Vision of the Ram and Goat

In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, [a]Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me [b]previously. I (A)looked in the vision, and 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 Canal. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a (D)ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were [c]long, but one was [d]longer than the other, with the [e]longer one coming up last. I saw the ram (E)butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand against him nor was there anyone to rescue from his [f]power, but (F)he did as he pleased and made himself great.

While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a (G)prominent horn between his eyes. He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. And I saw him come up beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and smashed 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 no one to rescue the ram from his [g]power. Then the male goat made himself exceedingly great. But once (H)he became powerful, the (I)large horn was broken; and in its place four prominent horns came up toward the (J)four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

And out of one of them came a rather (K)small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the [h](L)Beautiful Land. 10 It grew up to the heavenly [i]lights, and some of the [j]lights, [k]that is, some of the (M)stars it threw down to the earth, and it (N)trampled them. 11 It even (O)exalted itself [l]to be equal with the [m]Commander of the army; and it removed the (P)regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And because of [n]an offense the army will be given to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will (Q)hurl truth to the ground and do as it pleases and be successful. 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, [o]while the offense causes horror, so as to allow both the sanctuary and the army [p]to be (T)trampled?” 14 And he said to me, “For (U)2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be [q]properly restored.”

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 8:1 Lit I, Daniel
  2. Daniel 8:1 Lit at the beginning
  3. Daniel 8:3 Lit high(er)
  4. Daniel 8:3 Lit high(er)
  5. Daniel 8:3 Lit high(er)
  6. Daniel 8:4 Lit hand
  7. Daniel 8:7 Lit hand
  8. Daniel 8:9 I.e., Israel
  9. Daniel 8:10 Lit host
  10. Daniel 8:10 Lit host
  11. Daniel 8:10 Or and some of the stars
  12. Daniel 8:11 Lit up to the
  13. Daniel 8:11 Or Prince
  14. Daniel 8:12 Or a wrongdoing
  15. Daniel 8:13 Or possibly and the offense that horrifies
  16. Daniel 8:13 Lit as a trampling
  17. Daniel 8:14 Lit justified

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

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) 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) 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) 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)

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) 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) 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) 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)

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.”

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Footnotes

  1. 8.2 Syr Vg: Heb vision I was looking and
  2. 8.2 Gk Theodotion: Heb repeats in the vision I was looking
  3. 8.2 Gk Syr Vg: Heb River Ulai
  4. 8.3 Or river
  5. 8.5 Theodotion: Heb a horn of vision
  6. 8.6 Or river
  7. 8.9 Cn: Heb one
  8. 8.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  9. 8.13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  10. 8.14 Gk Theodotion Syr Vg: Heb me