Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 After that vision,^[a] I, Daniel, saw another vision during the third year that Belshazzar^[b] was king. ² In the vision I saw that I was in the city of Susa.^[c] Susa was the capital city in the province of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai River. ³ I looked up and saw a ram standing at the side of the river. The ram had two long horns. The horns were both long, but one horn was longer than the other horn. The long horn was farther back than the other horn. ⁴ I watched the ram run into things with its horns. I watched the ram run to the west, to the north, and to the south. No animal could stop the ram, and no one could save the other animals. That ram did whatever it wanted, and it became very powerful.

⁵ I thought about the ram. While I was watching, I saw a male goat come from the west. It had one large horn that was easy to see. It ran so fast its feet barely touched the ground.

⁶ The goat came to the ram with the two horns. (This was the ram I had seen standing by the Ulai River.) The goat was very angry and ran at the ram. ⁷ As I watched, the goat ran at the ram and broke both of the ram’s horns. The ram could not stop the goat. The goat knocked it to the ground and walked all over it. There was no one to save the ram from the goat.

⁸ So the goat became very powerful. But after he became strong, his big horn broke off. Then four horns grew in place of the one big horn. Those four horns were easy to see. They pointed in four different directions.

⁹ Then a little horn grew from one of those four horns. It grew and became very big. It grew toward the southeast, toward the Beautiful Land. ¹⁰ The little horn became very big. It grew until it reached the sky. It even threw some of heaven’s army^[d] to the ground and trampled them. ¹¹ That little horn became very strong, and it turned against God, the Ruler of heaven’s army. It stopped the daily sacrifices that were offered to the Ruler. And the holy place where people worshiped the Ruler was pulled down. ¹² Because of this sin, the daily sacrifices were stopped. Truth was thrown down to the ground. The little horn did these things and was very successful.

¹³ Then I heard two holy ones^[e] talking with each other. One of them asked the other one, who had been speaking, “How long will the things in this vision last—the stopping of the daily sacrifices, the sin that destroys, and the trampling down of the holy place and heaven’s army?”

¹⁴ The other holy one said, “This will last for 2300 days. Then the holy place will be repaired.”

The Vision Is Explained to Daniel

¹⁵ I, Daniel, saw this vision and tried to understand what it meant. While I was thinking about the vision, someone who looked like a man suddenly stood in front of me. ¹⁶ Then I heard a man’s voice. This voice came from above the Ulai River. The voice called out, “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

¹⁷ So Gabriel, the angel who looked like a man, came to me. I was very afraid and fell down to the ground. But Gabriel said to me, “Human,^[f] understand that this vision is about the time of the end.”

¹⁸ While Gabriel was speaking, I fell to the ground and went to sleep. It was a very deep sleep. Then Gabriel touched me and lifted me to my feet. ¹⁹ He said, “Now, I will explain the vision to you. I will tell you what will happen in the future. Your vision was about the end times.

²⁰ “You saw a ram with two horns. The horns are the countries of Media and Persia. ²¹ The goat is the king of Greece. The big horn between its eyes is the first king. ²² That horn broke off and four horns grew in its place. The four horns are four kingdoms. Those four kingdoms will come from the nation of the first king, but they will not be as strong as the first king.

²³ “When the end is near for those kingdoms, there will be a very bold and cruel king who will be very tricky. This will happen when many people have turned against God. ²⁴ This king will be very powerful, but his power does not come from himself.^[g] This king will cause terrible destruction. He will be successful in everything he does. He will destroy powerful people—even God’s holy people.

²⁵ “This king will be very smart and tricky. He will use his wisdom and lies to be successful. He will think that he is very important. He will destroy many people, when they least expect it. He will try to fight even the Prince of Princes. But that cruel king’s power will be destroyed, and it will not be a human hand that destroys him.

²⁶ “What I said and the vision about those times are true. But seal up the vision, because those things will not happen for a long, long time.”

²⁷ I, Daniel, became very weak. I was sick for several days after that vision. Then I got up and went back to work for the king, but I was very upset about the vision. I did not understand what it meant.

Daniel’s Prayer

9 These things happened during the first year that Darius son of Ahasuerus^[h] was king. Darius was a Mede by birth, but he was appointed to be the king of Babylon. ² During his first year as king, I was studying the Scriptures^[i] and noticed in the Lord’s message to Jeremiah that 70 years would pass before Jerusalem would be rebuilt.

³ Then I turned to the Lord God. I prayed to him and asked him for help. I did not eat any food. I put ashes on my head and put on the clothes that showed I was sad. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and told him about all my sins. I said,

“Lord, you are a great and awesome God. You keep your agreement of love and kindness with people who love you. You keep your agreement with the people who obey your commands.

⁵ “But we have sinned. We have done wrong. We have done evil things. We turned against you. We turned away from your commands and good decisions. ⁶ The prophets were your servants. They spoke for you to our kings, to our leaders, to our fathers, and to the common people in our country. But we did not listen to them.

⁷ “Lord, you are innocent, and the shame belongs to us, even now. Shame belongs to the people from Judah and Jerusalem, and to all the people of Israel, to those who are near and to those you scattered among many nations. They should be ashamed of all the evil things they did against you.

⁸ “Lord, we should all be ashamed. All our kings and leaders should be ashamed. Our ancestors should be ashamed, because we sinned against you.

⁹ “But, Lord our God, you are kind and forgiving, even though we rebelled against you. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the Lord our God. He used his servants, the prophets, and gave us laws, but we have not obeyed his laws. ¹¹ All the people of Israel disobeyed your teachings and turned away from you. They did not listen to you. We sinned, so you did what you promised to do. All the curses and promises^[j] in the Law of Moses, your servant, happened to us.

