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DANIEL 9
page 781
Now the ram was helpless, and the goat knocked
him down and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power.
8 The goat became very powerful. But at the
height of his power, his large horn was broken
off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the
earth. 9 Then from one of the prominent horns
came a small horn whose power grew very great.
It extended toward the south and the east and
toward the glorious land of Israel. 10 Its power
reached to the heavens, where it attacked the
heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly
beings and some of the stars to the ground and
trampling them. 11 It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily
sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his
Temple. 12 The army of heaven was restrained
from responding to this rebellion. So the daily
sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown.
The horn succeeded in everything it did.*
13 Then I heard two holy ones talking to each
other. One of them asked, “How long will the
events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily
sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?”
14 The other replied, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the Temple will be
made right again.”
Gabriel Explains the Vision
15 As I, Daniel, was trying to understand the
meaning of this vision, someone who looked
like a man stood in front of me. 16 And I heard
a human voice calling out from the Ulai River,
“Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of his
vision.”
17 As Gabriel approached the place where I was
standing, I became so terrified that I fell with my
face to the ground. “Son of man,” he said, “you
must understand that the events you have seen
in your vision relate to the time of the end.”
18 While he was speaking, I fainted and lay
there with my face to the ground. But Gabriel
roused me with a touch and helped me to
my feet.
19 Then he said, “I am here to tell you what
will happen later in the time of wrath. What
you have seen pertains to the very end of time.
20 The two-horned ram represents the kings of
Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece,* and the large horn
between his eyes represents the first king of the
Greek Empire. 22 The four prominent horns that
replaced the one large horn show that the Greek
Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none
as great as the first.
8:11-12 The meaning of the Hebrew for these verses is
uncertain. 8:21 Hebrew of Javan. 8:26 Hebrew about the
evenings and mornings; compare 8:14. 9:1 Or the Chaldeans.
9:2 See Jer 25:11-12; 29:10.
23 “At the end of their rule, when their sin is at
its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will
rise to power. 24 He will become very strong, but
not by his own power. He will cause a shocking
amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders
and devastate the holy people. 25 He will be a
master of deception and will become arrogant;
he will destroy many without warning. He will
even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but
he will be broken, though not by human power.
26 “This vision about the 2,300 evenings and
mornings* is true. But none of these things will
happen for a long time, so keep this vision a
secret.”
27 Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick
for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly
troubled by the vision and could not understand it.
Daniel’s Prayer for His People
It was the first year of the reign of Darius
the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.* 2 During the first
year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading
the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah
the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate
for seventy years.* 3 So I turned to the Lord God
and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting.
I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself
with ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
9
“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God!
You always fulfill your covenant and keep
your promises of unfailing love to those
who love you and obey your commands.
5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We
have rebelled against you and scorned
your commands and regulations. 6 We have
refused to listen to your servants the
prophets, who spoke on your authority to
our kings and princes and ancestors and
to all the people of the land.
7 “Lord, you are in the right; but as you
see, our faces are covered with shame. This
is true of all of us, including the people
of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel,
scattered near and far, wherever you have
driven us because of our disloyalty to you.
8 O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and
ancestors are covered with shame because
we have sinned against you. 9 But the Lord
our God is merciful and forgiving, even
though we have rebelled against him. 10 We
have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we
have not followed the instructions he gave
us through his servants the prophets. 11 All
Israel has disobeyed your instruction and
turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.