Daniel 8:1–12

Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8In the third year of King Belshazzar’s^t reign, I, Daniel, had a vision,^u after the one that had already appeared to me. ²In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa^v in the province of Elam;^w in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³I looked up,^x and there before me was a ram^y with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. ⁴I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power.^z It did as it pleased^a and became great.

⁵As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. ⁶It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. ⁷I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it,^b and none could rescue the ram from its power.^{c 8}The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off,^d and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.^e

⁹Out of one of them came another horn, which started small^f but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.^{g 10}It grew until it reached^h the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earthⁱ and trampled^j on them. ¹¹It set itself up to be as great as the commander^k of the army of the Lord;^l it took away the daily sacrifice^m from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down.^{n 12}Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people^a and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.^o