THE BOOK OF DANIEL

 

Daniel Chapter 8

1 ¶ In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar I Daniel saw a vision, after the one I had seen previously.

2 And this is what I saw: In my vision I was in the fortified city of Shushan, which is in the province of Elam; and in the vision I saw myself by the river of Ulai.

3 Then I looked up, and saw a ram that had two horns standing before the river: 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 charging to the west, to the north, and to the south; and no animal could stand against him, nor was there anyone who could rescue from his power; but he did whatever he wanted, and became great.

5 And as I was watching, behold, a he goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground: and the goat had a prominent horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and charged at him in the fury of his power.

7 And I saw him coming closer to the ram, and he attacked him in bitter rage, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns: and the ram did not have the strength to stand against him, but he was thrown down to the ground, and trampled on: and there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power.

8 Therefore the he goat grew very great: but when he became powerful, the great horn was broken; and in its place came up four notable ones pointing toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And a little horn came out of one of them, and it grew very big, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

10 And it grew bigger, until it reached the host of heaven; and it threw some of the many stars down to the ground, and stamped upon them.

11 Yea, he exalted himself against the prince of the host, and took away from him the daily sacrifice, and his holy place was torn down.

12 And it prevailed against the host, and regarded the daily sacrifice as an offence, and threw the truth to the ground; and prospered in doing this.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, For how long is the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the sin that makes desolate, and the surrender of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?

14 And he said to me, For two thousand and three hundred days; then the sanctuary will be cleansed.

15 ¶ And after I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought its meaning, then, behold, one who looked like a man stood before me.

16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the river Ulai, that called, and said, Gabriel, enable this man to understand the vision.

17 So he came near to the place I stood: and as he approached, I was terrified, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, O son of man: for the vision is about the time of the end.

18 Now as he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and stood me upright.

19 And he said, Behold, I will cause you to know what will happen at the latter part of the time when God is angry: because the appointed time has an end.

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

21 And the rough goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn between his eyes is the first king.

22 Now after it was broken, as four horns grew in its place, four kingdoms will come out of the nation, but not as powerful as he was.

23 But in the latter part of their rule, after evildoers have completed their work, a king of fierce countenance, who is skilled in intrigue, will rise up.

24 And he will wield great power, but not his own power: and he will cause terrible destruction, and will succeed in what he does, and he will destroy the powerful and some of the holy people.

25 And through his policy he will cause trickery to prosper in his hand; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and will destroy many he is at peace with: he will also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he will be broken and that not by human hands.

26 And the vision of evenings and mornings that has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it is about something far in the future.

27 And I Daniel was exhausted, and lay sick for some days; afterwards I got up, and went about the king’s business; and I wondered about the vision, but no one understood it.