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 King Belshazzar's reign I, Daniel, saw another vision after the one I had seen previously.
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.
In my vision I looked around and saw I was in the castle at Susa in the province of Elam. In the vision I was beside the River 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.
I looked around and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two long horns, one longer than the other, even though the longer one had grown 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 watched the ram charging west, north, and south. No animal could stand up to it—nor was there any chance of rescue from its power. It did whatever it wanted and grew powerful.
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.
As I was thinking about what I'd seen, a male goat came in from the west, racing in across the surface of the earth so fast it didn't touch the ground. It had a large, prominent horn between its 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.
It approached the ram with the two horns which I had seen standing beside the river, rushing in to attack in a furious rage.
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.
I watched as the goat charged furiously at the ram, hitting it and breaking off its two horns. The ram did not have the strength to resist the goat's attack. The goat threw the ram to the ground, trampling on it, and there was no possibility of rescuing it from the goat's 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.
The goat grew very powerful, but at the height of its power its large horn was broken off. In its place four large horns came up, pointing 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.
A little horn came up from one of them, and grew extremely powerful 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.
It grew in power until it reached the heavenly army, throwing some of them and some of the stars down to the earth and trampled on them.
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 even tried to make itself as great as the Prince of the heavenly army—it removed the continual service, and the place of his sanctuary was destroyed.
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.
An army of people and the continual service were handed over to it because of rebellion, and it overthrew truth, and it was successful in everything it did.
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 I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one asked the one who was speaking, “How long is this vision for—the removal of the continual service, the rebellion that causes devastation, the handing over of the sanctuary and the army of people to be trampled down?”
14 And he said unto me, Until two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings, when the sanctuary shall be justified.
He replied, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”
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.
As I, Daniel, tried to work out what this vision meant suddenly I saw someone who looked like a man standing in front of me.
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.
I also heard a human voice calling from the River Ulai, “Gabriel, explain to this man the meaning of the vision.”
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.
As he approached me, I was terrified and fell face down before him. “Son of man,” he told me, “You need to understand that this vision refers to 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.
As he spoke to me I lost consciousness as I laid face down on the ground. But he took hold of me and helped me to my feet.
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.
He told me, “Pay attention! I'm going to explain to you what's going to happen during the time of anger, which refers to the appointed time of the end.
20 The ram that thou hast seen, him with the two horns, [signifieth] the kings of Media and Persia.
The ram with two horns that you saw symbolizes 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.
The male goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is its 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.
The four horns that came up in place of the large horn that was broken represent the four kingdoms that arose from that nation, but not as powerful as the first.
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.
When those kingdoms come to an end, when their sins have reached their fullest extent, a ferocious and treacherous kingdom will rise to power.
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.
It will become very powerful but not by its own power. It will be terribly destructive, and will succeed in everything it does. It will destroy great leaders and God's dedicated people.
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.
Through its deviousness, its lies will be convincing and successful. It shows its arrogance both in thought and action, destroying those who thought they were perfectly safe. It even fights in opposition against the Prince of princes, but it will be defeated, though not by any human power.
26 And the appearance of the evening and the morning which was spoken of is true: but do thou keep the vision closed up;
The vision about the evenings and mornings that has been explained to you is true, but for now seal up this vision because it refers to the distant 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.
After this, I, Daniel, became exhausted, and I was sick for days. Then I got up and went back to working for the king, but I was devastated at what I'd seen in vision and I couldn't understand it.
