Great Is the Lord

^[a] A Song of Praise. Of David.

Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of ^(A)King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, ^(B)after that which appeared to me ^(C)at the first. ² And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^(D)Susa the citadel, which is in the province of ^(E)Elam. And ^(F)I saw in the vision, ^(G)and I was at the ^(H)Ulai canal. ³ I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(I)a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴ I saw ^(J)the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^(K)beast ^(L)could stand before him, ^(M)and there was no one who could rescue from his power. ^(N)He did as he pleased and ^(O)became great.

⁵ As I was considering, behold, a ^(P)male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ^(Q)a conspicuous horn between his eyes. ⁶ He came to ^(R)the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, ^(S)and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. ⁷ I saw him come close to the ram, ^(T)and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. ^(U)And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he ^(V)cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. ⁸ Then ^(W)the goat ^(X)became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four ^(Y)conspicuous horns toward ^(Z)the four winds of heaven.

⁹ Out of one of them came ^(AA)a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^(AB)the south, toward the east, and toward ^(AC)the glorious land. ^10 (AD)It grew great, ^(AE)even to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^(AF)and some^[a] of ^(AG)the stars it threw down to the ground and ^(AH)trampled on them. ^11 (AI)It became great, even as great as ^(AJ)the Prince of the host. ^(AK)And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. ¹² And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression,^[b] and it will throw truth to the ground, and ^(AL)it will act and prosper. ¹³ Then I heard ^(AM)a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^(AN)“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^(AO)the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” ¹⁴ And he said to me,^[c] “For 2,300 ^(AP)evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

The Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I ^(AQ)sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^(AR)the appearance of a man. ^16 (AS)And I heard a man's voice ^(AT)between the banks of the ^(AU)Ulai, and it called, ^(AV)“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” ¹⁷ So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^(AW)I was frightened ^(AX)and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^(AY)O son of man, that the vision is for ^(AZ)the time of the end.”

¹⁸ And when he had spoken to me, ^(BA)I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^(BB)he touched me and made me stand up. ¹⁹ He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of ^(BC)the indignation, for it refers to ^(BD)the appointed time of the end. ²⁰ As for ^(BE)the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^(BF)Media and Persia. ²¹ And ^(BG)the goat^[d] is the king of Greece. And ^(BH)the great horn between his eyes is ^(BI)the first king. ^22 (BJ)As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his^[e] nation, ^(BK)but not with his power. ²³ And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. ²⁴ His power shall be great—^(BL)but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^(BM)and shall succeed in what he does, ^(BN)and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. ^25 (BO)By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^(BP)he shall become great. ^(BQ)Without warning he shall destroy many. And he ^(BR)shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^(BS)by no human hand. ²⁶ The vision of ^(BT)the evenings and the mornings that has been told ^(BU)is true, but ^(BV)seal up the vision, ^(BW)for it refers to many days from now.”

²⁷ And ^(BX)I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision ^(BY)and did not understand it.

²³ And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^(A)the barracks, saying that he should be ^(B)examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵ But when they had stretched him out for the whips,^[a] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^(C)a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹ So those who were about ^(D)to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^(E)was afraid, ^(F)for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^(G)he had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰ But on the next day, ^(H)desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

23 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, ^(A)I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ² And the high priest ^(B)Ananias commanded those who stood by him ^(C)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^(D)whitewashed ^(E)wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ^(F)contrary to the law you ^(G)order me to be struck?” ⁴ Those who stood by said, “Would you revile ^(H)God's high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, ^(I)“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ^(J)‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^(K)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^(L)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ^(M)with respect to the ^(N)hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees ^(O)say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^(P)the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, ^(Q)“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ^(R)if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰ And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^(S)the barracks.

^11 (T)The following night ^(U)the Lord stood by him and said, ^(V)“Take courage, for ^(W)as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ^(X)testify also in Rome.”