Daniel 8 - 9

The Vision of the Ram and Goat

In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one which appeared to me previously. 2 And I looked in the vision. And it happened that while I was looking, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. 4 I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before it, nor was there anyone to deliver from its power, but it did as it pleased and magnified itself.
5 And while I was considering, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes. 6 Then it came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and ran at it in his strong wrath. 7 And I saw it reach the side of the ram, and it was enraged at it; and it struck the ram and broke its two horns in pieces, and the ram had no strength to stand in opposition to it. So it threw it down to the ground and trampled on it, and there was none to deliver the ram from its power. 8 Then the male goat magnified itself exceedingly. But as soon as it was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.

The Small Horn

9 And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn. And it grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. 10 Then it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11 And it even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will throw truth down to the ground and do its will and succeed. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes desolation, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14 He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be made righteous.”

Daniel Seeks to Understand the Vision

15 Now it happened when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who had the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of what has appeared.” 17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was terrified and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.”
18 Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright. 19 Then he said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will happen at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. 20 The ram which you saw with the two horns is the kings of Media and Persia. 21 Now the shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 And the broken horn and the four horns that stood in its place are four kingdoms which will take their stand from his nation, although not with his power.
23

In the latter period of their reign,

When the transgressors have run their course,

A king will stand,

Insolent and skilled in intrigue.

His power will be mighty, but not by his own power,

And he will destroy to an astonishing degree

And succeed and do his will;

He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.

And through his insight

He will cause deceit to succeed by his hand;

And he will magnify himself in his heart,

And he will destroy many while they are at ease.

He will even stand against the Prince of princes,

But he will be broken without hands.

And what had appeared about the evenings and mornings

Which has been told is true;

But as for you, conceal the vision,

For it pertains to many days in the future.”

27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I rose up again and did the king’s work; but I was appalled at what had appeared, and there was none to make me understand it.

Daniel’s Prayer of Supplication

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, from the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, discerned in the books the number of the years concerning which the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet for the fulfillment of the laying waste of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 3 So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to Yahweh my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity and acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and judgments. 6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your slaves the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.
7 “To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have banished them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 O Yahweh, to us belongs open shame, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; 10 nor have we listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in His laws which He put before us through His slaves the prophets. 11 Indeed all Israel has trespassed against Your law, even turning aside, not listening to Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 Thus He has established His words which He had spoken against us and against our judges who judged us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God by turning from our iniquity and acting wisely in Your truth. 14 Therefore Yahweh has watched over the calamity and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not listened to His voice.
15 “So now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned; we have acted wickedly. 16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteousness, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. 17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your slave and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and listen! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any righteousness of our own, but on account of Your abundant compassion. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Gabriel Brings Understanding

20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 and while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, touched me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the word was issued, so I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so understand the message and gain understanding in what has appeared.

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah

24 “Seventy weeks have been determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. 25 So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and rebuilt, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will make sacrifice and grain offering cease; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”