Daniel, 8

1. In the third year of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had originally appeared to me.

2. I gazed at the vision, and as I gazed I found myself in Susa, the citadel in the province of Elam; gazing at the vision, I found myself at the Ulai Gate.

3. I raised my eyes to look, and I saw a ram standing in front of the gate. It had two horns; both were tall, but one taller than the other, and the one that rose the higher was the second.

4. I saw the ram butting westwards, northwards and southwards. No animal could stand up to it, nothing could escape its power. It did as it pleased and became strong.

5. This is what I observed: a he-goat from the west, encroaching over the entire surface of the world though never touching the ground, and between its eyes the goat had one majestic horn.

6. It advanced on the two-horned ram, which I had seen standing in front of the gate, and charged at it in the full force of its fury.

7. I saw it reach the ram; it was enraged with the ram and struck it, breaking both its horns, so that the ram was not strong enough to hold its ground; it threw it to the ground and trampled it underfoot; no one was there to rescue the ram.

8. The he-goat then grew more powerful than ever; but at the height of its strength the great horn snapped, and in its place sprouted four majestic horns, pointing to the four winds of heaven.

9. From one of these, the small one, sprang a horn which grew to great size towards south and east and towards the Land of Splendour.

10. It grew right up to the armies of heaven and flung armies and stars to the ground, and trampled them underfoot.

11. It even challenged the power of the Prince of the army; it abolished the perpetual sacrifice and overthrew the foundation of his sanctuary,

12. and the army too; over the sacrifice it installed iniquity and flung truth to the ground; the horn was active and successful.

13. I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one say to the speaker, 'How long is this vision to be -- of perpetual sacrifice, of horrifying iniquity, of sanctuary and army trampled underfoot?'

14. The first replied, 'Until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings have gone by: then the sanctuary will have its rights restored.'

15. As I, Daniel, gazed at the vision and tried to understand it, I saw someone standing in front of me who looked like a man.

16. I heard a human voice cry over the Ulai, 'Gabriel, tell him the meaning of the vision!'

17. He approached the place where I was standing; as he approached, I was seized with terror and fell prostrate on the ground. 'Son of man,' he said to me, 'understand this: the vision shows the time of the End.'

18. He was still speaking, when I fainted, face downwards on the ground. He touched me, however, and raised me to my feet.

19. 'Come,' he said, 'I shall tell you what is going to happen when the Retribution is over, about the final times.

20. As for the ram which you saw, its two horns are the kings of Media and of Persia.

21. The hairy he-goat is the king of Greece, the large horn between its eyes is the first king.

22. The horn which snapped and the four horns which sprouted in its place are four kingdoms rising from his nation but not having his strength.

23. 'And at the end of their reign, when the measure of their sins is full, a king will arise, a proud-faced, ingenious-minded man.

24. His power will grow greater and greater, though not through any power of his own; he will plot incredible schemes, he will succeed in whatever he undertakes, he will destroy powerful men and the holy ones, God's people.

25. Such will be his resourcefulness of mind that all his treacherous activities will succeed. He will grow arrogant of heart and destroy many people by taking them unawares. He will challenge the power of the Prince of princes but, without any human intervention, he will be broken.

26. The vision of the evenings and the mornings which has been revealed is true, but you must keep the vision secret, for there are still many days to go.'

27. At this I, Daniel, lost consciousness; I was ill for several days. Then I got up to discharge my duties in the king's service, keeping the vision a secret and still not understanding what it meant.