The Prophet Daniel

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

“In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision has appeared to me—I Daniel—after that which had appeared to me at the beginning.

And I see in a vision, and it comes to pass, in my seeing, and I [am] in Shushan the palace that [is] in Elam the province, and I see in a vision, and I have been by the stream Ulai.

And I lift up my eyes, and look, and behold, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it has two horns, and the two horns [are] high; and one [is] higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last.

I have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it has done according to its pleasure, and has exerted itself.

And I have been considering, and behold, a young male goat has come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as for the young male goat, a conspicuous horn [is] between its eyes.

And it comes to the ram possessing the two horns, that I had seen standing before the stream, and runs to it in the fury of its power.

And I have seen it coming near the ram, and it becomes embittered at it, and strikes the ram, and breaks its two horns, and there has been no power in the ram to stand before it, and it casts it to the earth, and tramples it down, and there has been no deliverer to the ram out of its power.

And the young male goat has exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, the great horn has been broken; and a vision of four comes up in its place, at the four winds of the heavens.

And from one of them has come forth a little horn, and it exerts itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beautiful [land];

indeed, it exerts to the host of the heavens, and causes to fall to the earth of the host, and of the stars, and tramples them down.

And to the prince of the host it exerts itself, and the continual [sacrifice] has been taken away by it, and thrown down the base of his sanctuary.

And the host is given up, with the continual [sacrifice], through transgression, and it throws down truth to the earth, and it has worked, and prospered.

And I hear a certain holy one speaking, and a certain holy one says to the wonderful numberer who is speaking: Until when [is] the vision of the continual [sacrifice], and of the transgression, an astonishment, to make a treading down of both sanctuary and host?

And he says to me, Until evening—morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right.

Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision

And it comes to pass in my seeing—I, Daniel—the vision, that I require understanding, and behold, standing before me [is] as the appearance of a mighty one.

And I hear a voice of man between [the banks of] Ulai, and he calls and says: Gabriel, cause this [one] to understand the appearance.

And he comes in near my station, and at his coming in I have been afraid, and I fall on my face, and he says to me: Understand, son of man, for at the time of the end [is] the vision.

And in his speaking with me, I have been in a trance on my face, on the earth; and he comes against me, and causes me to stand on my station,

and says: Behold, I am causing you to know that which is in the latter end of the indignation; for at the appointed time [is] the end.

The ram that you have seen possessing two horns, [are] the kings of Media and Persia.

And the young male goat, the hairy one, [is] the king of Javan; and the great horn that [is] between its eyes is the first king;

and that being broken, four stand up in its place, four kingdoms stand up from the nation, and not in its power.

And in the latter end of their kingdom, about the perfecting of the transgressors, a king stands up, fierce of face, and understanding hidden things;

and his power has been mighty, and not by his own power; and he destroys wonderful things, and he has prospered, and worked, and destroyed mighty ones, and the people of the Holy Ones.

And by his understanding he has also caused deceit to prosper in his hand, and in his heart he exerts himself, and by ease he destroys many; and he stands against the Prince of princes—and he is broken without hand.

And the appearance of the evening and of the morning, that is told, is true; and you, hide the vision, for [it is] after many days.

And I, Daniel, have been, indeed, I became sick [for] days, and I rise, and do the king’s work, and am astonished at the appearance, and there is none understanding.”

In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.

I saw the vision. Now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.

Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram which had two horns stood before the river. The two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward. No animals could stand before him. There wasn’t any who could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn’t touch the ground. The goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power.

I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. There was no one who could deliver the ram out of his hand.

The male goat magnified himself exceedingly. When he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky.

Out of one of them came out a little horn which grew exceedingly great—toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.

It grew great, even to the army of the sky; and it cast down some of the army and of the stars to the ground and trampled on them.

Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

The army was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience. It cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.

Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, “How long will the vision about the continual burnt offering, and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot be?”

He said to me, “To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”

Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision

When I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. Then behold, there stood before me someone with the appearance of a man.

I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”

So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, for the vision belongs to the time of the end.”

Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me and set me upright.

He said, “Behold, I will make you know what will be in the latter time of the indignation, for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.

The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

The rough male goat is the king of Greece. The great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms will stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

“In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding riddles, will stand up.

His power will be mighty, but not by his own power. He will destroy awesomely, and will prosper in what he does. He will destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.

Through his policy he will cause deceit to prosper in his hand. He will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many in their security. He will also stand up against the prince of princes, but he will be broken without human hands.

“The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but seal up the vision, for it belongs to many days to come.”

I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick for some days. Then I rose up and did the king’s business. I wondered at the vision, but no one understood it.