground, and it acted and prospered.

13Then I heard a holy one speaking, and one holy one said to the one speaking, “How long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering and the desolating transgression, and the giving over of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled?”

14And he said to me, “Until 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

15And it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking understanding, behold, standing before me was one with the appearance of a man.

16And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, make this one understand the vision.”

17So he came near where I was standing, and when he came, I was terrified and fell on my face. Then he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”

18And while he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand up where I had been standing.

19Then he said, “Look, I am making known to you what will happen in the latter part of the indignation, for the end is for the appointed time.”

20The ram that you saw, the one with the two horns, is the kings of Media and Persia.

21And the shaggy male goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22And as for the broken horn, in whose place four arose: four kingdoms will arise from that nation, but not with its power.

23And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their full measure, a king will arise, fierce in countenance and skilled in intrigue.

24His power will become strong, but not by his own power. He will bring about extraordinary destruction, and he will succeed and act; he will destroy the mighty and the people of the holy ones.

25And through his shrewdness he will make deceit prosper in his hand; and in his heart he will magnify himself. In a time of security he will destroy many, and he will rise up against the Prince of princes; but he will be broken without hand.

26And the vision of the evening and the morning that was spoken is true; but you, seal up the vision, for it concerns many days from now.

27And I, Daniel, was overcome and was sick for days. Then I rose and did the king’s work, but I was appalled by the vision, and there was no one who understood it.