Daniel 8
American Standard Version
8 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the [a]palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai. 3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
5 And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and [b]touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power. 7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8 And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. 11 Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and [c]it took away from him the continual burnt-offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12 And [d]the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt-offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be [e]cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought [f]to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end. 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me [g]upright. 19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end. 20 The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the rough he-goat is the king of [h]Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not [i]by his own power; and he shall [j]destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall [k]destroy the mighty ones and [l]the holy people. 25 And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he [m]destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. 26 And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come. 27 And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, [n]but none understood it.
Footnotes
- Daniel 8:2 Or, castle
- Daniel 8:5 Hebrew none touched the ground.
- Daniel 8:11 Another reading is, the continual burnt-offering was taken away from him.
- Daniel 8:12 Or, a host was given to it against the etc. Or, a host was set over the etc.
- Daniel 8:14 Hebrew justified.
- Daniel 8:15 Hebrew understanding.
- Daniel 8:18 Or, where I had stood
- Daniel 8:21 Hebrew Javan.
- Daniel 8:24 Or, with his power. See verse 22.
- Daniel 8:24 Or, corrupt
- Daniel 8:24 Or, corrupt
- Daniel 8:24 Hebrew people of the saints.
- Daniel 8:25 Or, corrupt
- Daniel 8:27 Or, but there was none to make it understood
Daniel 8
International Standard Version
The Vision of the Ram and Goat
8 [a]“During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw a vision after the earlier vision that had appeared to me. 2 As I observed the vision, I looked around the citadel of Susa in Elam Province. While I watched, I found myself beside the Ulai Canal. 3 “Then I turned my head[b] to look, and to my surprise, a two-horned ram was standing beside the canal. The two horns grew long,[c] the first one growing longer than[d] the second, with the longer one springing up last. 4 I watched the ram charging westward, northward, and southward. No animal could stand before him, nor was there anyone who could deliver from his control.[e] He did as he pleased and exalted himself.
5 “As I watched and wondered, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a distinctive horn between its eyes. 6 It approached the ram with the two horns that I had observed while standing beside the canal, and charged at him, out of control with rage.[f] 7 I saw it approach the ram, overflowing with fury at him, and run into him with the full force of its strength. The goat[g] shattered the ram’s[h] two horns, and the ram could not oppose it. So the goat[i] threw him to the ground and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from its control.[j] 8 Then the goat grew extremely great, but when it was strong, its great horn was shattered. In its place, four distinctive horns grew out in all directions.”[k]
The Insignificant Horn
9 “A somewhat insignificant horn emerged from one of them. It moved[l] rapidly[m] against the south, against the east, and against the Glory.[n] 10 Then it moved against the Heavenly Army. It persuaded some of the Heavenly Army to fall to the earth, along with some of the stars, and it trampled them. 11 Then it set itself in arrogant opposition to the Prince of the Heavenly Army, from whom the regular burnt offering was taken away, in order to overthrow his sanctuary. 12 Because of the transgression, the Heavenly Army will be given over, along with the regular burnt offering, and in that rebellion truth will be cast to the ground, while he continues to prosper and to act.”
The Duration of the Desolation
13 “Then I heard one holy person speaking, and another holy person addressed the one who was speaking: ‘In the vision about the regular burnt offering, how much time elapses while the desecration terrifies and both the Holy Place and the Heavenly Army are trampled?’
14 “He told me, ‘For 2,300 days.[o] Then the Holy Place will be restored.’”
Gabriel Interprets the Vision
15 “After I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I tried to understand it. All of a sudden, there was standing in front of me one who appeared to be valiant. 16 I heard the voice of a man calling out from the Ulai Canal,[p] ‘Gabriel, interpret what that fellow has been seeing.’
17 “As he approached where I was standing, I became terrified and fell on my face. But he told me, ‘Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.’
18 “While he had been speaking with me, I had fainted[q] on my face, but he touched me and enabled me to stand upright on my feet. 19 Then he said,
‘Pay attention! I’m going to brief you about what will happen at the end of the period of wrath, because its end is appointed. 20 The ram that you saw with a pair of horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The demonic[r] goat is the king of Greece,[s] and the great horn between its eyes is its first king. 22 The shattered horn[t] and the four that took its place are four kingdoms that will come from his nation, but they will not have his strength.
23 “Toward the end of their rule, as the desecrations proceed, an insolent king will arise, proficient at deception. 24 Mighty will be his skills, but not from his own abilities. He’ll be remarkably destructive, will succeed, and will do whatever he wants, destroying mighty men and the holy people. 25 Through his skill he’ll cause deceit to prosper under his leadership. He’ll promote himself and will destroy many while they are secure. He’ll take a stand against the Prince of Princes, yet he’ll be crushed without human help.[u] 26 The vision about the twilights and dawnings that has been related is trustworthy, but keep its vision secret, because it pertains to the distant future.’
