The Holy Bible

[7:9] While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire,

[7:10] and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.

[7:11] While I was looking, I could still hear the little horn bragging and boasting. As I watched, the fourth beast was killed, and its body was thrown into the flames and destroyed.

[7:12] The other beasts had their power taken away, but they were permitted to go on living for a limited time.

[7:13] During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him.

[7:14] He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve him. His authority would last forever, and his kingdom would never end.

[7:15] The visions I saw alarmed me, and I was deeply disturbed.

[7:16] I went up to one of those standing there and asked him to explain it all. So he told me the meaning.

[7:17] He said, “These four huge beasts are four empires which will arise on earth.

[7:18] And the people of the Supreme God will receive royal power and keep it forever and ever.”

[7:19] Then I wanted to know more about the fourth beast, which was not like any of the others—the terrifying beast which crushed its victims with its bronze claws and iron teeth and then trampled on them.

[7:20] And I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the horn that had come up afterward and had made three of the horns fall. It had eyes and a mouth and was boasting proudly. It was more terrifying than any of the others.

[7:21] While I was looking, that horn made war on God's people and conquered them.

[7:22] Then the one who had been living forever came and pronounced judgment in favor of the people of the Supreme God. The time had arrived for God's people to receive royal power.

[7:23] This is the explanation I was given: “The fourth beast is a fourth empire that will be on the earth and will be different from all other empires. It will crush the whole earth and trample it down.

[7:24] The ten horns are ten kings who will rule that empire. Then another king will appear; he will be very different from the earlier ones and will overthrow three kings.

[7:25] He will speak against the Supreme God and oppress God's people. He will try to change their religious laws and festivals, and God's people will be under his power for three and a half years.

[7:26] Then the heavenly court will sit in judgment, take away his power, and destroy him completely.

[7:27] The power and greatness of all the kingdoms on earth will be given to the people of the Supreme God. Their royal power will never end, and all rulers on earth will serve and obey them.”

[7:28] This is the end of the account. I was so frightened that I turned pale, and I kept everything to myself.

[8:1] In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I saw a second vision.

[8:2] In the vision I suddenly found myself in the walled city of Susa in the province of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai River,

[8:3] and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other.

[8:4] I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant.

[8:5] While I was wondering what this meant, a goat came rushing out of the west, moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground. He had one prominent horn between his eyes.

[8:6] He came toward the ram, which I had seen standing beside the river, and rushed at him with all his force.

[8:7] I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could save him.

[8:8] The goat grew more and more arrogant, but at the height of his power his horn was broken. In its place four prominent horns came up, each pointing in a different direction.

[8:9] Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended toward the south and the east and toward the Promised Land.

[8:10] It grew strong enough to attack the army of heaven, the stars themselves, and it threw some of them to the ground and trampled on them.

[8:11] It even defied the Prince of the heavenly army, stopped the daily sacrifices offered to him, and ruined the Temple.

[8:12] People sinned there instead of offering the proper daily sacrifices, and true religion was thrown to the ground. The horn was successful in everything it did.

[8:13] Then I heard one angel ask another, “How long will these things that were seen in the vision continue? How long will an awful sin replace the daily sacrifices? How long will the army of heaven and the Temple be trampled on?”

[8:14] I heard the other angel answer, “It will continue for 2,300 evenings and mornings, during which sacrifices will not be offered. Then the Temple will be restored.”

[8:15] I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me.

[8:16] I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, “Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw.”

[8:17] Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground. He said to me, “Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world.”

[8:18] While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet,

[8:19] and said, “I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end.

[8:20] “The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia.

[8:21] The goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the prominent horn between his eyes is the first king.

[8:22] The four horns that came up when the first horn was broken represent the four kingdoms into which that nation will be divided and which will not be as strong as the first kingdom.

[8:23] “When the end of those kingdoms is near and they have become so wicked that they must be punished, there will be a stubborn, vicious, and deceitful king.

[8:24] He will grow strong—but not by his own power. He will cause terrible destruction and be successful in everything he does. He will bring destruction on powerful men and on God's own people.

[8:25] Because he is cunning, he will succeed in his deceitful ways. He will be proud of himself and destroy many people without warning. He will even defy the greatest King of all, but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power.

[8:26] This vision about the evening and morning sacrifices which has been explained to you will come true. But keep it secret now, because it will be a long time before it does come true.”

