Daniel 8–12

THE VISION OF A RAM AND A GOAT

8In the third year of King Belshazzar’s^o reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier.^{p 2}I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa,^q in the province of Elam.^r I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³I looked up,^F and there was a ram^s standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last. ⁴I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south.^t No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted^u and became great.

⁵As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn^A between his eyes.^{v 6}He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. ⁷I saw him approaching the ram and, infuriated with him, he struck the ram, breaking his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. ⁸Then the male goat acted even more arrogantly,^w but when he became powerful, the large horn was broken.^x Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.^y

THE LITTLE HORN

⁹From one of them a little horn^z emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land.^{Baa 10}It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars^C fall to the earth,^ab and trampled them.^{ac 11}It acted arrogantly^ad even against the Prince of the heavenly army;^ae it revoked his regular sacrifice^af and overthrew the place of his sanctuary. ¹²In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful^ag in what it did.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking,^ah and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last^ai—the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the army to be trampled?”^aj

¹⁴He said to me,^D “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION

¹⁵While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man.^{ak 16}I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel,^al explain the vision to this man.”

¹⁷So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown.^a “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”^{b 18}While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep,^c with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,^{d 19}and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.^{e 20}The two-horned ram^f that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king.^{A 22}The four horns that took the place of the broken horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.

²³Near the end of their kingdoms,

when the rebels have reached

the full measure of their sin,^B

a ruthless^C king, skilled in intrigue,^D

will come to the throne.

²⁴His power will be great,

but it will not be his own.

He will cause outrageous destruction^g

and succeed in whatever he does.

He will destroy the powerful

along with the holy people.^h

²⁵He will cause deceit to prosper

through his cunning and by his influence,

and in his own mind he will exalt himself.

He will destroy many in a time of peace;

he will even stand against the Prince of princes.

Yet he will be broken—not by human hands.ⁱ

²⁶The vision of the evenings and the mornings

that has been told is true.

Now you are to seal up the vision^j

because it refers to many days in the future.”

²⁷I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days.^k Then I got up and went about the king’s business.^l I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.

DANIEL’S PRAYER

9In the first year of Darius,^m the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was made king over the Chaldean kingdom—²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy.^{n 3}So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.^o

⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring God^p who keeps his gracious covenant^q with those who love him^r and keep his commands^s—⁵we have sinned,^t done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled,^u and turned away from your commands and ordinances.^{v 6}We have not listened to your servants the prophets,^w who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the people of the land.

⁷Lord, righteousness belongs to you,^x but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel—those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you. ⁸Lord, public shame^y belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.^{z 9}Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him ¹⁰and have not obeyed the Lord our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants^aa the prophets.

¹¹All Israel has broken your law and turned away,^ab refusing to obey you. The promised curse^A written in the law of Moses,^ac the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him. ¹²He has carried out his words^ad that he spoke against us and against our rulers^Bae by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done^af under all of heaven. ¹³Just as it is written in the law of Moses,^ag all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of^a the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.^{b 14}So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.

¹⁵Now, Lord our God—who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand^c and made your name renowned^d as it is this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrath^e turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain;^f for because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

¹⁷Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine^g on your desolate sanctuary^h for the Lord’s sake. ¹⁸Listen closely,^C my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion. ¹⁹Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay,ⁱ because your city and your people bear your name.

THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF YEARS

²⁰While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,^j and presenting my petition before the Lord my God concerning the holy mountain of my God—²¹while I was praying, Gabriel,^k the man I had seen in the first vision,^l reached me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering.^{m 22}He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.^{n 23}At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God.^Do So consider the message and understand the vision:^p

²⁴Seventy weeks are decreed^q

about your people and your holy city—

to bring the rebellion to an end,

to put a stop to sin,

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in everlasting righteousness,^r

to seal up vision and prophecy,

and to anoint the most holy place.

²⁵Know and understand this:

From the issuing of the decree

to restore and rebuild Jerusalem^s

until an Anointed One,^t the ruler,^A

will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.

It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,

but in difficult times.

²⁶After those sixty-two weeks

the Anointed One will be cut off^u

and will have nothing.

The people of the coming ruler

will destroy the city^v and the sanctuary.^B

The^C end will come with a flood,^w

and until the end there will be^D war;

desolations are decreed.

²⁷He will make a firm covenant^E

with many for one week,

but in the middle of the week

he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.

And the abomination of desolation^x

will be on a wing^y of the temple^FG

until the decreed destruction^z

is poured out on the desolator.”

VISION OF A GLORIOUS ONE

10In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia,^aa a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar.^ab The message was true and was about a great conflict. He understood the message and had understanding of the vision.^ac

²In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.^{ad 3}I didn’t eat any rich food,^ae no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over. ⁴On the twenty-fourth day of the first month,^H as I was standing on the bank of the great river,^af the Tigris, ⁵I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen,^ag with a belt of gold^ah from Uphaz^Ia around his waist. ⁶His body was like beryl,^J his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches,^b his arms…