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Daniel 8
Legacy Standard Bible

The Vision of the Ram and Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, [a]Daniel, after the one which appeared to me [b]previously. 2 And I (A)looked in the vision. And it happened that while I was looking, I was in the citadel of (B)Susa, which is in the province of (C)Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai [c]Canal. 3 Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a (D)ram which had two horns was standing in front of the [d]canal. Now the two horns were [e]long, but one was [f]longer than the other, with the [g]longer one coming up last. 4 I saw the ram (E)butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before it, nor was there anyone to deliver from its [h]power, but (F)it did as it pleased and magnified itself.

5 And while I was considering, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the [i]goat had a (G)conspicuous horn between its eyes. 6 Then it came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the [j]canal, and ran at it in his strong wrath. 7 And I saw it reach the side of the ram, and it was enraged at it; and it struck the ram and broke its two horns in pieces, and the ram had no strength to stand in [k]opposition to it. So it threw it down to the ground and trampled on it, and there was none to deliver the ram from its [l]power. 8 Then the male goat magnified itself exceedingly. But as soon as (H)it was mighty, the (I)large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the (J)four winds of [m]heaven.

The Small Horn

9 And out of one of them came forth a rather (K)small horn. And it grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the [n](L)Beautiful Land. 10 Then it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the (M)stars to fall to the earth, and it (N)trampled them down. 11 And it even (O)magnified itself [o]to be equal with the [p]Commander of the host; and it removed the (P)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 (Q)throw truth down to the ground and do its will and succeed. 13 Then I heard a (R)holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “(S)How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, [q]while the transgression causes desolation, so as to allow both the holy place and the host [r]to be (T)trampled?” 14 He said to me, “For (U)2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be [s]made righteous.”

Daniel Seeks to Understand the Vision

15 Now it happened when (V)I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought [t]to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one [u]who had the appearance of a (W)man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “(X)Gabriel, give this man an understanding of what has appeared.” 17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was terrified and (Y)fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the (Z)time of the end.”

18 Now while he was talking with me, I (AA)sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he (AB)touched me and made me stand [v]upright. 19 Then he said, “Behold, I am going to (AC)let you know what will happen at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. 20 The (AD)ram which you saw with the two horns is the kings of Media and Persia. 21 Now the shaggy [w]goat is the [x]king of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 And the (AE)broken horn and the four horns that stood in its place are four kingdoms which will take their stand from his nation, although not with his power.

23 In the latter period of their [y]reign,
When the transgressors have [z]run their course,
A king will stand,
[aa]Insolent and skilled in [ab]intrigue.
24 His power will be mighty, but not by his own power,
And he will [ac](AF)destroy to an [ad]astonishing degree
And succeed and do his will;
He will [ae]destroy mighty men and [af]the holy people.
25 And through his insight
He will cause deceit to succeed by his hand;
And he will magnify himself in his heart,
And he will [ag]destroy many while they are [ah]at ease.
He will even (AG)stand against the Prince of princes,
But he will be broken (AH)without hands.
26 And what had appeared about the evenings and mornings
Which has been told is (AI)true;
But as for you, (AJ)conceal the vision,
For it pertains to many (AK)days in the future.”

27 Then I, Daniel, was [ai](AL)exhausted and sick for days. Then I rose up again and (AM)did the king’s work; but I was appalled at what had appeared, and there was none to make me understand it.

