Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, August 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Daniel 12:8

"I heard all this plainly enough, but I didn't understand it. So I asked, ‘Master, can you explain this to me?'

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Church;   Curiosity;   The Topic Concordance - Abomination;   Last Days;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Apocalyptic literature;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Understanding;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Book;   Prophet;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Daniel, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Apocrypha;   Brook;   Magi;   Thessalonians, Second Epistle to the;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Kingdom of christ of heaven;   Kingdom of god;   Kingdom of heaven;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Inspiration;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bel and the Dragon (2);   Daniel, Book of;   End;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I heard but did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
Hebrew Names Version
I heard, but I didn't understand: then said I, my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
King James Version
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
English Standard Version
I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, "O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?"
New American Standard Bible
But as for me, I heard but did not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?"
New Century Version
I heard the answer, but I did not really understand, so I asked, "Master, what will happen after all these things come true?"
Amplified Bible
As for me, I heard, but I did not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
The I heard it, but I vnderstood it not: the said I, O my Lord, what shalbe ye end of these things?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?"
Berean Standard Bible
I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?"
Contemporary English Version
I heard what the angel said, but I didn't understand. So I asked, "Sir, how will it all end?" The angel in my vision then replied:
Complete Jewish Bible
I heard this, but I couldn't understand what it meant; so I asked, "Lord, what will be the outcome of all this?"
Darby Translation
And I heard, but I understood not. And I said, My lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Easy-to-Read Version
I heard the answer, but I really didn't understand. So I asked, "Sir, what will happen after all this comes true?"
George Lamsa Translation
And I, Daniel, heard something, but I did not understand; then I said, O my lord, what shall come after these things?
Good News Translation
I heard what he said, but I did not understand it. So I asked, "But, sir, how will it all end?"
Lexham English Bible
Now I myself heard, but I did not understand, and I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?"
Literal Translation
And I heard, but I did not understand. And I said, O my lord, what shall be the end of these things ?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I herde it well, but I vnderstode it not. Then sayde I: O my lorde, what shal happen after that?
American Standard Version
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
Bible in Basic English
And the words came to my ears, but the sense of them was not clear to me: then I said, O my lord, what is the sense of these things?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I heard, but I understood not; then said I: 'O my Lord, what shall be the latter end of these things?'
King James Version (1611)
And I heard, but I vnderstood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shalbe the end of these things?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then I hearde it, but I vnderstoode it not: then sayde I, O my Lord, what shall be the ende of these thinges?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I heard, but I understood not: and I said, O Lord, what will be the end of these things?
English Revised Version
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
World English Bible
I heard, but I didn't understand: then said I, my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y herde, and vndurstood not; and Y seide, My lord, what schal be aftir these thingis?
Update Bible Version
And I heard, but I didn't understand: then I said, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
Webster's Bible Translation
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what [shall be] the end of these [things]?
New English Translation
I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, "Sir, what will happen after these things?"
New King James Version
Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these things?"
New Living Translation
I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant. So I asked, "How will all this finally end, my lord?"
New Life Bible
I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, "My lord, how will it all end?"
New Revised Standard
I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, I, heard, but could not understand, - so I said, O my lord! what shall be the issue of these things?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And I heard, and understood not. And I said: O my lord, what shall be after these things?
Revised Standard Version
I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, "O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?"
Young's Literal Translation
And I have heard, and I do not understand, and I say, `O my lord, what [is] the latter end of these?'

