Daniel 8
1 “In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision has appeared to me—I Daniel—after that which had appeared to me at the beginning.
In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign I, Daniel, saw another vision after the one I had seen previously.
2 And I see in a vision, and it comes to pass, in my seeing, and I [am] in Shushan the palace that [is] in Elam the province, and I see in a vision, and I have been by the stream 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 lift up my eyes, and look, and behold, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it has two horns, and the two horns [are] high; and one [is] higher than the other, and the high one is coming 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 have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it has done according to its pleasure, and has exerted itself.
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 I have been considering, and behold, a young male goat has come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as for the young male goat, a conspicuous horn [is] between its 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 it comes to the ram possessing the two horns, that I had seen standing before the stream, and runs to it in the fury of its 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 have seen it coming near the ram, and it becomes embittered at it, and strikes the ram, and breaks its two horns, and there has been no power in the ram to stand before it, and it casts it to the earth, and tramples it down, and there has been no deliverer to the ram out of its power.
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 young male goat has exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, the great horn has been broken; and a vision of four comes up in its place, at the four winds of the heavens.
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 from one of them has come forth a little horn, and it exerts itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beautiful [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 indeed, it exerts to the host of the heavens, and causes to fall to the earth of the host, and of the stars, and tramples them down.
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 And to the prince of the host it exerts itself, and the continual [sacrifice] has been taken away by it, and thrown down the base of his sanctuary.
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, with the continual [sacrifice], through transgression, and it throws down truth to the earth, and it has worked, and prospered.
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 And I hear a certain holy one speaking, and a certain holy one says to the wonderful numberer who is speaking: Until when [is] the vision of the continual [sacrifice], and of the transgression, an astonishment, to make a treading down of both sanctuary and host?
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 says to me, Until evening—morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right.
He replied, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”
15 And it comes to pass in my seeing—I, Daniel—the vision, that I require understanding, and behold, standing before me [is] as the appearance of a mighty one.
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 hear a voice of man between [the banks of] Ulai, and he calls and says: Gabriel, cause this [one] to understand the appearance.
I also heard a human voice calling from the River Ulai, “Gabriel, explain to this man the meaning of the vision.”
17 And he comes in near my station, and at his coming in I have been afraid, and I fall on my face, and he says to me: Understand, son of man, for at 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 And in his speaking with me, I have been in a trance on my face, on the earth; and he comes against me, and causes me to stand on my station,
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 says: Behold, I am causing you to know that which is in the latter end of the indignation; for at the appointed time [is] 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 you have seen possessing two horns, [are] the kings of Media and Persia.
The ram with two horns that you saw symbolizes the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the young male goat, the hairy one, [is] the king of Javan; and the great horn that [is] between its 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 and that being broken, four stand up in its place, four kingdoms stand up from the nation, and not in its 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 end of their kingdom, about the perfecting of the transgressors, a king stands up, fierce of face, and understanding hidden things;
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 has been mighty, and not by his own power; and he destroys wonderful things, and he has prospered, and worked, and destroyed mighty ones, and the people of the Holy Ones.
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 by his understanding he has also caused deceit to prosper in his hand, and in his heart he exerts himself, and by ease he destroys many; and he stands against the Prince of princes—and he is broken without hand.
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 of the morning, that is told, is true; and you, hide the vision, for [it is] after many days.
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, have been, indeed, I became sick [for] days, and I rise, and do the king’s work, and am astonished at the appearance, and there is none understanding.”
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.
