1In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I, Daniel, had another vision, after the one I had before.
2I saw myself in the vision; and as I saw, I was in the fortress of Susa, which is in the province of Elam. In the vision, I was by the Ulai Canal.
3I looked up and saw a ram standing by the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew second.
4I watched the ram charging to the west, north, and south. No animal could stand against it or escape its power. It did whatever it wanted and grew powerful.
5As I was thinking about this, suddenly a male goat came from the west, sweeping across the whole earth without touching the ground. This goat had a very noticeable horn between its eyes.
6It came toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing by the canal, and it charged at the ram with furious power.
7I saw it move close to the ram, and it was filled with anger against it. It struck the ram and broke off both its horns. The ram had no strength to stand against it; so the goat threw it to the ground and stomped on it. No one could rescue the ram from its power.
8Then the male goat became extremely powerful, but at the height of its strength, its large horn broke off. In its place, four noticeable horns grew up, pointing in the four directions of the sky.
9Out of one of them grew a small horn, which became extremely great, extending toward the south, the east, and the beautiful land.
10It grew so much that it reached up to the army of heaven. It threw some of the starry army down to the earth and stomped on them.
11It even defied the commander of the army. It took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down.
12Because of disobedience, the army was handed over to it, along with the daily sacrifice. It threw truth to the ground, and it succeeded in everything it did.
13Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one asked the speaker, “How long will the vision about the daily sacrifice last, and the disobedience that causes desolation, allowing both the sanctuary and the army to be trampled?”
14He answered me, “It will be for 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”
15When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I tried to understand it. Suddenly, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me.
16I heard a human voice from between the banks of the Ulai, which called out, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”
17So he came near where I was standing. When he came, I was terrified and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, son of man, for the vision concerns the time of the end.”
18As 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.
19He said, “Look, I will tell you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.”
20The ram you saw with two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
21The shaggy male goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
22As for the horn that was broken, with four new horns appearing in its place, this means four kingdoms will rise from that nation, but they will not have the same power.
23In the final period of their kingdom, when sinners have reached their full measure, a king will rise who looks fierce and understands mysterious things.
24His power will be great, but not by his own strength. He will cause incredible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy powerful people and the holy people.
25Through his shrewdness, he will make deceit succeed under his rule. He will become arrogant in his heart and destroy many people when they feel secure. He will even challenge the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human intervention.
26The vision about the evenings and mornings that has been told to you is true. But keep the vision a secret, because it refers to events many days in the future.
27I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was amazed by the vision, but no one understood it.