27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and ill for days, but afterward I got up and went about the king’s business. Nevertheless, I was astonished by the vision, and could not understand it.”
Footnotes
- Daniel 8:1 At this point the text reverts to Heb. for the rest of the book.
- Daniel 8:3 Lit. eyes
- Daniel 8:3 Or higher; Lit. horns were exalted
- Daniel 8:3 Lit. one exalted from
- Daniel 8:4 Lit. hand
- Daniel 8:6 Lit. him in his mighty wrath
- Daniel 8:7 Lit. It
- Daniel 8:7 Lit. shattered his
- Daniel 8:7 Lit. it
- Daniel 8:7 Lit. hand
- Daniel 8:8 Lit. out to the four winds of heaven
- Daniel 8:9 Or expanded and so throughout the chapter
- Daniel 8:9 Or remarkably
- Daniel 8:9 Or Beauty; i.e. God
- Daniel 8:14 Lit. 2,300 twilights and dawnings
- Daniel 8:16 The Heb. lacks Canal
- Daniel 8:18 Lit. had fallen into a deep sleep
- Daniel 8:21 Lit. shaggy
- Daniel 8:21 Lit. Javan
- Daniel 8:22 The Heb. lacks horn
- Daniel 8:25 Lit. without a hand
Daniel 8
New Century Version
Daniel’s Vision
8 During the third year of King Belshazzar’s rule, I, Daniel, saw another vision, which was like the first one. 2 In this vision I saw myself in the capital city of Susa, in the area of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai Canal 3 when I looked up and saw a male sheep standing beside the canal. It had two long horns, but one horn was longer and newer than the other. 4 I watched the sheep charge to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand before him, and none could save another animal from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became very powerful.
5 While I was watching this, I saw a male goat come from the west. This goat had one large horn between his eyes that was easy to see. He crossed over the whole earth so fast that his feet hardly touched the ground.
6 In his anger the goat charged the sheep with the two horns that I had seen standing by the canal. 7 I watched the angry goat attack the sheep and break the sheep’s two horns. The sheep was not strong enough to stop it. The goat knocked the sheep to the ground and then walked all over him. No one was able to save the sheep from the goat, 8 so the male goat became very great. But when he was strong, his big horn broke off and four horns grew in place of the one big horn. Those four horns pointed in four different directions and were easy to see.
9 Then a little horn grew from one of those four horns, and it became very big. It grew to the south, the east, and toward the beautiful land of Judah. 10 That little horn grew until it reached to the sky. It even threw some of the army of heaven to the ground and walked on them! 11 That little horn set itself up as equal to God, the Commander of heaven’s armies. It stopped the daily sacrifices that were offered to him, and the Temple, the place where people worshiped him, was pulled down. 12 Because there was a turning away from God, the people stopped the daily sacrifices. Truth was thrown down to the ground, and the horn was successful in everything it did.
13 Then I heard a holy angel speaking. Another holy angel asked the first one, “How long will the things in this vision last—the daily sacrifices, the turning away from God that brings destruction, the Temple being pulled down, and the army of heaven being walked on?”
14 The angel said to me, “This will happen for twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the holy place will be repaired.”
15 I, Daniel, saw this vision and tried to understand what it meant. In it I saw someone who looked like a man standing near me. 16 And I heard a man’s voice calling from the Ulai Canal: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”
17 Gabriel came to where I was standing. When he came close to me, I was very afraid and bowed facedown on the ground. But Gabriel said to me, “Human being, understand that this vision is about the time of the end.”
18 While Gabriel was speaking, I fell into a deep sleep with my face on the ground. Then he touched me and lifted me to my feet. 19 He said, “Now, I will explain to you what will happen in the time of God’s anger. Your vision was about the set time of the end.
20 “You saw a male sheep with two horns, which are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The male goat is the king of Greece, and the big horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that grew in the place of the broken horn are four kingdoms. Those four kingdoms will come from the nation of the first king, but they will not be as strong as the first king.
23 “When the end comes near for those kingdoms, a bold and cruel king who tells lies will come. This will happen when many people have turned against God. 24 This king will be very powerful, but his power will not come from himself. He will cause terrible destruction and will be successful in everything he does. He will destroy powerful people and even God’s holy people. 25 This king will succeed by using lies and force. He will think that he is very important. He will destroy many people without warning; he will try to fight even the Prince of princes! But that cruel king will be destroyed, and not by human power.
26 “The vision that has been shown to you about these evenings and mornings is true. But seal up the vision, because those things won’t happen for a long time.”
27 I, Daniel, became very weak and was sick for several days after that vision. Then I got up and went back to work for the king, but I was very upset about the vision. I didn’t understand what it meant.
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