In the first year of Belshazzar the king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay on his bed; then he wrote down the dream and the summary of the words as follows: Daniel explained and said, "I was looking in my vision in the night, and look, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, differing from one another. The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I was watching until its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth and it was raised on its feet like a human, and a human heart was given to it. And look, another beast, a second one, looking like a bear. And it was raised up on one side and three tusks were in its mouth between its teeth, and so it was told, "Arise, eat much flesh!" After this I was watching and look, another beast like a leopard; it had four wings of a bird on its back, and the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this in the visions of the night I was looking and there was a fourth beast, terrifying and frightful and exceedingly strong, and it had great iron teeth, and it was devouring and crushing, and it stamped the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the other beasts that preceded it and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and look, another little horn came up among them, and three of the earlier horns were rooted out from before it, and there were eyes like the eyes of a human in this horn and also a mouth that was speaking boastfully.

"I continued watching until thrones were placed and an Ancient of Days sat; his clothing was like white snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool and his throne was a flame of fire and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued forth and flowed from his presence; thousands upon thousands served him and ten thousand upon ten thousand stood before him. The judge sat, and the books were opened.

"I continued watching then because of the noise of the boastful words of the horn who was speaking; I continued watching until the beast was slain and its body was destroyed, and it was given over to burning with fire. And as for the remainder of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but a prolongation of their life was given to them for a season and a time.

"I continued watching in the visions of the night, and look, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all the peoples, the nations, and languages would serve him; his dominion is a dominion without end that will not cease, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

"As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. So I approached one of the attendants and I asked him about the truth concerning all this; and he told me that he would make known to me the explanation of the matter. ‘These great beasts which are four in number are four kings who will arise from the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

"Then I desired to make certain concerning the fourth beast that was different from all the others—exceedingly terrifying, with its iron teeth and its claws of bronze; it devoured and crushed and stamped the remainder with its feet— and concerning the horns that were on its head, and concerning the other horn that came up and before which three horns fell, and this horn had eyes and a mouth speaking boastfully, and its appearance was larger than its companions. I continued watching, and this horn made war with the holy ones and it prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came and gave judgment to the holy ones of the Most High; and the time arrived and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.

"And he said, ‘The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom that will be on the earth that will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and it will trample it and it will crush it. And as for the ten horns coming from it, from this kingdom ten kings will arise, and another will arise after them. And he will be different from the earlier ones, and he will subdue three kings. And he will speak words against the Most High, and he will wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and he will attempt to change times and law, and they will be given into his hand for a time and two times and half a time. Then the court will sit, and his dominion will be removed, to be eradicated and to be destroyed totally. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the nation of the holy ones of the Most High; his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey him.’

This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel—my thoughts terrified me greatly and my face changed over me, but I kept the matter in my heart."

In the third year of the kingdom of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that appeared to me previously. And I saw in the vision, and when I saw, I was in Susa, the citadel that was in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I myself was at the stream of Ulai. And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and look! A ram standing before the stream, and it had two horns, and the horns were long, but the one was longer than the second, and the longer one came up after the other one. I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward, and none of the beasts stood before it, and there was no rescuing from its power, and it did what it wanted and it became strong.

And I was considering this, and look, a he-goat coming from the west across the face of the whole earth, and it was not touching the ground; and the he-goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes. Then it came toward the ram that had the two horns that I saw standing before the stream, and it ran at it with the rage of its power. And I saw it approaching the ram and it was furious at it, and it struck the ram, and it broke its two horns, and there was not strength in the ram to stand before him, and he threw it down to the ground and trampled it, and there was no one who could rescue the ram from its power. And the he-goat grew exceedingly great, and at the height of its power the great horn was broken, and four conspicuous horns came up in place of it toward the four winds of heaven.

And from one of them came forth a horn, a little one, and it grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beautiful land. And it grew up to the host of heaven, and it threw down to the ground some of the host and some of the stars and trampled them. Even against the prince of the hosts it acted arrogantly and took away from him the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. And on account of transgression, the host was given over to the horn in addition to the regular burnt offering. And it cast down truth to the ground, and it acted, and it had success.

And I heard a certain holy one speaking, and a certain other holy one said to the specific one who was speaking, "For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, and the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and the host to trampling?" And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be restored."

And then when I, Daniel, saw the vision, and I was seeking understanding, there was one standing before me with the appearance of a man. And I heard the voice of a human at the Ulai, and he called and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision." And he came beside where I was standing, and when he came I became terrified and I fell prostrate on my face. And he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end."