[8:27] I was depressed and ill for several days. Then I got up and went back to the work that the king had assigned to me, but I was puzzled by the vision and could not understand it.

[9:1] Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia.

[9:2] In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah.

[9:3] And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes.

[9:4] I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people. I said, “Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command.

[9:5] “We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right.

[9:6] We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation.

[9:7] You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you.

[9:8] Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord.

[9:9] You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you.

[9:10] We did not listen to you, O Lord our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets.

[9:11] All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant.

[9:12] You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on earth,

[9:13] giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O Lord our God, we have not tried to please you by turning from our sins or by following your truth.

[9:14] You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you.

[9:15] “O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong.

[9:16] You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did.

[9:17] O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God.

[9:18] Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right.

[9:19] Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours.”

[9:20] I went on praying, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and pleading with the Lord my God to restore his holy Temple.

[9:21] While I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came flying down to where I was. It was the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered.

[9:22] He explained, “Daniel, I have come here to help you understand the prophecy.

[9:23] When you began to plead with God, he answered you. He loves you, and so I have come to tell you the answer. Now pay attention while I explain the vision.

[9:24] “Seven times seventy years is the length of time God has set for freeing your people and your holy city from sin and evil. Sin will be forgiven and eternal justice established, so that the vision and the prophecy will come true, and the holy Temple will be rededicated.

[9:25] Note this and understand it: From the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until God's chosen leader comes, seven times seven years will pass. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, and will stand for seven times sixty-two years, but this will be a time of troubles.

[9:26] And at the end of that time God's chosen leader will be killed unjustly. The city and the Temple will be destroyed by the invading army of a powerful ruler. The end will come like a flood, bringing the war and destruction which God has prepared.

[9:27] That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him.”

[11:2] The angel said, “Three more kings will rule over Persia, followed by a fourth, who will be richer than all the others. At the height of his power and wealth he will challenge the kingdom of Greece.

[11:3] “Then a heroic king will appear. He will rule over a huge empire and do whatever he wants.

[11:4] But at the height of his power his empire will break up and be divided into four parts. Kings not descended from him will rule in his place, but they will not have the power that he had.

[11:5] “The king of Egypt will be strong. One of his generals, however, will be even stronger and rule a greater kingdom.

[11:6] After a number of years the king of Egypt will make an alliance with the king of Syria and give him his daughter in marriage. But the alliance will not last, and she, her husband, her child, and the servants who went with her will all be killed.

[11:7] Soon afterward one of her relatives will become king. He will attack the army of the king of Syria, enter their fortress, and defeat them.

[11:8] He will carry back to Egypt the images of their gods and the articles of gold and silver dedicated to those gods. After several years of peace

[11:9] the king of Syria will invade Egypt, but he will be forced to retreat.

[11:10] “The sons of the king of Syria will prepare for war and gather a large army. One of them will sweep on like a flood and attack an enemy fortress.

[11:11] In his anger the king of Egypt will go to war against the king of Syria and capture his huge army.

[11:12] He will be proud of his victory and of the many soldiers he has killed, but he will not continue to be victorious.

[11:13] “The king of Syria will go back and gather a larger army than he had before. When the proper time comes, he will return with a large, well-equipped army.

[11:14] Then many people will rebel against the king of Egypt. And some violent people from your nation, Daniel, will rebel because of a vision they have seen, but they will be defeated.

[11:15] So the king of Syria will lay siege to a fortified city and capture it. The soldiers of Egypt will not continue to fight; even the best of them will not have enough strength.

[11:16] The Syrian invader will do with them as he pleases, without opposition. He will stand in the Promised Land and have it completely in his power.

[11:17] “The king of Syria will plan an expedition, using his whole army. Then, in order to destroy his enemy's kingdom, he will make an alliance with him and offer him his daughter in marriage; but his plan will not succeed.

[11:18] After that he will attack the nations by the sea and conquer many of them. But a foreign leader will defeat him and put an end to his arrogance; indeed he will turn the arrogance of Syria's king back on him.

[11:19] The king will return to the fortresses of his own land, but he will be defeated, and that will be the end of him.

[11:20] “He will be followed by another king, who will send an officer to oppress the people with taxes in order to increase the wealth of his kingdom. In a short time that king will be killed, but not publicly and not in battle.”

[11:21] The angel went on to explain: “The next king of Syria will be an evil man who has no right to be king, but he will come unexpectedly and seize power by trickery.

[11:22] Anyone who opposes him, even God's High Priest, will be swept away and wiped out.

[11:23] By making treaties, he will deceive other nations, and he will grow stronger and stronger, even though he rules only a small nation.

[11:24] He will invade a wealthy province without warning and will do things that none of his ancestors ever did. Then he will divide among his followers the goods and property he has captured in war. He will make plans to attack fortresses, but his time will soon run out.

[11:25] “He will boldly raise a large army to attack the king of Egypt, who will prepare to fight back with a huge and powerful army. But the king of Egypt will be deceived and will not be successful.

[11:26] His closest advisers will ruin him. Many of his soldiers will be killed, and his army will be wiped out.

[11:27] Then the two kings will sit down to eat at the same table, but their motives will be evil, and they will lie to each other. They will not get what they want, because the time for it has not yet come.

[11:28] The king of Syria will return home with all the loot he has captured, determined to destroy the religion of God's people. He will do as he pleases and then return to his own land.

[11:29] “Later on he will invade Egypt again, but this time things will turn out differently.

[11:30] The Romans will come in ships and oppose him, and he will be frightened. “Then he will turn back in a rage and try to destroy the religion of God's people. He will follow the advice of those who have abandoned that religion.

[11:31] Some of his soldiers will make the Temple ritually unclean. They will stop the daily sacrifices and set up The Awful Horror.

[11:32] By deceit the king will win the support of those who have already abandoned their religion, but those who follow God will fight back.

[11:33] Wise leaders of the people will share their wisdom with many others. But for a while some of them will be killed in battle or be burned to death, and some will be robbed and made prisoners.

[11:34] While the killing is going on, God's people will receive a little help, even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons.

[11:35] Some of those wise leaders will be killed, but as a result of this the people will be purified. This will continue until the end comes, the time that God has set.

[11:36] “The king of Syria will do as he pleases. He will boast that he is greater than any god, superior even to the Supreme God. He will be able to do this until the time when God punishes him. God will do exactly what he has planned.

[11:37] The king will ignore the god his ancestors served, and also the god that women love. In fact, he will ignore every god, because he will think he is greater than any of them.

[11:38] Instead, he will honor the god who protects fortresses. He will offer gold, silver, jewels, and other rich gifts to a god his ancestors never worshiped.

[11:39] To defend his fortresses, he will use people who worship a foreign god. He will give great honor to those who accept him as ruler, put them into high offices, and give them land as a reward.

[11:40] “When the king of Syria's final hour has almost come, the king of Egypt will attack him, and the king of Syria will fight back with all his power, using chariots, horses, and many ships. He will invade many countries, like the waters of a flood.

[11:41] He will even invade the Promised Land and kill tens of thousands, but the countries of Edom, Moab, and what is left of Ammon will escape.

[11:42] When he invades all those countries, even Egypt will not be spared.

[11:43] He will take away Egypt's hidden treasures of gold and silver and its other prized possessions. He will conquer Libya and Ethiopia.

[11:44] Then news that comes from the east and the north will frighten him, and he will fight furiously, killing many people.

[11:45] He will even set up his huge royal tents between the sea and the mountain on which the Temple stands. But he will die, with no one there to help him.”

[12:1] The angel wearing linen clothes said, “At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved.

[12:2] Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace.

[12:3] The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever.”

[12:4] He said to me, “And now, Daniel, close the book and put a seal on it until the end of the world. Meanwhile, many people will waste their efforts trying to understand what is happening.”

[12:5] Then I saw two men standing by a river, one on each bank.

[12:6] One of them asked the angel who was standing further upstream, “How long will it be until these amazing events come to an end?”

[12:7] The angel raised both hands toward the sky and made a solemn promise in the name of the Eternal God. I heard him say, “It will be three and a half years. When the persecution of God's people ends, all these things will have happened.”

[12:8] I heard what he said, but I did not understand it. So I asked, “But, sir, how will it all end?”

[12:9] He answered, “You must go now, Daniel, because these words are to be kept secret and hidden until the end comes.

[12:10] Many people will be purified. Those who are wicked will not understand but will go on being wicked; only those who are wise will understand.

[12:11] “From the time the daily sacrifices are stopped, that is, from the time of The Awful Horror, 1,290 days will pass.

[12:12] Happy are those who remain faithful until 1,335 days are over!

[12:13] “And you, Daniel, be faithful to the end. Then you will die, but you will rise to receive your reward at the end of time.”