Daniel 8:9–25

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