And when he spoke with me I fell into a trance with my face to the ground, and he touched me and made me stand on by feet. And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what will happen in the period of wrath, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.

"The ram that you saw who had two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

"And the hairy he-goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes—he is the first king. And the horn that was broken, and then there arose four horns in place of it—these are four kingdoms that will arise from his nation, but not with his power. And at the end of their kingdom, when the transgressions are completed, a king will arise, fierce in countenance and skilled in riddles. And his power will grow, but not by his own power, and he will cause fearful destruction, and he will succeed and he will act, and he will destroy the mighty and the people of the holy ones. And by his planning he will make a success of deceit by his hand, and in his mind he will boast, and in their ease he will destroy many, and even against the prince of princes he will rise up, and he will be broken, but not by human hands. And the vision of the evening and the morning that has been described, it is true; and you, seal up the vision, for it refers to many days to come."

And I, Daniel, was overcome, and I became ill for some days, and I performed the business of the king, and I was dismayed over the vision and I did not understand it.

In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, from the offspring of the Medes, who became king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his kingship I, Daniel, observed in the scrolls the number of the years that it was that were to be fulfilled according to the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet for the devastation of Jerusalem—seventy years.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors and to all the people of the land.

"Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord, and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far off in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God, for we have rebelled against him, and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law which he placed before us by the hand of his servants the prophets.

"And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. And so he has carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us a great calamity which was not done under all of heaven as it was done in Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and we have not implored the face of Yahweh our God so as to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness. So Yahweh has kept watch over the calamity, and now he has brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God is righteous concerning all his works that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice.

"And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you have made for yourself a name until this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain, because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors.

"And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine your face upon your desolate sanctuary for your sake, O Lord. Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy before you because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay for your sake, my God; because your city and your people are called by your name."

Now I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before Yahweh my God, on behalf of the holy mountain of my God. And I was still speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, in my weariness touched me at the time of the evening offering. And he instructed me and he spoke with me and he said, "Daniel I have now come out to teach you understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and now I have come to declare it, for you are highly esteemed, and so consider the word and understand the vision.

"Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and for your holy city, to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint the most holy place. And you must know and you must understand that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed one—a leader—will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but in a time of oppression.

"And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off, and he shall have nothing, and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined. And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering and in its place a desolating abomination comes even until the determined complete destruction is poured out on the desolator."

So then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and put a purple robe on him, and were coming up to him and saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" and were giving him slaps in the face.

And Pilate came outside again and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing him outside to you, so that you will know that I find no basis for an accusation against him." Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, "Behold the man!" So when they saw him, the chief priests and the officers shouted, saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate said to them, "You take him and crucify him! For I do not find a basis for an accusation against him." The Jews replied to him, "We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the Son of God!"

So when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid, and he entered into the governor’s residence again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus did not give him an answer. So Pilate said to him, "Will you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?" Jesus replied to him, "You would not have any authority over me unless it was given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has greater sin."

From this point on Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews shouted, saying, "If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar! Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!" So Pilate, when he heard these words, brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat, in the place called The Stone Pavement (but Gabbatha in Aramaic). (Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, "Behold your king!"

Then those shouted, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests replied, "We do not have a king except Caesar!" So then he handed him over to them in order that he could be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and carrying for himself the cross, he went out to the place called The Place of a Skull (which is called Golgotha in Aramaic), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle. And Pilate also wrote a notice and placed it on the cross, and it was written: "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews." So many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The king of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, I am king of the Jews.’" Pilate replied, "What I have written, I have written."

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his clothing and made four shares—for each soldier a share—and the tunic. (Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top in a single piece.) So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it apart, but cast lots for it, to see whose it will be," so that the scripture would be fulfilled that says,

Thus the soldiers did these things.

Now his mother and the sister of his mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross of Jesus. So Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that now at last everything was completed, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it to his mouth. Then when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "It is completed," and bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an important day), asked Pilate that their legs could be broken and they could be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, after they saw he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out immediately. And the one who has seen it has testified, and his testimony is true, and that person knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. For these things happened in order that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not a bone of his will be broken." And again another scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

And after these things, Joseph who was from Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but a secret one for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate allowed it, so he came and took away his body. And Nicodemus—the one who had come to him formerly at night—also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in strips of linen cloth with the fragrant spices, as is the Jews’ custom to prepare for burial. Now there was a garden at the place where he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one was yet buried. So there, on account of the day of preparation of the Jews, because the tomb was close by, they buried Jesus.