Daniel 8:15–27

Daniel Seeks to Understand the Vision

¹⁵Now it happened when ^aI, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought ¹to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one ²who had the appearance of a ^bman.

¹⁶And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “^aGabriel, give this man an understanding of what has appeared.”

¹⁷So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was terrified and ^afell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the ^btime of the end.”

¹⁸Now while he was talking with me, I ^asank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he ^btouched me and made me stand ¹upright.

¹⁹Then he said, “Behold, I am going to ^alet you know what will happen at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

²⁰“The ^aram which you saw with the two horns is the kings of Media and Persia.

²¹“Now the shaggy ¹goat is the ²king of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

²²“And the ^abroken horn and the four horns that stood in its place are four kingdoms which will take their stand from his nation, although not with his power.

²³“In the latter period of their ¹reign,

When the transgressors have ²run their course,

A king will stand,

³Insolent and skilled in ⁴intrigue.

²⁴“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power,

And he will ^1adestroy to an ²astonishing degree

And succeed and do his will;

He will ³destroy mighty men and ⁴the holy people.

²⁵“And through his insight

He will cause deceit to succeed by his hand;

And he will magnify himself in his heart,

And he will ¹destroy many while they are ²at ease.

He will even ^astand against the Prince of princes,

But he will be broken ^bwithout hands.

²⁶“And what had appeared about the evenings and mornings

Which has been told is ^atrue;

But as for you, ^bconceal the vision,

For it pertains to many ^cdays in the future.”

²⁷Then I, Daniel, was ^1aexhausted and sick for days. Then I rose up again and ^bdid the king’s work; but I was appalled at what had appeared, and there was none to make me understand it.