Vision of the Ram and Goat

1In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. 2I looked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. 3Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. 4I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

5While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. 7I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. 8Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

9Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. 10It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. 13Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”

Interpretation of the Vision

15When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. 16And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.” 17So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.”

18Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright. 19He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

The Ram’s Identity

20The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

The Goat

21The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22The broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.

23In the latter period of their rule,

When the transgressors have run their course,

A king will arise,

Insolent and skilled in intrigue.

24His power will be mighty, but not by his own power,

And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree

And prosper and perform his will;

He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.

25And through his shrewdness

He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence;

And he will magnify himself in his heart,

And he will destroy many while they are at ease.

He will even oppose the Prince of princes,

But he will be broken without human agency.

26The vision of the evenings and mornings

Which has been told is true;

But keep the vision secret,

For it pertains to many days in the future.”

27Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it.

24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

1) Why was the daily offering central to Israel’s life?

2) How does Daniel highlight the importance of the daily?

3) How does John identify Messiah as the true Lamb?

Job’s Present State Is Humiliating

1“But now those younger than I mock me,

Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

2Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?

Vigor had perished from them.

3From want and famine they are gaunt

Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

4Who pluck mallow by the bushes,

And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

5They are driven from the community;

They shout against them as against a thief,

6So that they dwell in dreadful valleys,

In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7Among the bushes they cry out;

Under the nettles they are gathered together.

8Fools, even those without a name,

They were scourged from the land.

9“And now I have become their taunt,

I have even become a byword to them.

10They abhor me and stand aloof from me,

And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

11Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me,

They have cast off the bridle before me.

12On the right hand their brood arises;

They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.

13They break up my path,

They profit from my destruction;

No one restrains them.

14As through a wide breach they come,

Amid the tempest they roll on.

15Terrors are turned against me;

They pursue my honor as the wind,

And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

16“And now my soul is poured out within me;

Days of affliction have seized me.

17At night it pierces my bones within me,

And my gnawing pains take no rest.

18By a great force my garment is distorted;

It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19He has cast me into the mire,

And I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;

I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

21You have become cruel to me;

With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

22You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;

And You dissolve me in a storm.

23For I know that You will bring me to death

And to the house of meeting for all living.

24“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,

Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?

25Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard?

Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26When I expected good, then evil came;

When I waited for light, then darkness came.

27I am seething within and cannot relax;

Days of affliction confront me.

28I go about mourning without comfort;

I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

29I have become a brother to jackals

And a companion of ostriches.

30My skin turns black on me,

And my bones burn with fever.

31Therefore my harp is turned to mourning,

And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah

24“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”