Daniel 8

In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. ²I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai. ³Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. ⁴I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself. ⁵As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and did not touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. ⁶He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power. ⁷I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand. ⁸The male goat magnified himself greatly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky. ⁹Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew very great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. ¹⁰It grew great, even to the host of the sky; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them. ¹¹Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. ¹²The host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered. ¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? ¹⁴He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. ¹⁵It happened, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. ¹⁶I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called, and said, Jibril, make this man to understand the vision. ¹⁷So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end. ¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright. ¹⁹He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end. ²⁰The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. ²²As for that which was broken, in the place from where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. ²³In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. ²⁴His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy horribly, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people. ²⁵Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. ²⁶The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days to come. ²⁷I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.