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 8:1 Lit I, Daniel
  2. Daniel 8:1 Lit at the beginning
  3. Daniel 8:2 Or River
  4. Daniel 8:3 Or river
  5. Daniel 8:3 Lit high(er)
  6. Daniel 8:3 Lit high(er)
  7. Daniel 8:3 Lit high(er)
  8. Daniel 8:4 Lit hand
  9. Daniel 8:5 Lit buck
  10. Daniel 8:6 Or river
  11. Daniel 8:7 Lit before
  12. Daniel 8:7 Lit hand
  13. Daniel 8:8 Or the sky
  14. Daniel 8:9 Israel
  15. Daniel 8:11 Lit up to the
  16. Daniel 8:11 Or Prince
  17. Daniel 8:13 Or possibly and the transgression that horrifies
  18. Daniel 8:13 Lit as a trampling
  19. Daniel 8:14 Or properly restored
  20. Daniel 8:15 Lit understanding
  21. Daniel 8:15 Lit like the appearance of a man
  22. Daniel 8:18 Lit on my standing
  23. Daniel 8:21 Lit buck
  24. Daniel 8:21 Or kingdom
  25. Daniel 8:23 Or kingdom
  26. Daniel 8:23 Lit finished
  27. Daniel 8:23 Lit Strong of face
  28. Daniel 8:23 Or ambiguous speech
  29. Daniel 8:24 Or corrupt
  30. Daniel 8:24 Or wondrous; lit extraordinary
  31. Daniel 8:24 Or corrupt
  32. Daniel 8:24 Lit people of the saints, cf. 7:27
  33. Daniel 8:25 Or corrupt
  34. Daniel 8:25 Or secure
  35. Daniel 8:27 Or done in
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Daniel 8
The Message

A Vision of a Ram and a Billy Goat

8 “In King Belshazzar’s third year as king, another vision came to me, Daniel. This was now the second vision.

2-4 “In the vision, I saw myself in Susa, the capital city of the province Elam, standing at the Ulai Canal. Looking around, I was surprised to see a ram also standing at the gate. The ram had two huge horns, one bigger than the other, but the bigger horn was the last to appear. I watched as the ram charged: first west, then north, then south. No beast could stand up to him. He did just as he pleased, strutting as if he were king of the beasts.

5-7 “While I was watching this, wondering what it all meant, I saw a billy goat with an immense horn in the middle of its forehead come up out of the west and fly across the whole country, not once touching the ground. The billy goat approached the double-horned ram that I had earlier seen standing at the gate and, enraged, charged it viciously. I watched as, mad with rage, it charged the ram and hit it so hard that it broke off its two horns. The ram didn’t stand a chance against it. The billy goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped all over it. Nothing could have saved the ram from the goat.

8-12 “Then the billy goat swelled to an enormous size. At the height of its power its immense horn broke off and four other big horns sprouted in its place, pointing to the four points of the compass. And then from one of these big horns another horn sprouted. It started small, but then grew to an enormous size, facing south and east—toward lovely Palestine. The horn grew tall, reaching to the stars, the heavenly army, and threw some of the stars to the earth and stomped on them. It even dared to challenge the power of God, Prince of the Celestial Army! And then it threw out daily worship and desecrated the Sanctuary. As judgment against their sin, the holy people of God got the same treatment as the daily worship. The horn cast God’s Truth aside. High-handed, it took over everything and everyone.

13 “Then I overheard two holy angels talking. One asked, ‘How long is what we see here going to last—the abolishing of daily worship, this devastating judgment against sin, the kicking around of God’s holy people and the Sanctuary?’

14 “The other answered, ‘Over the course of 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning. Then the Sanctuary will be set right again.’

* * *

15 “While I, Daniel, was trying to make sense of what I was seeing, suddenly there was a humanlike figure standing before me.

16-17 “Then I heard a man’s voice from over by the Ulai Canal calling out, ‘Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to him.’ He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell facedown on the ground.

17-18 “He said, ‘Understand that this vision has to do with the time of the end.’ As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet.

19 “And then he continued, ‘I want to tell you what is going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to be an end to all this.

20-22 “‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power.

23-26 “‘As their kingdoms cool down
    and rebellions heat up,
A king will show up,
    hard-faced, a master trickster.
His power will swell enormously.
    He’ll talk big, high-handedly,
Doing whatever he pleases,
    knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right.
He’ll plot and scheme to make crime flourish—
    and oh, how it will flourish!
He’ll think he’s invincible
    and get rid of anyone who gets in his way.
But when he takes on the Prince of all princes,
    he’ll be smashed to bits—
    but not by human hands.
This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning,
    is accurate but confidential.
Keep it to yourself.
    It refers to the far future.’

* * *

27 “I, Daniel, walked around in a daze, unwell for days. Then I got a grip on myself and went back to work taking care of the king’s affairs. But I continued to be upset by the vision. I couldn’t make sense of it.”

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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson