3 I looked around and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two long horns, one longer than the other, even though the longer one had grown last. 4 I watched the ram charging west, north, and south. No animal could stand up to it—nor was there any chance of rescue from its power. It did whatever it wanted8:4. Compare 11:3, 11:16, 11:36. and grew powerful.
5 As I was thinking about what I’d seen, a male goat came in from the west, racing in across the surface of the earth so fast it didn’t touch the ground. It had a large, prominent horn between its eyes. 6 It approached the ram with the two horns which I had seen standing beside the river, rushing in to attack in a furious rage. 7 I watched as the goat charged furiously at the ram, hitting it and breaking off its two horns. The ram did not have the strength to resist the goat’s attack. The goat threw the ram to the ground, trampling on it, and there was no possibility of rescuing it from the goat’s power.
8 The goat grew very powerful, but at the height of its power its large horn was broken off. In its place four large horns came up, pointing to the four winds of heaven.8:8. "Four winds of heaven": north, south, east, and west. 9 A little horn came up from one of them, and grew extremely powerful to the south and to the east and to the Beautiful Land.8:9. "The beautiful land": a reference to the land of Israel. 10 It grew in power until it reached the heavenly army, throwing some of them and some of the stars down to the earth and trampled on them. 11 It even tried to make itself as great as the Prince of the heavenly army—it removed the continual service,8:11. "Continual service": the word here refers to the continuing sanctuary services that were carried out on a daily basis. (The word used here simply says "daily.") Some translations restrict this to "daily sacrifice" but the daily ministry in the sanctuary involved much more than this. The same term is used in verses 12 and 13, and 11:31. The continual service was initiated in Exodus 29:38. It was expected to be continual (Leviticus 6:13, Numbers 28:1-15). and the place of his sanctuary was destroyed. 12 An army of people8:12. The army referenced here is clearly different from the heavenly army mentioned in verse 10. The word for "army" or "host" can simply mean a large group. and the continual service were handed over to it because of rebellion,8:12. The Hebrew of the first part of this verse is unclear. and it overthrew truth, and it was successful in everything it did.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one asked the one who was speaking, "How long is this vision for—the removal of the continual service, the rebellion that causes devastation, the handing over of the sanctuary and the army of people to be trampled down?" 14 He replied, "For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be cleansed."8:14. "Cleansed": some have suggested "justified" or "restored," however the Septuagint and the Vulgate both read "cleansed."