¹² “God said those things would happen to us and our leaders, and he made them happen. He made terrible things happen to us. No other city suffered the way Jerusalem suffered. ¹³ All those terrible things happened to us. This happened just as it is written in the Law of Moses, but we still have not asked the Lord our God for help. We still have not stopped sinning. We still do not pay attention to your truth, Lord. ¹⁴ The Lord kept the terrible things ready for us—he made them happen to us. The Lord our God did this because he is fair in everything he does. But we still have not listened to him.

¹⁵ “Lord our God, you used your power and brought us out of Egypt. We are your people. You are famous because of that, even today. We have sinned and done terrible things. ¹⁶ Lord, we and our ancestors sinned against you, so your people and your city became a disgrace to everyone around us. You do so many good things, so stop being angry at Jerusalem, your city, your holy mountain.

¹⁷ “Now, our God, hear your servant’s prayer. Listen to my prayer for mercy. For your own sake, do good things for your holy place.^{[k] 18} My God, listen to me! Open your eyes and see all the terrible things that have happened to us. See what has happened to the city that is called by your name. I am not saying we are good people. That is not why I am asking these things. I am asking these things because I know you are kind. ¹⁹ Lord, listen to me! Forgive us! Lord, pay attention, and then do something! Don’t wait! Do something now! Do it for your own good! My God, do something now, for your city and your people who are called by your name.”

The Vision About the 70 Weeks

²⁰ I was praying to the Lord my God about his holy mountain and telling about my sins and the sins of the people of Israel. ²¹ That was the time of the evening sacrifices. While I was still praying, Gabriel, the one I saw in the first vision, flew quickly to me and touched me. He came at the time of the evening sacrifice. ²² Gabriel helped me understand the things I wanted to know. He said, “Daniel, I have come to give you wisdom and to help you understand. ²³ When you first started praying, the command was given to come speak to you. God loves you very much! You will understand this command, and you will understand the vision.

²⁴ “God has allowed 70 weeks^[l] for your people and your holy city, Daniel. The 70 weeks are ordered for these reasons: to stop doing bad things, to stop sinning, to make people pure, to bring the goodness that continues forever, to put a seal on visions and prophets, and to dedicate a very holy place.

²⁵ “Learn and understand these things, Daniel. From the time that the message went out to go back and rebuild Jerusalem until the time for the chosen king^[m] to come will be seven weeks. Then Jerusalem will be rebuilt. There will again be places for people to meet together in Jerusalem, and there will be a ditch around the city to protect it. Jerusalem will be built for 62 weeks, but there will be many troubles during that time. ²⁶ After the 62 weeks, the chosen one will be killed.^[n] He will be gone.^[o] Then the people of the future leader will destroy the city and the holy place. That end will come like a flood. War will continue until the end. God has ordered that place to be completely destroyed.

²⁷ “Then the future ruler will make an agreement with many people. That agreement will continue for one week. The offerings and sacrifices will stop for a half of a week. And a destroyer will come. He will do terrible, destructive things,^[p] but God has ordered that destroyer to be completely destroyed.”

Daniel’s Vision by the Tigris River

10 During the third year that Cyrus was the king of Persia, these things were shown to Daniel. (Daniel’s other name is Belteshazzar.) They are true, but very hard to understand. Daniel understood them because they were explained to him in a vision.

² At that time I, Daniel, was very sad for three weeks. ³ During those three weeks, I didn’t eat any fancy food; I didn’t eat any meat or drink any wine. I didn’t put any oil on my head. I didn’t do any of these things for three weeks.

⁴ On the 24th day of the first month of the year, I was standing beside the great Tigris River. ⁵ While I was standing there, I looked up and I saw a man standing in front of me. He was wearing linen clothes. He wore a belt made of pure gold^[q] around his waist. ⁶ His body was like a smooth, shiny stone. His face was bright like lightning. His eyes were like flames of fire. His arms and feet were shiny like polished brass. His voice was loud like a crowd of people.

⁷ I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision. The men with me didn’t see the vision, but they were still afraid. They were so afraid that they ran away and hid. ⁸ So I was left alone. I was watching this vision, and it made me afraid. I lost my strength. My face turned white like a dead person’s face, and I was helpless. ⁹ Then I heard the man in the vision talking. As I listened to his voice, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face on the ground.

¹⁰ Then a hand touched me. When that happened, I got on my hands and knees. I was so afraid that I was shaking. ¹¹ The man in the vision said to me, “Daniel, God loves you very much. Think very carefully about the words I will speak to you. Stand up; I have been sent to you.” And when he said this, I stood up. I was still shaking because I was afraid. ¹² Then the man in the vision started talking again. He said, “Daniel, do not be afraid. From the very first day you decided to get wisdom and to be humble in front of God, he has been listening to your prayers. I came to you because you have been praying. ¹³ But the prince^[r] of Persia has been fighting against me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the most important princes, came to help me because I was stuck there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to you, Daniel, to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future. The vision is about a time in the future.”

¹⁵ While the man was talking to me, I bowed low with my face toward the ground. I could not speak. ¹⁶ Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “Sir, I am upset and afraid because of what I saw in the vision. I feel helpless. ¹⁷ Sir, I am Daniel your servant. How can I talk with you? My strength is gone and it is hard for me to breathe.”

¹⁸ The one who looked like a man touched me again. When he touched me, I felt better. ¹⁹ Then he said, “Daniel, don’t be afraid. God loves you very much. Peace be with you. Be strong now, be strong.”

When he spoke to me, I became stronger. Then I said, “Sir, you have given me strength. Now you can speak.”

²⁰ So then he said, “Daniel, do you know why I have come to you? Soon I must go back to fight against the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece will come. ²¹ But Daniel, before I go, I must first tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one stands with me against those evil angels except Michael, the prince over your people.