Contextual Overview

5"As I, Daniel, took all this in, two figures appeared, one standing on this bank of the river and one on the other bank. One of them asked a third man who was dressed in linen and who straddled the river, ‘How long is this astonishing story to go on?' 7 "The man dressed in linen, who straddled the river, raised both hands to the skies. I heard him solemnly swear by the Eternal One that it would be a time, two times, and half a time, that when the oppressor of the holy people was brought down the story would be complete. 8 "I heard all this plainly enough, but I didn't understand it. So I asked, ‘Master, can you explain this to me?' 9"‘Go on about your business, Daniel,' he said. ‘The message is confidential and under lock and key until the end, until things are about to be wrapped up. The populace will be washed clean and made like new. But the wicked will just keep on being wicked, without a clue about what is happening. Those who live wisely and well will understand what's going on.' 11 "From the time that the daily worship is banished from the Temple and the obscene desecration is set up in its place, there will be 1,290 days. 12 "Blessed are those who patiently make it through the 1,335 days. 13 "And you? Go about your business without fretting or worrying. Relax. When it's all over, you will be on your feet to receive your reward."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

but: Luke 18:34, John 12:16, Acts 1:7, 1 Peter 1:11

what: Daniel 12:6, Daniel 10:14

Reciprocal: Isaiah 48:6 - showed Daniel 8:15 - sought Daniel 8:19 - the last Daniel 10:16 - my Lord Zechariah 4:4 - What Mark 13:4 - General Luke 21:7 - when John 13:7 - What Revelation 5:4 - because Revelation 17:9 - here

Cross-References

Genesis 12:14
When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh's princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
Genesis 12:16
Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram's wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got seriously sick.
Genesis 21:33
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped God there, praying to the Eternal God. Abraham lived in Philistine country for a long time.
Joshua 7:2
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (The Ruin), which is near Beth Aven just east of Bethel. He instructed them, "Go up and spy out the land." The men went up and spied out Ai.
Joshua 8:3
Joshua and all his soldiers got ready to march on Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, tough, seasoned fighters, and sent them off at night with these orders: "Look sharp now. Lie in ambush behind the city. Get as close as you can. Stay alert. I and the troops with me will approach the city head-on. When they come out to meet us just as before, we'll turn and run. They'll come after us, leaving the city. As we are off and running, they'll say, ‘They're running away just like the first time.' That's your signal to spring from your ambush and take the city. God , your God, will hand it to you on a platter. Once you have the city, burn it down. God says it, you do it. Go to it. I've given you your orders."
Nehemiah 11:31
The Benjaminites from Geba lived in: Micmash Aijah Bethel and its suburbs Anathoth Nob and Ananiah Hazor Ramah and Gittaim Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat Lod and Ono and the Valley of the Craftsmen. Also some of the Levitical groups of Judah were assigned to Benjamin.
Isaiah 10:28
You Who Legislate Evil Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims— Laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, Exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children. What will you have to say on Judgment Day, when Doomsday arrives out of the blue? Who will you get to help you? What good will your money do you? A sorry sight you'll be then, huddled with the prisoners, or just some corpses stacked in the street. Even after all this, God is still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again. "Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger. My wrath is a cudgel in his hands! I send him against a godless nation, against the people I'm angry with. I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind, and then push their faces in the mud and leave them. But Assyria has another agenda; he has something else in mind. He's out to destroy utterly, to stamp out as many nations as he can. Assyria says, ‘Aren't my commanders all kings? Can't they do whatever they like? Didn't I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish? Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus? I've eliminated kingdoms full of gods far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria. So what's to keep me from destroying Jerusalem in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?'" When the Master has finished dealing with Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he'll say, "Now it's Assyria's turn. I'll punish the bragging arrogance of the king of Assyria, his high and mighty posturing, the way he goes around saying, "‘I've done all this by myself. I know more than anyone. I've wiped out the boundaries of whole countries. I've walked in and taken anything I wanted. I charged in like a bull and toppled their kings from their thrones. I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured as easily as a boy taking a bird's eggs from a nest. Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse, I gathered the world in my basket, And no one so much as fluttered a wing or squawked or even chirped.'" Does an ax take over from the one who swings it? Does a saw act more important than the sawyer? As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger! As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails! Therefore the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will send a debilitating disease on his robust Assyrian fighters. Under the canopy of God's bright glory a fierce fire will break out. Israel's Light will burst into a conflagration. The Holy will explode into a firestorm, And in one day burn to cinders every last Assyrian thornbush. God will destroy the splendid trees and lush gardens. The Assyrian body and soul will waste away to nothing like a disease-ridden invalid. A child could count what's left of the trees on the fingers of his two hands. And on that Day also, what's left of Israel, the ragtag survivors of Jacob, will no longer be fascinated by abusive, battering Assyria. They'll lean on God , The Holy—yes, truly. The ragtag remnant—what's left of Jacob—will come back to the Strong God. Your people Israel were once like the sand on the seashore, but only a scattered few will return. Destruction is ordered, brimming over with righteousness. For the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will finish here what he started all over the globe. Therefore the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, says: "My dear, dear people who live in Zion, don't be terrorized by the Assyrians when they beat you with clubs and threaten you with rods like the Egyptians once did. In just a short time my anger against you will be spent and I'll turn my destroying anger on them. I, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will go after them with a cat-o'-nine-tails and finish them off decisively—as Gideon downed Midian at the rock Oreb, as Moses turned the tables on Egypt. On that day, Assyria will be pulled off your back, and the yoke of slavery lifted from your neck." Assyria's on the move: up from Rimmon, on to Aiath, through Migron, with a bivouac at Micmash. They've crossed the pass, set camp at Geba for the night. Ramah trembles with fright. Gibeah of Saul has run off. Cry for help, daughter of Gallim! Listen to her, Laishah! Do something, Anathoth! Madmenah takes to the hills. The people of Gebim flee in panic. The enemy's soon at Nob—nearly there! In sight of the city he shakes his fist At the mount of dear daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. But now watch this: The Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, swings his ax and lops the branches, Chops down the giant trees, lays flat the towering forest-on-the-march. His ax will make toothpicks of that forest, that Lebanon-like army reduced to kindling.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I heard, but understood not,.... Daniel heard what Christ said, in answer to the angel, but he did not understand the meaning of it, which he ingenuously confesses; he did not understand what was meant by "time", and "times", and "half a time"; what kind of time this was, and when and how it would end, and which he was very desirous of knowing:

