¹In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar , a vision appeared to me , even to me , Daniel , after that which appeared to me at the first .

²I saw the vision . Now it was so , that when I saw , I was in the citadel of Susa , which is in the province of Elam . I saw in the vision , and I was by the river Ulai.

³Then I lifted up my eyes and saw , and behold , a ram which had two horns stood before the river. The two horns were high , but one was higher than the other , and the higher came up last .

⁴I saw the ram pushing westward , northward , and southward . No animals could stand before him . There wasn’t any who could deliver out of his hand , but he did according to his will , and magnified himself .

⁵As I was considering, behold , a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn’t touch the ground . The goat had a notable horn between his eyes .

⁶He came to the ram that had the two horns , which I saw standing before the river , and ran on him in the fury of his power .

⁷I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him , and struck the ram, and broke his two horns . There was no power in the ram to stand before him ; but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him . There was no one who could deliver the ram out of his hand .

⁸The male goat magnified himself exceedingly . When he was strong , the great horn was broken ; and instead of it there came up four notable horns towards the four winds of the sky .

⁹Out of one of them came out a little horn which grew exceedingly great —towards the south , and towards the east , and towards the glorious land.

¹⁰It grew great , even to the army of the sky ; and it cast down some of the army and of the stars to the ground and trampled on them .

¹¹Yes, it magnified itself , even to the prince of the army ; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering , and the place of his sanctuary was cast down .

¹²The army was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience. It cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered .

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking ; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke , “How long will the vision about the continual burnt offering, and the disobedience that makes desolate , to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot be ?”

¹⁴He said to me , “To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings . Then the sanctuary will be cleansed .”

¹⁵When I , even I Daniel , had seen the vision , I sought to understand it . Then behold , there stood before me someone with the appearance of a man .

¹⁶I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called and said , “Gabriel , make this man understand the vision .”

¹⁷So he came near where I stood ; and when he came , I was frightened , and fell on my face ; but he said to me , “Understand, son of man , for the vision belongs to the time of the end .”

¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me , I fell into a deep sleep with my face towards the ground ; but he touched me and set me upright .

¹⁹He said, “Behold , I will make you know what will be in the latter time of the indignation , for it belongs to the appointed time of the end .

²⁰The ram which you saw , that had the two horns , they are the kings of Media and Persia .

²¹The rough male goat is the king of Greece . The great horn that is between his eyes is the first king .

²²As for that which was broken , in the place where four stood up , four kingdoms will stand up out of the nation , but not with his power .

²³“In the latter time of their kingdom , when the transgressors have come to the full , a king of fierce face , and understanding riddles , will stand up .

²⁴His power will be mighty , but not by his own power . He will destroy awesomely, and will prosper in what he does . He will destroy the mighty ones and the holy people .

²⁵Through his policy he will cause deceit to prosper in his hand . He will magnify himself in his heart , and he will destroy many in their security. He will also stand up against the prince of princes , but he will be broken without human hands .

²⁶“The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but seal up the vision , for it belongs to many days to come.”

²⁷I , Daniel , fainted , and was sick for some days . Then I rose up and did the king ’s business . I wondered at the vision , but no one understood it .