11. That little horn became very strong, and it turned against God, the Ruler of heaven’s army. It stopped the daily sacrifices that were offered to the Ruler. And the holy place where people worshiped the Ruler was pulled down.
12. Because of this sin, the daily sacrifices were stopped. Truth was thrown down to the ground. The little horn did these things and was very successful.
13. Then I heard two holy ones talking with each other. One of them asked the other one, who had been speaking, “How long will the things in this vision last—the stopping of the daily sacrifices, the sin that destroys, and the trampling down of the holy place and heaven’s army?”
14. The other holy one said, “This will last for 2300 days. Then the holy place will be repaired.”
15. I, Daniel, saw this vision and tried to understand what it meant. While I was thinking about the vision, someone who looked like a man suddenly stood in front of me.
16. Then I heard a man’s voice. This voice came from above the Ulai River. The voice called out, “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”
17. So Gabriel, the angel who looked like a man, came to me. I was very afraid and fell down to the ground. But Gabriel said to me, “Human, understand that this vision is about the time of the end.”
18. While Gabriel was speaking, I fell to the ground and went to sleep. It was a very deep sleep. Then Gabriel touched me and lifted me to my feet.
19. He said, “Now, I will explain the vision to you. I will tell you what will happen in the future. Your vision was about the end times.
20. “You saw a ram with two horns. The horns are the countries of Media and Persia.
21. The goat is the king of Greece. The big horn between its eyes is the first king.
22. That horn broke off and four horns grew in its place. The four horns are four kingdoms. Those four kingdoms will come from the nation of the first king, but they will not be as strong as the first king.
23. “When the end is near for those kingdoms, there will be a very bold and cruel king who will be very tricky. This will happen when many people have turned against God.
24. This king will be very powerful, but his power does not come from himself. This king will cause terrible destruction. He will be successful in everything he does. He will destroy powerful people—even God’s holy people.
25. “This king will be very smart and tricky. He will use his wisdom and lies to be successful. He will think that he is very important. He will destroy many people, when they least expect it. He will try to fight even the Prince of Princes. But that cruel king’s power will be destroyed, and it will not be a human hand that destroys him.