Dan 8:2-27 | ESV | STEP | And I saw in the vision ; and when I saw , I was in Susa the citadel , which is in the province of Elam . And I saw in the vision , and I was at the Ulai canal .

2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in ^aSusa the citadel, which is in the province of ^bElam. And ^cI saw in the vision, ^dand I was at the ^eUlai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, ^fa 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 ^gthe ram charging westward and northward and southward. No ^hbeast ⁱcould stand before him, ^jand there was no one who could rescue from his power. ^kHe did as he pleased and ^lbecame great.

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

9 Out of one of them came ^xa little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward ^ythe south, toward the east, and toward ^zthe glorious land. 10 ^aaIt grew great, ^abeven to the host of heaven. And some of the host ^acand some ^{▼▼Or host, that is, some} of ^aethe stars it threw down to the ground and ^aftrampled on them. 11 ^agIt became great, even as great as ^ahthe Prince of the host. ^aiAnd 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 ^akit will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard ^ala holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, ^am“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, ^anthe 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 ^apevenings 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 ^aqsought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having ^arthe appearance of a man. 16 ^asAnd I heard a man’s voice ^atbetween the banks of the ^auUlai, and it called, ^av“Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, ^awI was frightened ^axand fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, ^ayO son of man, that the vision is for ^azthe time of the end.”

18 And when he had spoken to me, ^baI fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But ^bbhe 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 ^bcthe indignation, for it refers to ^bdthe appointed time of the end. 20 As for ^bethe ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of ^bfMedia and Persia. 21 And ^bgthe goat ^{▼▼Or the shaggy goat} is the king of Greece. And ^bithe great horn between his eyes is ^bjthe first king. 22 ^bkAs 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, ^bmbut 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— ^bnbut not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction ^boand shall succeed in what he does, ^bpand destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 ^bqBy his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind ^brhe shall become great. ^bsWithout warning he shall destroy many. And he ^btshall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but ^buby no human hand. 26 The vision of ^bvthe evenings and the mornings that has been told ^bwis true, but ^bxseal up the vision, ^byfor it refers to many days from now.”

27 And ^bzI, 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 ^caand did not understand it.