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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

20 The ram that thou hast seen, him with the two horns, [signifieth] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.