Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 13

For the choir director; a psalm by David.

Daniel’s Vision about the Ram and the Goat

8 In Belshazzar’s third year as king, I, Daniel, saw a vision. This vision came after the one I saw earlier. ² In my vision I saw myself in the fortress of Susa in the province of Elam. In my vision I saw myself at Ulai Gate. ³ I looked up and saw a single ram standing beside the gate. The ram had two long horns, one longer than the other, though the longer one had grown up later. ⁴ I saw the ram charging west, north, and south. No other animal could stand in front of it, and no one could escape from its power. It did anything it pleased and continued to grow.

⁵ As I was watching closely, I saw a male goat coming from the west. It crossed the whole earth without touching it. This goat had a prominent horn between its eyes. ⁶ The goat was coming toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the gate. It furiously ran at the ram. ⁷ I saw it come closer to the ram. The goat was extremely angry with the ram, so it attacked the ram. It broke both of the ram’s horns. The ram didn’t have the strength to stand up against the goat. So the ram was thrown down on the ground and trampled. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power.

⁸ The male goat became very important. But when the goat became powerful, his large horn broke off. In its place grew four horns. They corresponded to the four winds of heaven. ⁹ Out of one of the horns came a small horn. It gained power over the south, the east, and the beautiful land. ¹⁰ It continued to gain power until it reached the army of heaven. It threw some of the army of heaven, the stars, down on the ground and trampled them. ¹¹ Then it attacked the commander of the army so that it took the daily burnt offering from him and wrecked his holy place. ¹² In its rebelliousness it was given an army to put a stop to the daily burnt offering. It threw truth on the ground. The horn was successful in everything it did.^[a]

¹³ Then I heard a holy one speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “How long will the things in this vision—the daily burnt offering, the destructive rebellion, the surrender of the holy place, and the trampling of the army—take place?”

¹⁴ He told me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the holy place will be made acceptable to God.”

²⁶ If we go on sinning after we have learned the truth, no sacrifice can take away our sins. ²⁷ All that is left is a terrifying wait for judgment and a raging fire that will consume God’s enemies. ²⁸ If two or three witnesses accused someone of rejecting Moses’ Teachings, that person was shown no mercy as he was executed. ²⁹ What do you think a person who shows no respect for the Son of God deserves? That person looks at the blood of the promise (the blood that made him holy) as no different from other people’s blood, and he insults the Spirit that God gave us out of his kindness.^[a] He deserves a much worse punishment. ³⁰ We know the God who said,

God also said,

³¹ Falling into the hands of the living God is a terrifying thing.