1 In the thirde yeere of the reigne of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared vnto mee, euen vnto me Daniel, after that which appeared vnto mee at the first. 2 And I saw in a vision, and when I sawe it, I was in the palace of Shushan, which is in the prouince of Elam, and in a vision me thought I was by the riuer of Vlai. 3 Then I looked vp and sawe, and beholde, there stoode before the riuer a ramme, which had two hornes: and these two hornes were hie: but one was hier then another, and the hyest came vp last. 4 I sawe the ramme pusshing against ye West, and against the North, and against the South: so that no beastes might stande before him, nor could deliuer out of his hand, but he did what he listed, and became great. 5 And as I considered, beholde, a goate came from the West ouer the whole earth, and touched not the grounde: and this goate had an horne that appeared betweene his eyes. 6 And he came vnto the ramme that had the two hornes, whome I had seene standing by the riuer, and ranne vnto him in his fierce rage. 7 And I saw him come vnto the ramme, and being moued against him, he smote the ramme, and brake his two hornes: and there was no power in the ramme to stand against him, but he cast him downe to the grounde, and stamped vpon him, and there was none that coulde deliuer the ramme out of his power. 8 Therefore the goate waxed exceeding great, and when he was at the strongest, his great horne was broken: and for it came vp foure that appeared toward the foure windes of ye heauen. 9 And out of one of them came foorth a litle horne, which waxed very great toward the South, and toward the East, and towarde the pleasant land. 10 Yea, it grewe vp vnto the hoste of heauen, and it cast downe some of the hoste, and of the starres to the ground, and trode vpon them, 11 And extolled himselfe against the prince of the hoste from whome the dayly sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his Sanctuarie was cast downe. 12 And a time shall be giuen him ouer the dayly sacrifice for the iniquitie: and it shall cast downe the trueth to the ground, and thus shall it doe, and prosper. 13 Then I heard one of the Saints speaking, and one of the Saints spake vnto a certaine one, saying, Howe long shall endure the vision of the dayly sacrifice, and the iniquitie of the desolation to treade both the Sanctuarie and the armie vnder foote? 14 And he answered me, Vnto the euening and the morning, two thousand and three hundreth: then shall the Sanctuarie be clensed. 15 Nowe when I Daniel had seene the vision, and sought for the meaning, beholde, there stoode before me like the similitude of a man. 16 And I heard a mans voyce betweene the bankes of Vlai, which called, and sayde, Gabriel, make this man to vnderstand the vision. 17 So he came where I stood: and when hee came, I was afraide, and fell vpon my face: but he sayd vnto me, Vnderstand, O sonne of man: for in the last time shalbe the vision. 18 Nowe as he was speaking vnto me, I being a sleepe fell on my face to the ground: but he touched me, and set me vp in my place. 19 And he sayde, Beholde, I will shewe thee what shalbe in the last wrath: for in the end of the time appointed it shall come. 20 The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, are the Kings of the Medes and Persians. 21 And the goate is the King of Grecia, and the great horne that is betweene his eyes, is the first King. 22 And that that is broken, and foure stoode vp for it, are foure kingdomes, which shall stand vp of that nation, but not in his strength. 23 And in the end of their kingdome, when the rebellious shalbe consumed, a King of fierce countenance, and vnderstanding darke sentences, shall stand vp. 24 And his power shalbe mightie, but not in his strength: and hee shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mightie, and the holy people. 25 And through his policie also, hee shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall extoll himselfe in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: hee shall also stande vp against the prince of princes, but he shalbe broken downe without hand. 26 And the vision of the euening and the morning, which is declared, is true: therefore seale thou vp the vision, for it shall be after many dayes. 27 And I Daniel was striken and sicke certaine dayes: but when I rose vp, I did the Kings busines, and I was astonished at the vision, but none vnderstood it.
Daniel's Vision of a Ram and a Goat
1 In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I saw a second vision. 2 In the vision I suddenly found myself in the walled city of Susa in the province of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai River, 3 and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other. 4 I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant.
5 While I was wondering what this meant, a goat came rushing out of the west, moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground. He had one prominent horn between his eyes. 6 He came toward the ram, which I had seen standing beside the river, and rushed at him with all his force. 7 I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could save him.
8 The goat grew more and more arrogant, but at the height of his power his horn was broken. In its place four prominent horns came up, each pointing in a different direction. 9 Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended toward the south and the east and toward the Promised Land. 10 It grew strong enough to attack the army of heaven, the stars themselves, and it threw some of them to the ground and trampled on them. 11 It even defied the Prince of the heavenly army, stopped the daily sacrifices offered to him, and ruined the Temple. 12 People sinned there instead of offering the proper daily sacrifices, and true religion was thrown to the ground. The horn was successful in everything it did.
13 Then I heard one angel ask another, “How long will these things that were seen in the vision continue? How long will an awful sin replace the daily sacrifices? How long will the army of heaven and the Temple be trampled on?”
14 I heard the other angel answer, “It will continue for 2,300 evenings and mornings, during which sacrifices will not be offered. Then the Temple will be restored.”
The Angel Gabriel Explains the Vision
15 I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me. 16 I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, “Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw.” 17 Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground.
He said to me, “Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world.” 18 While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet, 19 and said, “I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end.
20 “The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia. 21 The goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the prominent horn between his eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that came up when the first horn was broken represent the four kingdoms into which that nation will be divided and which will not be as strong as the first kingdom.
23 “When the end of those kingdoms is near and they have become so wicked that they must be punished, there will be a stubborn, vicious, and deceitful king. 24 He will grow strong—but not by his own power. He will cause terrible destruction and be successful in everything he does. He will bring destruction on powerful men and on God's own people. 25 Because he is cunning, he will succeed in his deceitful ways. He will be proud of himself and destroy many people without warning. He will even defy the greatest King of all, but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power. 26 This vision about the evening and morning sacrifices which has been explained to you will come true. But keep it secret now, because it will be a long time before it does come true.”
27 I was depressed and ill for several days. Then I got up and went back to the work that the king had assigned to me, but I was puzzled by the vision and could not understand it.