1In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me—I, Daniel—after the one that had appeared to me at the first.
2And I saw in the vision, and it happened, while I was looking, that I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the Ulai canal.
3And I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a single ram was standing before the canal, and it had two horns; and the two horns were tall, but the one was taller than the other, and the taller one came up last.
4I saw the ram butting westward and northward and southward, and no beasts could stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power; and it did as it pleased and made itself great.
5And I was considering, and behold, a male goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes.
6And it came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing before the canal, and it ran at it in the fury of its strength.
7And I saw it reaching the ram, and it was enraged against it and struck the ram and shattered its two horns; and there was no strength in the ram to stand before it. And it threw it to the ground and trampled it, and there was none to deliver the ram from its power.
8And the male goat made itself very great; but as soon as it was strong, the great horn was shattered, and in its place four conspicuous ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.
9And from one of them came out a single horn, small at first, and it grew exceedingly great toward the south and toward the east and toward the Beautiful Land.
10And it grew great, up to the host of heaven, and it cast down to the ground some of the host and some of the stars, and trampled them.
11And it made itself great, even up to the Prince of the host, and from him the daily offering was taken away, and the foundation of his sanctuary was thrown down.
12And a host was given over against the daily offering through transgression; and it cast truth to the ground, and it acted and prospered.
13Then I heard one holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “For how long is the vision concerning the daily offering and the desolating transgression—the giving over of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled?”
14And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be set right.”
15And it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought understanding; and behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
16And I heard a human voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called out and said, “Gabriel, make this one understand the vision.”
17So he came near to where I stood, and when he came I was terrified and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”
18And as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and set me upright where I stood.
19And he said, “Behold, I am making known to you what will happen in the latter part of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
20The ram that you saw, having the two horns—these are the kings of Media and Persia.
21And the shaggy male goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that was between its eyes is the first king.
22And as for the horn that was broken, in whose place four stood up—four kingdoms shall arise from that nation, but not with its power.
23And in the latter part of their reign, when the transgressors have reached their full measure, a king shall arise, insolent of face and skilled in riddles.
24And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy astonishingly, and he shall prosper and act, and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the people of the holy ones.
25And through his cunning he shall make deceit prosper in his hand, and in his heart he shall make himself great, and in a time of ease he shall destroy many; and he shall stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall be broken—yet not by human hand.
26And the vision of the evenings and the mornings that was told is true; but you, seal up the vision, for it pertains to many days from now.
27And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days; then I arose and did the king’s business. And I was appalled at the vision, but there was no one who understood it.
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