Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s^(A) reign, I, Daniel, had a vision,^(B) after the one that had already appeared to me. ² In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa^(C) in the province of Elam;^(D) in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³ I looked up,^(E) and there before me was a ram^(F) 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. ⁴ I 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.^(G) It did as it pleased^(H) and became great.

⁵ As 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. ⁶ It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. ⁷ I 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,^(I) and none could rescue the ram from its power.^{(J) 8} The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off,^(K) and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.^(L)

The Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵ While I, Daniel, was watching the vision^(A) and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man.^{(B) 16} And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai^(C) calling, “Gabriel,^(D) tell this man the meaning of the vision.”^(E)

¹⁷ As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate.^(F) “Son of man,”^[a] he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”^(G)

¹⁸ While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.^(H) Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.^(I)

¹⁹ He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath,^(J) because the vision concerns the appointed time^(K) of the end.^{[b](L) 20} The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.^{(M) 21} The shaggy goat is the king of Greece,^(N) and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.^{(O) 22} The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.