Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me at first.^{(A) 2} In the vision^[a] I saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam,^[b] and I was by the Ulai Gate.^{[c](B) 3} I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the gate.^[d] It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second.^{(C) 4} I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it, and no one could rescue from its power; it did as it pleased and became strong.^(D)

⁵ As I was watching, a male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn^[e] between its eyes.^{(E) 6} It came toward the ram with the two horns that I had seen standing beside the gate,^[f] and it ran at it with savage force.^{(F) 7} I saw it approaching the ram. It was enraged against it and struck the ram, breaking its two horns. The ram did not have power to withstand it; it threw the ram down to the ground and trampled upon it, and there was no one who could rescue the ram from its power.^{(G) 8} Then the male goat grew exceedingly great, but at the height of its power the great horn was broken, and in its place there came up four prominent horns toward the four winds of heaven.^(H)

⁹ Out of one of them came another^[g] horn, a little one, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful land.^{(I) 10} It grew as high as the host of heaven. It threw down to earth some of the host and some of the stars and trampled on them.^{(J) 11} Even against the prince of the host it acted arrogantly; it took the regular burnt offering away from him and overthrew the place of his sanctuary.^{(K) 12} Because of wickedness, the host was given over to it together with the regular burnt offering;^[h] it cast truth to the ground and kept prospering in what it did. ¹³ Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is this vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled?”^{[i](L) 14} And he answered him,^[j] “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I tried to understand it. Then someone appeared standing before me, having the appearance of a man,^{(M) 16} and I heard a human voice by the Ulai, calling, “Gabriel, help this man understand the vision.”^{(N) 17} So he came near where I stood, and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate. But he said to me, “Understand, O mortal,^[k] that the vision is for the time of the end.”^(O)

¹⁸ As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set me on my feet.^{(P) 19} He said, “Listen, and I will tell you what will take place later in the period of wrath, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.^{(Q) 20} As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ The male goat^[l] is the king of Greece, and the great horn between its eyes is the first king.^{(R) 22} As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his^[m] nation but not with his power.^(S)

²⁶ “The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true. As for you, seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”^(V)

²⁷ So I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days; then I arose and went about the king’s business. But I was dismayed by the vision and did not understand it.^(W)

⁸ Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.^{(A) 9} For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.^{(B) 11} In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,^[b] by the removal of the body^[c] of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;^{(C) 12} when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.^{(D) 13} And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God^[d] made you^[e] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,^{(E) 14} erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He disarmed^[f] the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.^(F)

¹⁶ Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or^[g] drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.^{(G) 17} These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions,^[h] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,^{[i] 19} and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.^(H)

Warnings against False Teachers

²⁰ If with Christ you died to the elemental principles^[j] of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,^{(I) 21} “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.^{(J) 23} These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.^[k]

³⁹ He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?^{(A) 40} A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.^{(B) 41} Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;^{(C) 44} for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush.^{(D) 45} The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.^(E)

The Two Foundations

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?^{(F) 47} I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.^{(G) 48} That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.^{[a] 49} But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”