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¹ In 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.² And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.³ Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and saw there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.⁴ I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.⁵ And as I was considering, look, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and did not touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.⁶ And he 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.⁷ And I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.⁸ And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [horns] toward the four winds of heaven.⁹ And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious [land].¹⁰ And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them.¹¹ Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual [burnt-offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.¹² And the host was given over [to it] together with the continual [burnt-offering] through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [its pleasure] and prospered.¹³ Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt-offering], and the transgression that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?¹⁴ And he said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, look, there stood before me as the appearance of a [prominent] man.¹⁶ And I heard man's voice between [the banks of] the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.¹⁷ So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end.¹⁸ Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.¹⁹ And he said, Look, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.²⁰ The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.²¹ The he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.²² And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.²³ And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.²⁴ And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.²⁵ And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [their] security he shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.²⁶ And the vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but you shut up the vision; for it belongs to many days [to come].²⁷ And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.