The Book of the Prophet Daniel 8 The Vision of a Ram and a Goat

 The Book of the Prophet Daniel 8

The Vision of a Ram and a Goat

1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that appeared to me at the beginning.

2 And I saw in the vision (it happened, when I saw, that I was in the city of Susa, in the province of Elam), I saw, therefore, in the vision, that I was by the Ulai River.

3 And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram stood before the river, which had two horns; and the two 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; and no animals could stand before it, nor was there anyone who could deliver out of its hand; but it did according to its will and became great.

5 And as I was considering, behold, a goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground, and the goat had a notable horn between its eyes.

6 And it came to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran at it with all the might of its strength.

7 And I saw it come close to the ram, and become enraged against it; and it struck the ram and broke its two horns, for there was no strength in the ram to stand before it; and it threw it to the ground and trampled it underfoot; and there was no one who could deliver the ram from its hand.

8 And the goat became very great; but when it was at its greatest strength, the great horn was broken off, and four notable horns came up in its place toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came a very small horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land.

10 And it grew great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

11 And it grew great, even to the prince of the host: and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 And the host was given over to him, with the daily sacrifice, because of transgressions; and he cast down the truth to the ground; he did this, and prospered.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one who was speaking said, “How long shall the vision about the daily sacrifice and the transgression that causes desolation last, so that the sanctuary and the host will be given over to be trampled underfoot?”

14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

15 And it came to pass, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there was before me another likeness of a man.

16 And I heard a man’s voice on the banks of the Ulai River, which called out and said, “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, son of man, for the vision concerns the time of the end.”

18 While he was talking with me, I fell facedown to the ground, asleep; but he touched me and set me on my feet.

19 Then he said, “See, I will tell you what will happen in the latter time of the wrath, for it will be carried out at the appointed time of the end.

20 The ram that you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.

22 The fact that it was broken and four others arose in its place means that four kingdoms will arise from the same nation, but not with its power.

23 But at the end of their reign, when the transgressors have finished, a king will arise, fierce in appearance and skilled in divination.

24 His power will grow strong, but not by his own might; he will destroy marvelously and prosper and do as he pleases; he will destroy the strong and the holy people.

25 By his understanding he will also cause deceit to prosper in his hand; he will exalt himself in his heart, and because of tranquility he will destroy many, and he will rise up against the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human hands.

26 The vision of the evening and the morning that was told is true; but you, seal up the vision, for it will be fulfilled in many days.

27 I, Daniel, was weak and sick for some days; So I got up and went about the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one who could understand it.