1In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, to me, Daniel. It came after the one that had appeared to me before.
2I saw in the vision, and while I looked, I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision, and I was beside the river Ulai.
3Then I looked up, and there before the river stood a ram which had two horns. The two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.
4I saw the ram pushing westward, northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue anything out of his power. He did whatever he wanted, and he became great.
5While I was thinking about this, look, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, and he did not touch the ground. The goat had a great horn between his eyes.
6He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and he ran at him with all his furious strength.
7I saw him come close to the ram, and he was full of rage against him. He struck the ram and broke his two horns. The ram had no strength to stand before him. He threw him down to the ground and trampled on him, and there was no one who could rescue the ram out of his power.
8So the male goat became very great. But when he was strong, the great horn was broken. In its place four great horns came up, toward the four winds of heaven.
9Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew very great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
10It grew great, up to the host of heaven. It threw some of the host and of the stars down to the ground, and trampled on them.
11Yes, he made himself as great as the prince of the host. The daily sacrifice was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down.
12A host was given to him against the daily sacrifice because of wrongdoing. It threw the truth down to the ground, and it acted and succeeded.
13Then I heard one holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, "How long will the vision last, concerning the daily sacrifice and the wrongdoing that brings desolation, giving both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?"
14And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days. Then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."
15When I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was looking for its meaning, then look, there stood before me someone who looked like a man.
16And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai. It called out and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."
17So he came near where I stood. When he came, I was afraid and fell on my face. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man, for the vision belongs to the time of the end."
18Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground. But he touched me and set me upright.
19And he said, "Look, I will make you know what will happen at the end of the anger, for the end will come at the appointed time."
20"The ram you saw with the two horns is the kings of Media and Persia."
21"The rough goat is the king of Grecia, and the great horn between his eyes is the first king."
22"That horn was broken, and four stood up in its place. Four kingdoms will rise out of the nation, but not with his power."
23"In the latter time of their kingdom, when the wrongdoers have reached their full measure, a king with a fierce face, who understands dark sayings, will rise up."
24"His power will be mighty, but not by his own power. He will destroy in an astonishing way, and he will succeed and act. He will destroy the mighty and the holy people."
25"By his cunning he will make deceit succeed in his hand. He will make himself great in his heart, and by peace he will destroy many. He will also rise up against the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without any hand."
26"And the vision of the evening and the morning that was told is true. So shut up the vision, for it is for many days to come."
27And I, Daniel, fainted and was ill for some days. Afterward I got up and did the king's business. I was amazed by the vision, but no one understood it.