Daniel 8
Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter EditionKJP 
1Then in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, yet another vision appeared to me, Daniel. This vision came after the one that had already appeared to me (in Daniel 7). 2This vision showed me standing by the Ulai River by the palace (citadel) at Shushan, in the province of Elam. 3Then as I watched, I saw a ram with two horns standing beside the river; and these two horns were high; but one horn was higher than the other, and the higher horn developed last. 4I watched this ram push westward, northward, and then southward. No beasts could stand before him, nor was there anything that could aid those that he pushed against; he did whatever he pleased, and became great.

5And as I pondered this, I saw a male goat with a notably big horn between his eyes coming from the west across the face of the entire earth, running so fast that his feet seemed to never touch the ground. 6And he approached the ram with two horns that I had seen standing beside the river, and he made a furious charge into the ram with all his power. 7This goat attacked the ram, shattering his two horns, leaving the ram with no power to stand before him, and was thrown to the ground, and stomped by the goat; and there was none that could protect the ram from that goat.

8Thereafter, the male goat grew very great; and when he was strong, his notably large horn broke; and in its place came four prominent horns that grew toward the four winds of heaven. 9And out of one of them emerged a little horn, which then grew exceedingly great, as it pressed toward the south, the east, and toward the glorious land of Israel. 10And it grew great, until it reached up to the host of heaven; and it threw some of the host and the stars down to the ground, and trampled upon them. 11Yea, he set himself up even challenged the Commander of the army, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12And because of transgression, an army was given him to oppose the daily sacrifice, and he threw truth to the ground; and he continued to succeed. 13Then I heard two angels talking to each other. The one angel asked the other, “How long will the events seen in this vision last? 14The other replied, “It will last two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary will be cleansed and re-sanctified.”

15And as I, Daniel, was trying to grasp the meaning of the vision, One Who had the appearance of a man stood before me. 16And I heard a Man's voice from between the banks of Ulai, Who called, and said, “Gabriel, explain this vision to this man”. 17So he came near me; and as he approached, fear gripped me, and I fell upon my face; but then he said to me, “You must understand that the events you saw in the vision are for the end of time. 18Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, lying with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and set me on my feet. 19And he said, “I will now tell you what will occur in those last days of God‘s wrath and indignation; for it pertains to that appointed time. 20The ram you saw with the two horns, those horns represent the two kings, of Media and Persia. 21And the shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents its first king. 22Now the four horns, that replaced the large horn that was broken, are the four kingdoms that shall emerge from out of the nation, but none shall have as much power as the first one. 23And in the latter time of their reign, when the rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king and a master of intrigue and deception shall arise. 24And he will become very mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall have great success and devastate God‘s people (Israel). 25And by his policies of deceit, he shall succeed; and in his arrogance, he shall glorify himself, and he shall destroy many by falsely declaring his peaceful intents; and he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; and that is when he shall be destroyed, but not by earthly power. 26And this vision of the evening and the morning, which was shown to you is true; but you must seal up this vision; because it deals with events far in the future.

27And this vision left me, Daniel, exhausted, and feeling sick for several days; after which I arose, and returned to doing the king's business. I remained astonished by the vision; it was beyond comprehension.

An intro and overview of Daniel chapter 9

The year is 522BC. The Babylonian Empire that had carried Israel into captivity in 589BC, 67 years earlier, had been conquered by Cyrus of Persia in 539BC. King Darius, who later ascended to the throne in 522BC (after the death of Cyrus’ son and successor, Cambyses II) was in the first year of his reign. In verses 1-19, Daniel was familiar with scriptures, written between 586 and 570BC by Jeremiah, and between 700 and 681BC by Isaiah, (in which God actually identifies Cyrus by name, who wasn’t born until 600BC). And so Daniel, knowing from Jeremiah’s writing that the captivity would last 70 years, prayed for the forgiveness for their sins that had brought about their captivity, and for the promised restoration of Israel (). And while he was still praying, the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Daniel and informed him about some of the events that would occur in the next 390 years (verses 20-27).

Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition
© 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved.

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