Daniel 8:3-27

New American Standard Bible 1995

³ Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ^(A)ram which had two horns was standing in front of the ^[a]canal. Now the two horns were ^[b]long, but one was ^[c]longer than the other, with the ^[d]longer one coming up last. ⁴ I saw the ram ^(B)butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his ^[e]power, but ^(C)he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

⁵ While 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 ^[f]goat had a ^(D)conspicuous horn between his eyes. ⁶ He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the ^[g]canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. ⁷ I 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 ^[h]power. ⁸ Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as ^(E)he was mighty, the ^(F)large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the ^(G)four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

⁹ Out of one of them came forth a rather ^(H)small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the ^[i](I)Beautiful Land. ¹⁰ It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the ^(J)stars to fall to the earth, and it ^(K)trampled them down. ¹¹ It even ^(L)magnified itself ^[j]to be equal with the ^[k]Commander of the host; and it removed the ^(M)regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. ¹² And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will ^(N)fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. ¹³ Then I heard a ^(O)holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “^(P)How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, ^[l]while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host ^[m]to be ^(Q)trampled?” ¹⁴ He said to me, “For ^(R)2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be ^[n]properly restored.”

Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵ When ^(S)I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought ^[o]to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one ^[p]who looked like a ^(T)man. ¹⁶ And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “^(U)Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.” ¹⁷ So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and ^(V)fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the ^(W)time of the end.”

¹⁸ Now while he was talking with me, I ^(X)sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he ^(Y)touched me and made me stand ^[q]upright. ¹⁹ He said, “Behold, I am going to ^(Z)let 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 ^(AA)ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

The Goat

²¹ The shaggy ^[r]goat represents the ^[s]kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. ²² The ^(AB)broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.

²⁷ Then I, Daniel, was ^[af](AI)exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and ^(AJ)carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to ^[ag]explain it.