Daniel 8

1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, to me Daniel, after that which had appeared unto 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 saw in the vision—and it came to pass, in my seeing, that I was at Shushan the capital, which is in the province of 'Elam; —and I saw in the vision, as though I was by the river Ulai.

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 my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there was a ram standing before the river, and he had two horns; and the horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher 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 I saw the ram butting westward, and northward, and southward; so that all the beasts could not stand before him, and no one was there to 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 as I was looking attentively, behold, there came a shaggy, he-goat from the west over the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a sightly large 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 as far as the ram that had two horns, that I had seen standing before the river, and ran at him with his furious power.

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 close unto the ram, and he became bitterly enraged against him, and he struck the ram, and broke his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand forward before him: and he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him; and there was no one to 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 shaggy he-goat became very great: but when he was grown strong, the great horn was broken; and there came up four slightly large ones 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 them came forth a little horn, which became exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.

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 became great, even up to the host of the heavens; and it cast down to the ground some of the host and of the stars, and trod them under foot.

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 Yea, it magnified itself even up to the prince of the host, and by it the continual sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

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 the host is given up together with the continual sacrifice, by reason of transgression: and it casteth down the truth to the ground, and it doth [this], and is prosperous.

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

13 Then did I hear a certain holy one speaking, and a holy one said unto the unknown one who was speaking, For how long is the vision concerning the continual sacrifice, and the wasting transgression, to give up both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

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 unto me, Until two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings, when the sanctuary shall be justified.

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, when I, even I Daniel, saw the vision, and sought for understanding, that, behold, there was standing opposite to me something like 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 Ulai, and it called, and said, Gabriel, cause this one to understand this appearance.

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 So he came close to where I stood: and when he came, I was terrified, and I fell upon my face; but he said unto me, Mark it well, O son of man; because for the time of the end is the vision.

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 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell down in amazement on my face to the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright where I had been standing.

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 will make known unto thee what is to be at the last end of the indignation; for it is for the appointed time of the end.

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 that thou hast seen, him with the two horns, [signifieth] the kings of Media and Persia.

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

21 And the shaggy he-goat is the king of Javan; and the great horn which is between his eyes 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 But that it was broken, and that four sprung up in its stead, [signifieth that] four kingdoms will spring up out of the nation, but not with his power.

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 in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have filled their measure of guilt, there will arise a king of an impudent face, and understanding deep schemes.

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 will be mighty, but not by his own power; and he will destroy wonderfully, and will prosper while he doth [this]; and he will destroy very many and the people of the saints.

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 through his intelligence, and because he prospereth, is craftiness in his hand; and in his heart will he magnify himself, and in peace will he destroy many: he will also stand up against the Prince of princes; but without a human hand will he be broken.

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 appearance of the evening and the morning which was spoken of is true: but do thou keep the vision closed up;

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 grieved, and was sick several days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was depressed because of the appearance; but no one observed 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.