Daniel 8 Catholic Public Domain Version

81 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me. After that which I had seen in the beginning, I, Daniel, 2 saw in my vision, that I was in the capital city of Susa, which is in the region of Elam, yet I saw in the vision that I was over the gate of Ulai. 3 And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a single ram stood before the marsh, having two high horns, and one was higher than the other and growing higher still. 4 After this, I saw the ram brandishing his horns against the West, and against the North, and against the Meridian, and all the beasts could not withstand him, nor be freed from his hand, and he did according to his own will, and he became great. 5 And I understood, and behold, a he-goat among she-goats came from the West above the face of the entire earth, and he did not touch the ground. Furthermore, the he-goat had a preeminent horn between his eyes. 6 And he went all the way to the ram that had the horns, which I had seen standing before the gate, and he ran towards him in the force of his strength. 7 And when he approached near to the ram, he was enraged against him, and he struck the ram, and broke his two horns, and the ram could not withstand him, and when he had cast him down on the ground, he trampled him, and no one was able to free the ram from his hand. 8 But the he-goat among she-goats became exceedingly great, and when he had prospered, the great horn was shattered, and four horns were rising up beneath it by means of the four winds of heaven. 9 But from one of them came forth one little horn, and it became great against the Meridian, and against the East, and against the strength. 10 And it was magnified even towards the strength of heaven, and it threw down those of the strength and of the stars, and it trampled them. 11 And it was magnified, even to the leader of the strength, and it took away from him the continual sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctuary. 12 And the advantage was given to him against the continual sacrifice, because of the sins, and truth will be struck down to the ground, and he will act, and he will prosper. 13 And I heard one of the holy ones speaking, and one saint said to another, (I know not to whom he was speaking,) “What is the extent of the vision, and the continual sacrifice, and the sin of the desolation, which has happened, and of the sanctuary and the strength, which will be trampled?” 14 And he said to him, “From evening until morning, two thousand three hundred days, and so the sanctuary will be cleansed.” 15 But it came to pass, when I, Daniel, saw the vision and sought understanding that, behold, there stood in my sight something like the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man within Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, make this one understand the vision.” 17 And he came and stood next to where I was standing, and when he approached, I fell on my face, trembling, and he said to me, “Understand, son of man, for in the time of the end the vision will be fulfilled.” 18 And when he spoke to me, I fell forward onto the ground, and so he touched me and stood me upright. 19 And he said to me, “I will reveal to you what the future things are in the earlier tribulation, for the time has its end. 20 The ram, which you saw to have horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians. 21 Furthermore, the he-goat among she-goats is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn, which was between his eyes, is the same one, the first king. 22 And since, having been shattered, there grew four in its place, four kings will rise up from his people, but not in his strength. 23 And after their reign, when iniquities will be increased, there will arise a king of shameless face and understanding negotiations. 24 And his advantage will be strengthened, but not by his kind of force, and other than what he will be able to trust, everything will be eradicated, and he will prosper, and he will act. And he will execute the successful and the people of the saints, 25 according to his will, and treachery will be guided by his hand. And his heart will be inflated, and by the abundance of everything he will kill many, and he will rise up against the Lord of lords, and he will be knocked down without a hand. 26 And the vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true. Therefore, you must seal the vision, because, after many days, it will occur.” 27 And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days, and when I had lifted myself up, I performed the king’s works, and I was astonished at the vision, and there was none who could interpret it.