Daniel 8

Modern

Literal

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

¹In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one that had appeared to me earlier.

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

²And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.

²And I saw in the vision; and it was, in my looking, that I was in Susa the citadel, which is in Elam the province. And I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai.

³Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a ram with two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later.

³And I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold! One ram was standing at the face of the river, and unto it were two horns; and the two horns were high, and one was higher than the second, and the higher one came up later.

⁴I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

⁴I saw the ram charging to the west, and to the north, and to the south; and all living creatures could not stand before him, and there was no one to deliver from his hand; and he did according to his will, and he became great.

⁵As I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.

⁵And I was considering, and behold, a male of the goats was coming from the west, over the face of all the earth, and without touching on the ground, and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

⁶He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with furious power.

⁶And he came to the ram, owner of the two horns, which I had seen standing at the face of the river, and he ran toward him with the fury of his power.

⁷I saw him approach the ram in a rage against him, and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him, and the goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and no one could deliver the ram from his power.

⁷And I saw him coming close beside the ram, and he was enraged at him, and he struck the ram and broke the two of his horns. And there was no power in the ram to stand before his face, and he cast him down to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to deliver the ram from his hand.

⁸Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.

⁸And the male of the goats grew as far as exceedingly, and with his becoming mighty, the large horn was broken, and came up four conspicuous ones in place of it, toward the four winds of the heavens.

⁹From one of these horns a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the Beautiful Land.

⁹And from the one of them came forth one little horn, and it grew great exceedingly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.

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

¹⁰And he grew up to the host of the heavens, and he cast down to the ground some of the host, and some of the stars, and he trampled them.

¹¹It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary.

¹¹And to the Prince of the host he became great, and from Him was taken away the daily sacrifice, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.

¹²And in the rebellion,^a the host and the daily sacrifice were given over to the horn, and it flung truth to the ground and prospered in whatever it did.

¹²And an army will be given over, along with the daily sacrifice, because of transgression, and he will cast down truth to the ground; and he will act, and will prosper.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”

¹³And I heard one holy one speaking; one holy one said to the one who was speaking, “Until when is the vision of the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, the giving over of both the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”

¹⁴He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored.”

¹⁴And he said to me: “Until two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings—then the sanctuary will be made right.”

Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision

¹⁵While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.

¹⁵And it came to pass in my seeing—I, Daniel—the vision I sought understanding, that behold, one having the appearance of a man was standing before me.

¹⁶And I heard the voice of a man calling from between the banks of the Ulai: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

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

¹⁷As he came near to where I stood, I was terrified and fell facedown.

“Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”

¹⁷And he came alongside my station; and at his coming, I was afraid, and fell on my face. And he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that regarding the time of the end is the vision.”

¹⁸While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

Then he touched me, helped me to my feet,

¹⁸And at his speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. And he touched me and stood me on my station.

¹⁹and said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because it concerns the appointed time of the end.

¹⁹And he said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will come to be at the latter end of the indignation, for it concerns the appointed time of the end.

²⁰The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.

²⁰The ram that you saw, owner of the two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia.

²¹The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece,^a and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.

²¹And the male goat is the king of Javan, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

²²The four horns that replaced the broken one represent four kingdoms that will rise from that nation but will not have the same power.

²²And the broken one, and that arose the four in its place, is four kingdoms from that nation that will rise up, and not with its power.

²³In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.

²³And in the latter time of their reign, at the completion of those transgressing, there will arise a king, strong of face and understanding riddles;

²⁴His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people.

²⁴and his power will be mighty—not by his power—and marvelously He will destroy, and he will prosper in what he does, and He will destroy the mighty ones and the people the holy ones.

²⁵Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.

²⁵And by his cunning he will also make prosper deceit under his hand, and in his heart he will magnify himself. And when at ease he will destroy many; and against the Prince of princes he will rise, and without human hand he will be broken.

²⁶The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”

²⁶And the vision of the evenings and the mornings that was told is true; and you, seal up the vision, for it is after many days.”

²⁷I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

²⁷And I, Daniel, was overcome and was sick for days. And I rose and went about the business of the king; and I was appalled by the vision, and it was not understood.