Daniel 8:1-10

In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, I, Daniel, saw a second supernatural vision. In my vision I suddenly found myself in the fortress city of Susa, the capital of the province of Elam, standing beside the Ulai canal. As I looked about, behold, I saw a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two long horns, one behind the other, but the one behind was longer. I watched as the ram charged toward the west, then the north, and then the south. With each conquest, it became even more powerful. No beast could withstand it or be rescued from its power; it did whatever it pleased. As I considered what it all meant, I saw a male goat come rushing from the west, racing across the whole earth without touching the ground. He had a single prominent horn on his forehead. The goat came up to the two-horned ram that I saw standing beside the canal and rushed at it with savage force. Then I saw him reach the ram and attack it with furious blows. He smashed it so hard that it broke off its two horns, for the ram had no power to withstand it. The goat knocked the ram to the ground and trampled it down. And there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. Then the goat grew exceedingly arrogant. At the very peak of his power, his big horn abruptly snapped off. In its place, four prominent horns came up, each pointing to a different direction. From one of them, a small horn emerged. It eventually grew to be very big, and its power extended toward the south, the east, and toward the beautiful land. It grew so powerful that it attacked the armies of heaven and hurled some of the starry host to the ground and trampled them down.