Dan 8 | ESV | STEP | In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me , Daniel , after that which appeared to me at the first .

1 In the third year of the reign of ^aKing Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, ^bafter that which appeared to me ^cat the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^dSusa the citadel, which is in the province of ^eElam. And ^fI saw in the vision, ^gand I was at the ^hUlai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ⁱa ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw ^jthe ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^kbeast ^lcould stand before him, ^mand there was no one who could rescue from his power. ⁿHe did as he pleased and ^obecame great.

5 As I was considering, behold, a ^pmale goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had ^qa conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to ^rthe ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, ^sand he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, ^tand he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. ^uAnd the ram had no power to stand before him, but he ^vcast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then ^wthe goat ^xbecame exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four ^yconspicuous horns toward ^zthe four winds of heaven.

9 Out of one of them came ^aaa little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^abthe south, toward the east, and toward ^acthe glorious land. 10 ^adIt grew great, ^aeeven to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^afand some ^{▼▼Or host, that is, some} of ^ahthe stars it threw down to the ground and ^aitrampled on them. 11 ^ajIt became great, even as great as ^akthe Prince of the host. ^alAnd the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, ^{▼▼Or in an act of rebellion} and it will throw truth to the ground, and ^anit will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard ^aoa holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^ap“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^aqthe transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, ^{▼▼Hebrew; Septuagint, Theodotion, Vulgate to him} “For 2,300 ^asevenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

The Interpretation of the Vision

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I ^atsought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^authe appearance of a man. 16 ^avAnd I heard a man’s voice ^awbetween the banks of the ^axUlai, and it called, ^ay“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^azI was frightened ^baand fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^bbO son of man, that the vision is for ^bcthe time of the end.”

18 And when he had spoken to me, ^bdI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^behe touched me and made me stand up. 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of ^bfthe indignation, for it refers to ^bgthe appointed time of the end. 20 As for ^bhthe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^biMedia and Persia. 21 And ^bjthe goat ^{▼▼Or the shaggy goat} is the king of Greece. And ^blthe great horn between his eyes is ^bmthe first king. 22 ^bnAs for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his ^{▼▼Theodotion, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew the} nation, ^bpbut not with his power. 23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great— ^bqbut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^brand shall succeed in what he does, ^bsand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 ^btBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^buhe shall become great. ^bvWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he ^bwshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^bxby no human hand. 26 The vision of ^bythe evenings and the mornings that has been told ^bzis true, but ^caseal up the vision, ^cbfor it refers to many days from now.”

27 And ^ccI, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision ^cdand did not understand it.