Daniel Has a Vision About a Ram and a Goat
1It was the third year of King Belshazzar’s rule. After the vision that had already appeared to me, I had another one. 2In my vision I saw myself in the city of Susa. It has high walls around it. It is in the land of Elam. In the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3I looked up and saw a ram that had two horns. It was standing beside the canal. Its horns were long. One of them was longer than the other. But that horn grew up later. 4I watched the ram as it charged toward the west. It also charged toward the north and the south. No animal could stand up against it. Not one of them could save anyone from its power. It did as it pleased. And it became great.
5I was thinking about all of this. Then a goat suddenly came from the west. It had a large horn between its eyes. The goat raced across the whole earth without even touching the ground. 6It came toward the ram that had the two horns. It was the ram I had seen standing beside the canal. The goat was very angry. It charged at the ram. 7I saw it attack the ram with mighty force. It struck the ram and broke the ram’s two horns. The ram didn’t have the power to stand up against it. The goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped on it. No one could save the ram from the goat’s power. 8The goat became very great. But when its power was at its greatest, the goat’s large horn was broken off. In its place four large horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.
9Out of one of the four horns came another horn. It was small at first but became more and more powerful. It grew to the south and to the east and toward the beautiful land of Israel. 10It grew until it reached the stars in the sky. It threw some of them down to the earth. And it stomped on them. 11It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the Lord’s army. It took away the daily sacrifices from the Lord. And his temple in Jerusalem was thrown down. 12Because many of the Lord’s people refused to obey him, they were handed over to the horn. The daily sacrifices were also given over to it. The horn was successful no matter what it did. And true worship of God was thrown down to the ground.
13Then I heard a holy angel speaking. Another holy angel spoke to him. He asked, “How long will it take for the vision to come true? When will the daily sacrifices be stopped? When will those who refuse to obey God be destroyed? When will the temple be handed over to an enemy? And when will some of the Lord’s people be stomped on?”
14One of the holy angels said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the temple will be made holy again.”
Gabriel Tells Daniel What His Vision Means
15I was having the vision. And I was trying to understand it. Then I saw someone who looked like a man. 16I heard a voice from the Ulai Canal. It called out, “Gabriel, tell Daniel what his vision means.”
17Gabriel came close to where I was standing. I was terrified and fell down flat with my face toward the ground. Here is what he said to me. “Son of man, I want you to understand the vision. It’s about the time of the end.”
18While he was speaking to me, I was sound asleep. I lay with my face on the ground. Then he touched me. He raised me to my feet.
19He said, “I am going to tell you what will happen later. It will take place when God is angry. The vision is about the appointed time of the end. 20You saw a ram that had two horns. It stands for the kings of Media and Persia. 21The goat stands for the king of Greece. The large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22Four horns took the horn’s place when it was broken off. They stand for four kingdoms that will come from his nation. But those kingdoms will not be as powerful as his.
23“Toward the end of their rule, those who refuse to obey God will become completely evil. Then another king will appear. He will have a scary-looking face. He will be a master at making clever plans. 24He will become very strong. But he will not get that way by his own power. People will be amazed at the way he destroys everything. He will be successful no matter what he does. He will destroy mighty people. Those mighty people are God’s holy people. 25He will tell lies in order to succeed. He will think he is more important than anyone else. When people feel safe, he will destroy many of them. He will stand up against the greatest Prince of all. Then he will be destroyed. But he will not be killed by human beings.
26“The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given to you is true. But seal up the vision. It is about a time far off.”
27I, Daniel, was worn out. I was too tired to get up for several days. Then I got up and returned to my work for the king. The vision bewildered me. I couldn’t understand it.
Daniels syn om vædderen og gedebukken
1I kong Belshazzars tredje regeringsår8,1 Ca. 551 f.Kr. fik jeg, Daniel, en ny drøm med endnu et syn. 2I drømmesynet fandt jeg mig selv stående ved Ulaj-kanalen i den befæstede by Susa i provinsen Elam. 3Da jeg så mig omkring, opdagede jeg ved bredden af kanalen en vædder med to lange horn. Det ene horn voksede og blev større end det andet. 4Vædderen stangede mod vest, mod nord og mod syd, og ingen kunne holde stand imod den eller redde dens ofre. Den gjorde, som det passede den, og fik stor magt.