then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? he applied not to the angel that put the above question, but to the man clothed with linen; to Christ, whom he perceived to be a divine Person, a Person of dominion, power, and authority, superior to angels, and his Lord and God; and who only could resolve the question he puts, which is somewhat different from that of the angel's, Daniel 12:6, that respects the length of time, to the accomplishment of these things; this the quality at the end of them, what kind of end they should have; or what the signs, symptoms, and evidences of the end of them, by which the true end of them might be known. Mr. Mede renders it, "what are these latter times?" perhaps it might be rendered better, "what is the last of these things?" o what is the last thing that will be done, that so it may be known when all is over?

o מה אחרית אלה "quid erit novissimum horum?" Munster; "postremum horum?" Calvin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I heard, but I understood not - He understood not the full significance of the language employed - “a time, and times, and an half.” This would make it probable that there was something more intended than merely three years and a half as the period of the continuation of these troubles. Daniel saw, apparently from the manner of the angel, as well as from the terms which he used, that there was something mystical and unusual in those terms, and he says, therefore, that he could not understand their full import.

Then said I, O my Lord - A term of civil address. The language is such as would be used by an inferior when respectfully addressing one of superior rank. It is not a term that is peculiarly appropriate to God, or that implies a Divine nature, but is here given to the angel as an appellation of respect, or as denoting one of superior rank.

What shall be the end of these things? - Indicating great anxiety to know what was to be the termination of these wonders. The “end” had been often referred to in the communication of the angel, and now he had used an enigmatical expression as referring to it, and Daniel asks, with great emphasis, when the end was to be.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 12:8. I heard, but I understand not — Could not comprehend what the time, times, and half time should refer to. These make three years and a half of prophetic time, answering to one thousand two hundred and sixty years.


 
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