Daniel 8

¹In the thridde yeer of the rewme of Balthasar, the king, a visioun apperide to me. Y, Danyel, after that thing that Y hadde seyn in the bigynnyng,

²siy in my visioun, whanne Y was in the castel of Susis, which is in the cuntrei of Helam; sotheli Y siy in the visioun that Y was on the yate Vlay.

³And Y reiside myn iyen, and Y siy; and lo! o ram stood bifor the mareis, and hadde hiy hornes, and oon hiyere than the tother, and vndurwexynge.

⁴Aftirward Y siy the ram wyndewynge with hornes ayens the eest, and ayens the west, and ayens the north, and ayens the south; and alle beestis myyten not ayenstonde it, nether be delyuered fro the hondis of it. And it dide bi his wille, and was magnefied.

⁵And Y vndurstood. Lo! forsothe a buk of geet cam fro the west on the face of al erthe, and touchide not the erthe; forsothe the buk of geet hadde a noble horn bitwixe hise iyen;

⁶and he cam til to that horned ram, which Y hadde seyn stondynge bifore the yate, and he ran in the fersnesse of his strengthe to that ram.

⁷And whanne he hadde neiyid niy the ram, he hurlide fersly on hym, and he smoot the ram, and al to-brak tweyne hornes of hym, and the ram miyte not ayenstonde hym. And whanne he hadde sent that ram in to erthe, he defoulide; and no man miyte delyuere the ram fro his hond.

⁸Forsothe the buk of geet was maad ful greet; and whanne he hadde encreessid, the greet horn was brokun, and foure hornes risiden vndur it, bi foure wyndis of heuene.

⁹Forsothe of oon of hem yede out o litil horn, and it was maad greet ayens the south, and ayens the eest, and ayens the strengthe.

¹⁰And it was magnefied til to the strengthe of heuene, and it castide doun of the strengthe and of sterris, and defoulide tho.

¹¹And he was magnefied til to the prince of strengthe, and he took awei fro hym the contynuel sacrifice, and castide doun the place of his halewyng.

¹²Forsothe strengthe was youun to hym ayens the contynuel sacrifice for synnes, and treuthe schal be cast doun in erthe; and he schal haue prosperite, and schal do.

¹³And Y herde oon of hooli aungels spekynge; and oon hooli aungel seide to another, Y noot to whom spekinge, Hou long the visioun, and the contynuel sacrifice, and the synne of desolacioun, which is maad, and the seyntuarie, and the strengthe schal be defoulid?

¹⁴And he seide to hym, Til to the euentid and morewtid, two thousynde daies and thre hundrid; and the seyntuarie schal be clensid.

¹⁵Forsothe it was doon, whanne Y, Danyel, siy the visioun, and axide the vndurstondyng, lo! as the licnesse of a man stood in my siyt.

¹⁶And Y herde the voys of a man bitwixe Vlai, and he criede, and seide, Gabriel, make thou Danyel to vndurstonde this visioun.

¹⁷And he cam, and stood bisidis where Y stood; and whanne he was comun, Y dredde, and felle on my face. And he seide to me, Thou, sone of man, vndurstonde, for the visioun schal be fillid in the tyme of ende.

¹⁸And whanne he spak to me, Y slood doun `plat to the erthe. And he touchide me, and settide me in my degree.

¹⁹And he seide to me, Y schal schewe to thee what thingis schulen come in the laste of cursing, for the tyme hath his ende.

²⁰The ram, whom thou siyest haue hornes, is the kyng of Medeis and of Perseis.

²¹Forsothe the buc of geet is the kyng of Grekis; and the greet horn that was bitwixe hise iyen, he is the firste kyng.

²²Forsothe that whanne that horn was brokun, foure hornes risiden for it, foure kyngis schulen rise of the folc of hym, but not in the strengthe of hym.

²³And after the rewme of hem, whanne `wickidnessis han encreessid, a kyng schal rise vnschamefast in face, and vndurstondyng proposisiouns, ether resouns set forth; and his strengthe schal be maad stalworthe,

²⁴but not in hise strengthis. And more than it mai be bileuyd he schal waste alle thingis, and he schal haue prosperite, and schal do. And he schal sle stronge men, and the puple of seyntis,

²⁵bi his wille, and gile schal be dressid in his hond. And he schal magnefie his herte, and in abundaunce of alle thingis he schal sle ful many men. And he schal rise ayens the prince of princes, and withouten hond he schal be al to-brokun.

²⁶And the visioun, which is seid in the morewtid and euentid, is trewe. Therfor seele thou the visioun, for it schal be after many daies.

²⁷And Y, Danyel, was astonyed, and was sijk bi ful many daies; and whanne Y hadde rise, Y dide the werkis of the kyng; and Y was astonyed at the visioun, and `noon was that interpretide.

Daniel 8

¹In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

²And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

³Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, 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.

⁴I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

⁵And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

⁶And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

⁷And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

⁸Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

¹⁰And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

¹¹Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

¹²And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

¹³Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

¹⁴And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

¹⁵And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

¹⁶And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

¹⁷So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

¹⁹And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

²⁰The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

²¹And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

²²Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

²³And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

²⁴And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

²⁵And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

²⁶And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

²⁷And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.