Daniel 8

1 In the third year of the reign of king Baltasar a vision appeared to me, [even] to me Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.

In the third year of the rule of Belshazzar the king, a vision was seen by me, Daniel, after the one I saw at first.

2 And I was in Susa the palace, which is in the land of Ælam, and I was on the [bank of] Ubal.

And I saw in the vision; and when I saw it, I was in the strong town Shushan, which is in the country of Elam; and in the vision I was by the water-door of the Ulai.

3 And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a ram standing in front of the Ubal; and he had high horns; and one was higher than the other, and the high one came up last.

And lifting up my eyes, I saw, there before the stream, a male sheep with two horns: and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, the higher one coming up last.

4 And I saw the ram butting westward, and northward, and southward; and no beast could stand before him, and there was none that could deliver out of his hand; and he did according to his will, and became great.

I saw the sheep pushing to the west and to the north and to the south; and no beasts were able to keep their place before him, and no one was able to get people out of his power; but he did whatever his pleasure was and made himself great.

5 And I was considering, and, behold, a he-goat came from the south-west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the earth: and the goat [had] a horn between his eyes.

And while I was giving thought to this, I saw a he-goat coming from the west over the face of all the earth without touching the earth: and the he-goat had a great horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had the horns, which I had seen standing in front of the Ubal, and he ran at him with the violence of his strength.

And he came to the two-horned sheep which I saw before the stream, rushing at him in the heat of his power.

7 And I saw him coming up close to the ram, and he was furiously enraged against him, and he smote the ram, and broke both his horns: and there was no strength in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him on the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

And I saw him come right up to the sheep, and he was moved with wrath against him, attacking the sheep so that his two horns were broken; and the sheep had not strength to keep his place before him, but was pushed down on the earth and crushed under his feet: and there was no one to get the sheep out of his power.

8 And the he-goat grew exceedingly great: and when he was strong, his great horn was broken; and four other [horns] rose up in its place toward the four winds of heaven.

And the he-goat became very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and in its place came up four other horns turned to the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came forth one strong horn, and it grew very great toward the south, and toward the host:

And out of one of them came another horn, a little one, which became very great, stretching to the south and to the east and to the beautiful land.

10 and it magnified itself to the host of heaven; and there fell to the earth [some] of the host of heaven and of the stars, and they trampled on them.

And it became great, even as high as the army of heaven, pulling down some of the army, even of the stars, to the earth and crushing them under its feet.

11 And [this shall be] until the chief captain shall have delivered the captivity: and by reason of him the sacrifice was disturbed, and he prospered; and the holy place shall be made desolate.

It made itself great, even as great as the lord of the army; and by it the regular burned offering was taken away, and the place overturned and the holy place made waste.

12 And a sin-offering was given for the sacrifice, and righteousness was cast down to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

... against the regular burned offering; and ... crushed down to the earth, and it did its pleasure and things went well for it.

13 And I heard one saint speaking, and a saint said to a certain one speaking, How long shall the vision continue, [even] the removal of the sacrifice, and the bringing in of the sin of desolation; and [how long] shall the sanctuary and host be trampled?

Then there came to my ears the voice of a holy one talking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was talking, How long will the vision be while the regular burned offering is taken away, and the unclean thing causing fear is put up, and the holy place crushed under foot?

14 And he said to him, Evening and morning [there shall be] two thousand and four hundred days; and [then] the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

And he said to him, For two thousand, three hundred evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be made clean.

15 And it came to pass, as I, [even] I Daniel, saw the vision, and sought to understand it, that, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

And it came about that when I, Daniel, had seen this vision, I had a desire for the sense of it to be unfolded; and I saw one before me in the form of a man.

16 And I heard the voice of a man between [the banks of] the Ubal; and he called, and said, Gabriel, cause that man to understand the vision.

And the voice of a man came to my ears between the sides of the Ulai, crying out and saying, Gabriel, make the vision clear to this man.

17 And he came and stood near where I stood: and when he came, I was struck with awe, and fell upon my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man: for yet the vision is for an appointed time.

So he came and took his place near where I was; and when he came, I was full of fear and went down on my face: but he said to me, Let it be clear to you, O son of man; for the vision has to do with the time of the end.

18 And while he spoke with me, I fell upon my face to the earth: and he touched me, and set me on my feet.

Now while he was talking to me, I went into a deep sleep with my face to the earth: but touching me, he put me on my feet where I had been.

19 And he said, Behold, I make thee know the things that shall come to pass at the end of the wrath: for the vision [is] yet for an appointed time.

And he said, See, I will make clear to you what is to come in the later time of the wrath: for it has to do with the fixed time of the end.

20 The ram which thou sawest that had the horns is the king of the Medes and Persians.

The sheep which you saw with two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 The he-goat is the king of the Greeks: and the great horn which was between his eyes, he is the first king.

And the he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn between his eyes is the first king.

22 And [as for] the one that was broken, in whose place there stood up four horns, four kings shall arise out of his nation, but not in their [own] strength.

And as for that which was broken, in place of which four came up, four kingdoms will come up from his nation, but not with his power.

23 And at the latter time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full, there shall arise a king bold in countenance, and understanding riddles.

And in the later years of their kingdom, when their evil doings have become complete, there will come up a king full of pride and expert in dark sayings.

24 And his power [shall be] great, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and prosper, and practise, and shall destroy mighty men, and the holy people.

And his power will be great, and he will be purposing strange things. And all will go well for him and he will do his pleasure; and he will send destruction on the strong ones.

25 And the yoke of his chain shall prosper: [there is] craft in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by craft shall destroy many, and he shall stand up for the destruction of many, and shall crush them as eggs in his hand.

And his designs will be turned against the holy people, causing deceit to do well in his hand; in his heart he will make himself great, and send destruction on numbers who are living unconscious of their danger; and he will put himself up against the prince of princes; but he will be broken, though not by men's hands.

26 And the vision of the evening and morning that was mentioned is true: and do thou seal the vision; for [it is] for many days.

And the vision of evenings and mornings which has been talked of is true: and keep the vision secret; for it has to do with the far-off future.

27 And I Daniel fell asleep, and was sick: then I arose, and did the king’s business; and I wondered at the vision, and there was none that understood [it].

And I, Daniel, was ill for some days; then I got up and did the king's business: and I was full of wonder at the vision, but no one was able to give the sense of it.