CHAPTER 8

¹In the third year of Belshazzar’s reign a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after what had appeared to me before. ²And I saw in the vision, and it happened when I saw, that I was in Shushan the capital, which is in the province of Elam by the brook of Ulai. ³And I raised my eyes and saw, and, look, a ram was standing before the brook, and it had two horns, and the horns were high and one was higher than the other, and the higher one sprouted last. ⁴I saw the ram, and, look, it was butting to the west and to the north and to the south, and all the beasts could not stand up before it, and none could save from its power, and it did as it pleased and grew great. ⁵And I was pondering, and, look, a he-goat came from the west over all the earth and was not touching the ground, and the goat had a jutting horn between its eyes. ⁶And it came up to the ram with the two horns that I had seen standing before the brook and ran toward it in the fury of its strength. ⁷And I saw it reaching the ram, and it attacked it and struck down the ram and shattered its two horns. And the ram did not have the strength to stand up before it, and it flung the ram to the ground and trampled it, and there was none to save the ram from its power. ⁸And the he-goat became very great, and as it grew mighty, the large horn was broken and four jutting ones sprouted in its stead to the four corners of the heavens. ⁹And from one of them came out a puny horn, and it grew exceedingly toward the south and toward the east and toward the Splendid Land. ¹⁰And it grew up to the host of the heavens and brought down some of the stars from the host and trampled them. ¹¹And up to the Commander of the Host it grew, and from it the daily offering was taken away, and the firm place of His sanctuary was flung away. ¹²And a host was criminally set against the daily offering, and it flung truth to the ground and prospered in what it did. ¹³And I heard a certain holy one speaking, and the certain holy one said to whoever was speaking, ‘Till when is the vision—the daily offering and the desolating crime giving the sanctum and the host to be trampled?’ ¹⁴And he said to me, ‘Two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, and the sanctum will be made right.’ ¹⁵And it happened when I Daniel saw the vision that I sought understanding, and, look, standing before me was as the likeness of a man. ¹⁶And I heard a human voice in the midst of the Ulai, and it called out and said, ‘Gabriel, make that one understand what is seen.’ ¹⁷And he came to where I stood, and when he came, I was terrified and fell on my face. And he said to me, ‘Understand, O human, that the vision is for the end-time.’ ¹⁸And as he spoke to me I fell into a trance, my face on the ground, and he touched me and made me stand up. ¹⁹And he said, ‘I am about to make known to you what will be in the latter time of the wrath, for it is the appointed time for the end. ²⁰The ram that you saw with the horns is the king of Media and Persia. ²¹And the he-goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is between its eyes is the first king. ²²And the one broken and four stood in its stead are the four kingdoms that rose up from a nation and not through its power. ²³And in the latter time of his kingdom, when the crimes are fulfilled, an impudent king will rise up, who understands enigmas. ²⁴And his power will grow mighty but not through his own power, and he will lay waste wondrously and prosper in what he does and lay waste to mighty ones and to the people of the holy ones. ²⁵And with his shrewdness he will prosper in the deceit he possesses, and in his mind he will grow great and lay waste to many unawares, and he will stand against the prince of princes, but he will be broken effortlessly. ²⁶And the portent of evening and morning that was said is truth. As for you, keep the vision a secret, for it is for a long time off.’ ²⁷And I, Daniel, I was devastated and stricken for a long time, and I arose and did the king’s tasks and was dumbfounded over the vision, and none understood.”