Daniel 8

Chapter 8

Vision of the Ram and Goat

¹In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, ¹Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me ²previously.

²I ^alooked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of ^bSusa, which is in the province of ^cElam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai ¹Canal.

³Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ^aram which had two horns was standing in front of the ¹canal. Now the two horns were ²long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.

⁴I saw the ram ^abutting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his ¹power, but ^bhe did as he pleased and magnified himself.

⁵While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the ¹goat had a ^aconspicuous horn between his eyes.

⁶He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the ¹canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath.

⁷I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his ¹power.

⁸Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as ^ahe was mighty, the ^blarge horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the ^cfour winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

⁹Out of one of them came forth a rather ^asmall horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the ^1bBeautiful Land.

¹⁰It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the ^astars to fall to the earth, and it ^btrampled them down.

¹¹It even ^amagnified itself ¹to be equal with the ²Commander of the host; and it removed the ^bregular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.

¹²And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will ^afling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.

¹³Then I heard a ^aholy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “^bHow long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, ¹while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host ²to be ^ctrampled?”

¹⁴He said to me, “For ^a2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be ¹properly restored.”

Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵When ^aI, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought ¹to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one ²who looked like 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 the vision.”

¹⁷So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened 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.

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

The Ram’s Identity

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

The Goat

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

²²“The ^abroken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.

²³“In the latter period of their ¹rule,

When the transgressors have ²run their course,

A king will arise,

³Insolent and skilled in ⁴intrigue.

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

And he will ^1adestroy to an extraordinary degree

And prosper and perform his will;

He will destroy mighty men and ²the holy people.

²⁵“And through his shrewdness

He will cause deceit to succeed by his ¹influence;

And he will magnify himself in his heart,

And he will ²destroy many while they are ³at ease.

He will even ^4aoppose the Prince of princes,

But he will be broken ^bwithout human agency.

²⁶“The vision of the evenings and mornings

Which has been told is ^atrue;

But ^bkeep the vision secret,

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

²⁷Then I, Daniel, was ^1aexhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and ^bcarried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to ²explain it.