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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

The Vision of a Small Horn that Oppresses Israel and Threatens the Temple

In the third year of the kingdom of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, Daniel,[a] after the one that appeared to me previously.[b] And I saw in the vision, and when I saw,[c] I was in Susa, the citadel that was in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I myself[d] was at the stream of Ulai.[e] And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and look! A ram[f] standing before[g] the stream, and it had[h] two horns, and the horns were long, but the one was longer than the second, and the longer one came up after the other one.[i] I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward, and none of the beasts stood before it,[j] and there was no rescuing from its power,[k] and it did what it wanted[l] and it became strong.[m]

And I was considering this, and look, a he-goat coming from the west across the face of the whole earth, and it was not touching the ground;[n] and the he-goat had a conspicuous horn[o] between its eyes. Then it came toward the ram that had the two horns[p] that I saw standing before[q] the stream, and it ran at it with[r] the rage of its power. And I saw it approaching the ram and it was furious at it, and it struck the ram, and it broke its two horns, and there was not strength in the ram to stand before him,[s] and he threw it down to the ground and trampled it, and there was no one who could rescue the ram[t] from its power. And the he-goat grew exceedingly great,[u] and at the height of its power[v] the great horn was broken, and four conspicuous horns[w] came up in place of it toward the four winds of heaven.

And from one of them[x] came forth a horn, a little one,[y] and it grew exceedingly[z] toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beautiful land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven, and it threw down to the ground some of the host and some of the stars and trampled them. 11 Even against the prince of the hosts it acted arrogantly and took away from him the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And on account of transgression, the host was given over to the horn in addition to the regular burnt offering. And it cast down truth to the ground, and it acted,[aa] and it had success.

13 And I heard a certain holy one speaking, and a certain other holy one said to the specific one who was speaking,[ab]For how long[ac] is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, and the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and the host to trampling?” 14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be restored.”

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 8:1 Literally “I Daniel”
  2. Daniel 8:1 Literally “in the beginning”
  3. Daniel 8:2 Literally “and it was at my seeing”
  4. Daniel 8:2 Literally “I, I was”
  5. Daniel 8:2 Or “Ulai Canal” (NASB); “stream of the Ulai” (NEB)
  6. Daniel 8:3 Hebrew “One ram”
  7. Daniel 8:3 Literally “to the face of”
  8. Daniel 8:3 Literally “for it”
  9. Daniel 8:3 Literally “in the behind of the other”
  10. Daniel 8:4 Literally “all the beasts not they withstood to the face of him”
  11. Daniel 8:4 Literally “its hand”
  12. Daniel 8:4 Literally “according to its will”
  13. Daniel 8:4 Or “it/he magnified itself/himself”
  14. Daniel 8:5 Or “earth,” or “land”
  15. Daniel 8:5 Literally “a horn of vision”
  16. Daniel 8:6 Literally “the owner of the two horns”
  17. Daniel 8:6 Literally “to the face of”
  18. Daniel 8:6 Or “in”
  19. Daniel 8:7 Literally “and not was strength in the ram to withstand to the face of him”
  20. Daniel 8:7 Literally “and not he/it was one rescuing”
  21. Daniel 8:8 Literally “until much”
  22. Daniel 8:8 Literally “and at his being powerful”
  23. Daniel 8:8 LXX reads “others” here for “conspicuous.” The words in Hebrew can be confused for each other
  24. Daniel 8:9 Literally “And from the one from them”
  25. Daniel 8:9 Literally “one from little”
  26. Daniel 8:9 Or “pre-eminently”
  27. Daniel 8:12 Literally “did”
  28. Daniel 8:13 Literally “the one speaking”
  29. Daniel 8:13 Literally “Until when”