Daniel 8

1 'In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision hath appeared unto me — I Daniel — after that which had appeared unto me at the beginning.

In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign I, Daniel, saw another vision after the one I had seen previously.

2 And I see in a vision, and it cometh 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.

In my vision I looked around and saw I was in the castle at Susa in the province of Elam. In the vision I was beside the River Ulai.

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

I looked around and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two long horns, one longer than the other, even though the longer one had grown last.

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

I watched the ram charging west, north, and south. No animal could stand up to it—nor was there any chance of rescue from its power. It did whatever it wanted and grew powerful.

5 'And I have been considering, and lo, a young he-goat hath come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as to the young he-goat, a conspicuous horn [is] between its eyes.

As I was thinking about what I'd seen, a male goat came in from the west, racing in across the surface of the earth so fast it didn't touch the ground. It had a large, prominent horn between its eyes.

6 And it cometh unto the ram possessing the two horns, that I had seen standing before the stream, and runneth unto it in the fury of its power.

It approached the ram with the two horns which I had seen standing beside the river, rushing in to attack in a furious rage.

7 And I have seen it coming near the ram, and it becometh embittered at it, and smiteth the ram, and breaketh its two horns, and there hath been no power in the ram to stand before it, and it casteth it to the earth, and trampleth it down, and there hath been no deliverer to the ram out of its power.

I watched as the goat charged furiously at the ram, hitting it and breaking off its two horns. The ram did not have the strength to resist the goat's attack. The goat threw the ram to the ground, trampling on it, and there was no possibility of rescuing it from the goat's power.

8 'And the young he-goat hath exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, broken hath been the great horn; and come up doth a vision of four in its place, at the four winds of the heavens.

The goat grew very powerful, but at the height of its power its large horn was broken off. In its place four large horns came up, pointing to the four winds of heaven.

9 And from the one of them come forth hath a little horn, and it exerteth itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beauteous [land];

A little horn came up from one of them, and grew extremely powerful to the south and to the east and to the Beautiful Land.

10 yea, it exerteth unto the host of the heavens, and causeth to fall to the earth of the host, and of the stars, and trampleth them down.

It grew in power until it reached the heavenly army, throwing some of them and some of the stars down to the earth and trampled on them.

11 And unto the prince of the host it exerteth itself, and by it taken away hath been the continual [sacrifice], and thrown down the base of his sanctuary.

It even tried to make itself as great as the Prince of the heavenly army—it removed the continual service, and the place of his sanctuary was destroyed.

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

An army of people and the continual service were handed over to it because of rebellion, and it overthrew truth, and it was successful in everything it did.

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

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one asked the one who was speaking, “How long is this vision for—the removal of the continual service, the rebellion that causes devastation, the handing over of the sanctuary and the army of people to be trampled down?”

14 And he saith unto me, Till evening — morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right.

He replied, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”

15 'And it cometh to pass in my seeing — I, Daniel — the vision, that I require understanding, and lo, standing over-against me [is] as the appearance of a mighty one.

As I, Daniel, tried to work out what this vision meant suddenly I saw someone who looked like a man standing in front of me.

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

I also heard a human voice calling from the River Ulai, “Gabriel, explain to this man the meaning of the vision.”

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

As he approached me, I was terrified and fell face down before him. “Son of man,” he told me, “You need to understand that this vision refers to the time of the end.”

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

As he spoke to me I lost consciousness as I laid face down on the ground. But he took hold of me and helped me to my feet.

19 and saith: Lo, I — I am causing thee to know that which is in the latter end of the indignation; for, at the appointed time [is] the end.

He told me, “Pay attention! I'm going to explain to you what's going to happen during the time of anger, which refers to the appointed time of the end.

20 'The ram that thou hast seen possessing two horns, [are] the kings of Media and Persia.

The ram with two horns that you saw symbolizes the kings of Media and Persia.

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

The male goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is its first king.

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

The four horns that came up in place of the large horn that was broken represent the four kingdoms that arose from that nation, but not as powerful as the first.

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

When those kingdoms come to an end, when their sins have reached their fullest extent, a ferocious and treacherous kingdom will rise to power.

24 and his power hath been mighty, and not by his own power; and wonderful things he destroyeth, and he hath prospered, and wrought, and destroyed mighty ones, and the people of the Holy Ones.

It will become very powerful but not by its own power. It will be terribly destructive, and will succeed in everything it does. It will destroy great leaders and God's dedicated people.

25 'And by his understanding he hath also caused deceit to prosper in his hand, and in his heart he exerteth himself, and by ease he destroyeth many; and against the prince of princes he standeth — and without hand he is broken.

Through its deviousness, its lies will be convincing and successful. It shows its arrogance both in thought and action, destroying those who thought they were perfectly safe. It even fights in opposition against the Prince of princes, but it will be defeated, though not by any human power.

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

The vision about the evenings and mornings that has been explained to you is true, but for now seal up this vision because it refers to the distant future.”

27 And I, Daniel, have been, yea, 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.

After this, I, Daniel, became exhausted, and I was sick for days. Then I got up and went back to working for the king, but I was devastated at what I'd seen in vision and I couldn't understand it.