The Daily Audio Bible

Daniel sees another vision

8 In the third year that King Belshazzar ruled Babylonia, I, Daniel, had another vision. That was after the vision that I had seen before.^[a]

² In this vision, I saw that I was in the strong city of Susa, in Elam region. I was standing near the Ulai river.^{[b] 3} I looked up and I saw a male sheep that had two long horns. It was standing beside the river. One of its horns was longer than the other one. The longer horn came up later than the shorter horn. ⁴ The sheep ran towards the west, the north and the south. He used his horns to push away all other animals. No other animal could stop him. Nobody could save them from his power. He did whatever he wanted to do. He boasted about his great strength.

⁵ While I was thinking about this, I saw a male goat that was coming from the west. It ran quickly across the earth. Its feet did not even touch the ground. The goat had a large horn between its eyes. ⁶ It came towards the male sheep that had two horns. I had seen that sheep as it stood beside the river. The goat was very angry. It ran to attack the sheep with all its strength. ⁷ I saw it as it attacked the sheep. It was so angry that it hit the sheep very hard. It broke off the sheep's two horns. The sheep had no power to stop the goat. The goat knocked the sheep down to the ground and it stamped on the sheep. Nobody could save the sheep from the power of the goat.

⁸ The male goat boasted even more about its power. Its large horn became very strong. But then the horn broke. Four other large horns came up in its place. Each of these horns pointed in a different direction. ⁹ Then a little horn grew out of one of these large horns. It grew to become very big. Its power reached towards the south, towards the east and towards the Beautiful Land.^{[c] 10} Its power became so great that it reached up into heaven. It attacked heaven's army and the stars in the sky. It threw some of them down to the ground and it stamped on them. ¹¹ It boasted that it was more powerful than the Captain of heaven's army. It stopped people from offering their sacrifices to God each day. It destroyed God's temple. ¹² God's people accepted the rule of the horn, because they had turned against God. They offered their sacrifices to the horn, instead of to God. The horn stopped people from believing the truth. It was able to do everything that it wanted to do.

¹³ Then I heard two angels as they talked to each other. One angel asked, ‘How long will the things in this vision continue to happen? How long will this disgusting thing stop the sacrifices each day? How long will it stand against God and stamp on his temple and his army?’ ¹⁴ The other angel answered, ‘It will continue for 2,300 evenings and mornings. After that, God's temple will be clean again.’

An angel explains Daniel's vision

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I tried to understand it. Then someone came to stand in front of me. He seemed like a man. ¹⁶ I heard a person's voice. It was coming across the Ulai river. The voice said, ‘Gabriel, help this man to understand the vision.’ ¹⁷ So Gabriel came towards me, where I was standing. I was very afraid and I fell down onto the ground. He said to me, ‘You, as a human, need to understand that the vision is about the end of time.’

¹⁸ While Gabriel spoke to me I was lying with my face on the ground. I was asleep. But he touched me and he caused me to stand up. ¹⁹ Then he said to me, ‘I will tell you what will happen at the end of time. It will be a time when God is very angry. The vision shows what will happen at the time that God has chosen. That will be the time for everything to finish.

²⁰ You saw a male sheep with two horns. Those horns mean the kingdoms of Media and Persia. ²¹ The male goat means the kingdom of Greece. The large horn between its eyes means the first king of Greece. ²² When that large horn broke, four horns grew in its place. Those horns show that the nation of Greece will become four separate kingdoms. But they will not be as powerful as the first kingdom.

²³ Near the end of the time when those kings rule, the people will be completely wicked. Then a proud, cruel king will appear. He will deceive people. ²⁴ He will become very strong, but this will not be a result of his own power. He will completely destroy many things. He will be successful in everything that he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and the holy people who belong to God. ²⁵ Because he is clever, he will completely deceive people. He will boast about his power. People will think that they are safe, but he will kill many of them. He will stand against the Ruler of all rulers. But God will destroy him, without human help.

²⁶ This vision about the evenings and the mornings is true. I have told you what it means. But keep the vision as a secret now. It will be a long time before these things happen.’

²⁷ After I, Daniel, saw this vision, I became very weak. I was sick for many days. Then I got up. I returned to my work to serve the king. The vision caused me to be very upset. I could not understand it.

God forgives our sins because of Jesus' death

2 I am writing this letter to you, my friends who are like my little children. I am writing to you because I do not want you to do wrong things. But if anyone among you does something wrong, there is someone who will speak to God on our behalf. That person is Jesus Christ, who always does only what is right. He will ask our Father God to forgive you. ² Jesus died as a sacrifice to take the punishment for our sin. Then God could forgive us. Jesus did that not only for us. He did it for all people in the world, so that God could forgive them for their sins.

³ This is how we can be sure that we know God: If we obey God's commands, we know that we belong to him. ⁴ Someone may say, ‘I belong to God.’ But if he does not obey God's commands, that person is telling a lie. He is not living in the way that God's true message teaches us. ⁵ But anyone who obeys God's message shows that he really loves God completely. So this is how we know that we belong to God. ⁶ If we say that we are living in God's true way, then we must live in the way that Jesus lived.^[a]

God tells us to love each other

⁷ My friends, I am telling you to love one another. When I write this to you, I am not giving you a new rule. It is an old rule that you have had for a long time. We gave it to you when you began to obey Christ. It is the same message that you have already heard. ⁸ But there is something new about it. This rule has become true in the way that Christ lived. Now it has also become true in your lives. God's true message has brought light to shine in your lives. You no longer live in the dark where you do bad things. ⁹ A person may say that he is living in the light. But if that person hates another believer, then he is telling a lie. He is still living in the dark. ¹⁰ Anyone who loves other believers shows that he is living in the light. There is nothing that will make him turn away from God. ¹¹ But if someone hates other believers, he is still living in a bad way. He is like someone who is walking in the dark. He cannot see where he is going. He is like a blind person. He cannot understand God's true message.^[b]

¹² My little children, I am writing to you because God has forgiven your sins. He has done this because of Christ.

¹³ You who are older, like fathers, I am writing to you because you know Christ. He has always been there, since before the world began.

You who are young men, I am writing to you because you have won against Satan.

¹⁴ Yes, my children, I have written to you because you know God, our Father.

Fathers, I have written to you because you know Christ. He was already there before the world began.

Young men, I have written to you because you are strong. You continue to obey God's message, and you have won against Satan.

¹⁵ Do not live like people who do not know God. Do not love the wrong things that belong to this world. If anyone loves those things, it shows that they do not love God, their Father. ¹⁶ What are the wrong things that belong to this world? People want to do bad things to make themselves happy. People want to have things that they see, even bad things. People want to show other people how rich they are. These ideas do not come from God, our Father. They are the thoughts of people who belong to the world. ¹⁷ One day, those people and the things that they want will not be there any longer. But those who continue to do what God wants will live for ever.

A song to sing as we climb.

Lord, please help me^[a]