Daniel

Second: The Ram and the Goat

In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had another vision.

In this vision, I saw myself in Susa, the fortified city in the province of Elam; I noticed that I was by the river Ulai.

I looked up and saw a ram standing by the river. It had two long horns, but one was longer than the other.

I watched the ram charge westward, northward, and southward. No animal could resist it; none could escape its strength. It did as it pleased and grew mighty.

As I was pondering, a male goat appeared from the west, as if flying above the earth without touching the ground; it had a large horn between its eyes.

It approached the ram with two horns, which I had seen near the river, and it charged at the ram with all of its strength.

I saw it reach the ram and face it directly; it gored the ram and broke its two horns, and the ram could not defend itself. It knocked the ram down to the ground and crushed it. No one could rescue the ram from its power.

The he-goat became very great, but when it was powerful, the great horn snapped off; and in its place, four large horns emerged facing the four winds of heaven.

From one of these, a small horn grew out, which expanded toward the south, east, and the Beautiful Land.

It grew up to the army of heaven and threw part of the stars to the ground, crushing them underfoot.

It even reached the Commander of the army, deprived him of the perpetual sacrifice, and rendered his temple

and the army. It replaced the sacrifice with Abomination and cast Truth to the ground. And whatever it set out to do, it succeeded.

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another asked him in reply, “When will the vision be fulfilled? What about the perpetual offering, the Abomination of the devastator, the sanctuary handed over, and the army trampled underfoot?”

He answered, “Until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings have passed, then the temple will be restored.”

As I, Daniel, looked at this vision and tried to understand it, I suddenly saw someone like a man before me,

and I heard a human voice over the river Ulai that cried out to him: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

He approached where I was. When he came, I was terrified and fell on my face. He said to me, “Son of man, understand: this vision refers to the end times.”

As he spoke, I lost consciousness and fell face down on the ground. He touched me and helped me stand.

Then he said: “See, I will reveal to you what is going to happen when the wrath ends, for the end is set.”

The ram you saw, with its two horns, represents the two kings of the Medes and the Persians.

The hairy he-goat is the king of Greece; the large horn between its eyes is the first of its kings. When this horn snapped,

and the four horns that grew in its place are four kingdoms that will rise from his nation but will not overpower him.

At the end of their reign, when the sinners have reached their full measure, a king will arise, arrogant and clever in deceit.

His power will grow so much that he will scheme unprecedented plans. Whatever he undertakes shall prosper; he shall destroy the powerful, and the very people of the holy ones.

He will carry out his deceptions, be believed by many, and, in the fullness of peace, will destroy many. He will even rise against the Prince of princes, but he will be destroyed without any human hand intervening.

What I said about the vision of the mornings and evenings is true, but keep the vision secret, for it will only be fulfilled in the distant future.

I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for several days. Then I got up to attend to the king’s affairs. I remained frightened because of the vision and did not understand it.