5Så kom der pludselig en gedebuk med et mægtigt horn i panden farende fra vest med en sådan fart, at dens klove ikke rørte jorden. 6Med rasende fart styrede den lige imod den tohornede vædder, som stod ved bredden af kanalen, 7og jeg så, hvordan den rasende buk stødte frontalt ind i vædderen med en sådan kraft, at vædderens to horn brækkede af. Vædderen kunne ikke klare sig imod gedebukken, men blev kastet om på jorden og trampet ned, uden at nogen kunne redde den.
8Derefter voksede gedebukken og blev endnu stærkere. Men da den var allerstærkest, brækkede dens store horn af, og i stedet voksede fire mindre horn frem, der pegede mod hver sit verdenshjørne. 9Fra det ene af hornene voksede et andet horn frem. Det blev meget stærkt og udbredte sin magt mod syd og mod øst og mod Israels land. 10Det voksede helt op til stjernehimlen og slyngede nogle af himlens hære8,10 Med „himlens hære” hentydes måske til stjernerne, men nok snarere til Guds engle og dermed også til Guds folk, som englene beskytter. til jorden og trampede på dem. 11-12Det satte sig op imod anføreren for himlens hære og standsede de daglige ofringer til Guds ære. Det vanhelligede templet med urene ofre og bekæmpede Guds folk.8,11-12 Teksten er uklar. Sandheden blev undertrykt, og ondskaben havde fremgang.
13Da hørte jeg to af de hellige engle tale sammen. Den ene spurgte: „Hvor længe vil de daglige offerhandlinger være ophævet og erstattet af afskyeligheder? Hvor længe vil templet være vanhelliget og Guds folk undertrykt?” 14Hertil svarede den anden engel: „Efter 2300 dage skal templet igen komme til sin ret.”
Betydningen af drømmesynet
15Mens jeg prøvede at forstå, hvad synet betød, kom en, der lignede et menneske, hen imod mig, 16og jeg hørte en menneskestemme råbe fra den anden side af kanalen: „Gabriel, forklar den mand, hvad synet betyder!”
17Da Gabriel kom hen til mig, blev jeg så overvældet af rædsel, at jeg faldt om med ansigtet mod jorden. Så sagde han til mig: „Du må forstå, unge mand, at det, du her har set, vil ske i de sidste tider.” 18Mens han talte til mig, lå jeg som bedøvet med ansigtet mod jorden. Men han rørte ved mig og hjalp mig på benene. 19Derpå sagde han: „Jeg er kommet for at fortælle dig, hvad der skal ske i de sidste tider, når Gud udfører sin straf. Det vil alt sammen ske en gang i fremtiden, på den tid Gud har fastsat.”
20„Vædderens to horn, som du så, er kongerne af Medien og Persien. 21Gedebukken er det græske storrige, og det lange horn i dens pande symboliserer storrigets første konge. 22At hornet blev brækket af og erstattet med fire mindre horn, betyder, at storriget vil blive delt op i fire mindre riger med hver sin konge.
23Mod slutningen af disse fire rigers tid, når deres ondskab er på sit højeste, vil en brutal og bedragerisk konge komme til magten. 24Han vil få stor magt, men ikke ved egen kraft. Han har heldet med sig og skaber store ødelæggelser. Han vil overvinde mægtige fjender og undertrykke Guds folk. 25Hans ondskabsfulde planer vil lykkes, og det vil gøre ham stolt. Uden varsel vil han styrte mange i ulykke, og han vil ikke vige tilbage for at gå imod Fyrsten over alle fyrster! Men så vil han blive styrtet i ulykke, dog ikke af noget menneske.8,25 Blev opfyldt af Antiochus IV, som døde i 164 f.Kr. enten ved sygdom eller en ulykke.
26Som du allerede hørte i synet vil der gå 2300 dage,8,26 Eller: „tidsperioder”. før ofringerne i templet genindføres. Skriv synet ned og luk skriftrullen med segl, for det varer længe, før det vil ske.”
27Efter dette syn var jeg helt slået ud og lå syg i lang tid. Til sidst stod jeg op og genoptog mit arbejde i kongens tjeneste, men jeg var stadig rædselsslagen over synet og forstod ikke betydningen af det.
