THE VISION OF A RAM AND A GOAT

8 In the third year of King Belshazzar’so reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier.p 2 I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa,q in the province of Elam.r I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 I looked up,F and there was a rams standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south.t No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wantedu and became great.

5 As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous hornA between his eyes.v 6 He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. 7 I saw him approaching the ram and, infuriated with him, he struck the ram, breaking his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat acted even more arrogantly,w but when he became powerful, the large horn was broken.x Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.y

THE LITTLE HORN

9 From one of them a little hornz emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land.B,aa 10 It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the starsC fall to the earth,ab and trampled them.ac 11 It acted arrogantlyad even against the Prince of the heavenly army;ae it revoked his regular sacrificeaf and overthrew the place of his sanctuary. 12 In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successfulag in what it did.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking,ah and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision lastai—the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the army to be trampled?”aj

14 He said to me,D “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION

15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man.ak 16 I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel,al explain the vision to this man.”

17 So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown.a “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”b 18 While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep,c with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,d 19 and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.e 20 The two-horned ramf that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king.A 22 The four horns that took the place of the broken horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.

23 Near the end of their kingdoms,

when the rebels have reached

the full measure of their sin,B

a ruthlessC king, skilled in intrigue,D

will come to the throne.

24 His power will be great,

but it will not be his own.

He will cause outrageous destructiong

and succeed in whatever he does.

He will destroy the powerful

along with the holy people.h

25 He will cause deceit to prosper

through his cunning and by his influence,

and in his own mind he will exalt himself.

He will destroy many in a time of peace;

he will even stand against the Prince of princes.

Yet he will be broken—not by human hands.i

26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings

that has been told is true.

Now you are to seal up the visionj

because it refers to many days in the future.”

27 I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days.k Then I got up and went about the king’s business.l I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.

DANIEL’S PRAYER

9 In the first year of Darius,m the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was made king over the Chaldean kingdom—2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy.n 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.o

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring Godp who keeps his gracious covenantq with those who love himr and keep his commandss—5 we have sinned,t done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled,u and turned away from your commands and ordinances.v 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets,w who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the people of the land.

7 Lord, righteousness belongs to you,x but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel—those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you. 8 Lord, public shamey belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.z 9 Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the Lord our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servantsaa the prophets.

11 All Israel has broken your law and turned away,ab refusing to obey you. The promised curseA written in the law of Moses,ac the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him. 12 He has carried out his wordsad that he spoke against us and against our rulersB,ae by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been doneaf under all of heaven. 13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses,ag all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor ofa the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.b 14 So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.

15 Now, Lord our God—who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong handc and made your name renownedd as it is this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrathe turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain;f for because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

17 Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shineg on your desolate sanctuaryh for the Lord’s sake. 18 Listen closely,C my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion. 19 Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay,i because your city and your people bear your name.

THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF YEARS

20 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,j and presenting my petition before the Lord my God concerning the holy mountain of my God—21 while I was praying, Gabriel,k the man I had seen in the first vision,l reached me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering.m 22 He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.n 23 At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God.D,o So consider the message and understand the vision:p

24 Seventy weeks are decreedq

about your people and your holy city—

to bring the rebellion to an end,

to put a stop to sin,

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in everlasting righteousness,r

to seal up vision and prophecy,

and to anoint the most holy place.

25 Know and understand this:

From the issuing of the decree

to restore and rebuild Jerusalems

until an Anointed One,t the ruler,A

will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.

It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,

but in difficult times.

26 After those sixty-two weeks

the Anointed One will be cut offu

and will have nothing.

The people of the coming ruler

will destroy the cityv and the sanctuary.B

TheC end will come with a flood,w

and until the end there will beD war;

desolations are decreed.

27 He will make a firm covenantE

with many for one week,

but in the middle of the week

he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.

And the abomination of desolationx

will be on a wingy of the templeF,G

until the decreed destructionz

is poured out on the desolator.”

VISION OF A GLORIOUS ONE

10 In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia,aa a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar.ab The message was true and was about a great conflict. He understood the message and had understanding of the vision.ac

2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.ad 3 I didn’t eat any rich food,ae no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month,H as I was standing on the bank of the great river,af the Tigris, 5 I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen,ag with a belt of goldah from UphazI,a around his waist. 6 His body was like beryl,J his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches,b his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.c

7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision.d The men who were with me did not see it,e but a great terror fell on them,f and they ran and hid. 8 I was left alone, looking at this great vision.g No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale,A,h and I was powerless. 9 I heard the words he said, and when I heard them I fell into a deep sleep,B,i with my face to the ground.

ANGELIC CONFLICT

10 Suddenly, a hand touched me and set me shaking on my hands and knees. 11 He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God.* j Understand the words that I’m saying to you. Stand on your feet,k for I have now been sent to you.”l After he said this to me, I stood trembling.

12 “Don’t be afraid,m Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God,n your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.o 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael,p one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.q 14 Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days,r for the vision refers to those days.”s

15 While he was saying these words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.t 16 Suddenly one with human likenessu touched my lips.v I opened my mouth and said to the one standing in front of me, “My lord, because of the vision, anguish overwhelms me and I am powerless.w 17 How can someone like me,x your servant,D speak with someone like you, my lord? Now I have no strength, and there is no breath in me.”

18 Then the one with a human appearance touched me again and strengthened me.y 19 He said, “Don’t be afraid,z you who areE treasured by God.aa Peace to you; be very strong!”ab

As he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”ac