Daniel 8
Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and Goat
1During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw another vision, following the one that had already appeared to me. 2In this vision I was at the fortress of Susa, in the province of Elam, standing beside the Ulai River.
3As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one. 4The ram butted everything out of his way to the west, to the north, and to the south, and no one could stand against him or help his victims. He did as he pleased and became very great.
5While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes, 6headed toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the river, rushing at him in a rage. 7The goat charged furiously at the ram and struck him, breaking off both his horns. Now the ram was helpless, and the goat knocked him down and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power.
8The goat became very powerful. But at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth. 9Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. 10Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. 11It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. 12The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did.
Gabriel Explains the Vision
15As I, Daniel, was trying to understand the meaning of this vision, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me. 16And I heard a human voice calling out from the Ulai River, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of his vision.”
19Then he said, “I am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath. What you have seen pertains to the very end of time. 20The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire. 22The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first.
23“At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. 24He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. 25He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power.
Daniel 8 (NLT)
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Daniel
Chapter 8
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