Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Daniel Has a Vision About a Ram and a Goat

8 It was the third year of King Belshazzar’s rule. After the vision that had already appeared to me, I had another one. ² In my vision I saw myself in the city of Susa. It has high walls around it. It is in the land of Elam. In the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³ I looked up and saw a ram that had two horns. It was standing beside the canal. Its horns were long. One of them was longer than the other. But that horn grew up later. ⁴ I watched the ram as it charged toward the west. It also charged toward the north and the south. No animal could stand up against it. Not one of them could save anyone from its power. It did as it pleased. And it became great.

⁵ I was thinking about all of this. Then a goat suddenly came from the west. It had a large horn between its eyes. The goat raced across the whole earth without even touching the ground. ⁶ It came toward the ram that had the two horns. It was the ram I had seen standing beside the canal. The goat was very angry. It charged at the ram. ⁷ I saw it attack the ram with mighty force. It struck the ram and broke the ram’s two horns. The ram didn’t have the power to stand up against it. The goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped on it. No one could save the ram from the goat’s power. ⁸ The goat became very great. But when its power was at its greatest, the goat’s large horn was broken off. In its place four large horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

⁹ Out of one of the four horns came another horn. It was small at first but became more and more powerful. It grew to the south and to the east and toward the beautiful land of Israel. ¹⁰ It grew until it reached the stars in the sky. It threw some of them down to the earth. And it stomped on them. ¹¹ It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the Lord’s army. It took away the daily sacrifices from the Lord. And his temple in Jerusalem was thrown down. ¹² Because many of the Lord’s people refused to obey him, they were handed over to the horn. The daily sacrifices were also given over to it. The horn was successful no matter what it did. And true worship of God was thrown down to the ground.

¹³ Then I heard a holy angel speaking. Another holy angel spoke to him. He asked, “How long will it take for the vision to come true? When will the daily sacrifices be stopped? When will those who refuse to obey God be destroyed? When will the temple be handed over to an enemy? And when will some of the Lord’s people be stomped on?”

¹⁴ One of the holy angels said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the temple will be made holy again.”

²⁶ What if we keep sinning on purpose? What if we do it even after we know the truth? Then there is no offering for our sins. ²⁷ All we can do is to wait in fear for God to judge. His blazing fire will burn up his enemies. ²⁸ Suppose someone did not obey the law of Moses. And suppose two or three witnesses made charges against them. That person would die without mercy. ²⁹ People who deserve even more punishment include those who have hated the Son of God. They include people who have said no to him. They include people who have treated as unholy the blood of the covenant that makes them holy. They also include people who have disrespected the Holy Spirit who brings God’s grace. Don’t you think people like this should be punished more than anyone else? ³⁰ We know the God who said, “I am the God who judges people. I will pay them back.” (Deuteronomy 32:35) Scripture also says, “The Lord will judge his people.” (Deuteronomy 32:36; Psalm 135:14) ³¹ It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.