Daniel 11

1 And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

And I myself, in the first year of Darius the Mede, took my stand to support and defend him.

2 And now I will show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all. And when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.

So now let me reveal the truth to you. There are still three kings to come to power in Persia, and then a fourth who will be far richer than all the others. When he becomes strong through his wealth, he will rally the whole kingdom against Greece.

3 And a mighty king shall stand up, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.

Then a mighty king will come to power. He will rule with great authority and do whatever he wants.

4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides these.

But as he extends his power his kingdom will be broken up, divided towards the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, and it will not be ruled as he ruled. It will be pulled up and given to others.

5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his rulers. And he shall be powerful over him, and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion.

The king of the south will grow strong, but one of his officers will grow even stronger and will rule his kingdom with great authority.

6 And at the end of years they shall join themselves together. And the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she shall not retain the strength of her arm, nor shall he stand, nor his arm. But she shall be given up, and also those who brought her, and he who begot her, and he who strengthened her in those times.

Some years later they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south will be married to the king of the north to guarantee the peace treaty. However, she will not be able to keep her hold on power, nor will his power continue. She and her attendants will be betrayed, along with her child and husband. Later on, however,

7 But out of a shoot from her roots shall a man stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.

a new king of the south from her family will take over. He will come to attack the army of the king of the north and enter his fortress. He will fight against them and will win.

8 And also their gods, with their molten images, and with their goodly vessels of silver and of gold, he shall carry captive into Egypt, and he shall refrain from the king of the north some years.

In addition he will take back with him to Egypt the idols of their gods, along with their expensive vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will leave the king of the north alone.

9 And he shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but he shall return into his own land.

Then the king of the north will march into the kingdom of the king of the south but will have to retreat to his own land.

10 And his sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through. And they shall return and war, even to his fortress.

However, his sons will prepare for war, assembling a huge number of troops. One of them will lead an advance that rushes forward like a river bursting its banks, crossing over and pressing forward to attack the enemy fortress.

11 And the king of the south shall be moved with anger, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north. And he shall set forth a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.

This will infuriate the king of the south, who will go out into battle against the large army assembled by the king of the north and will defeat it.

12 And the multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall be exalted. And he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.

After capturing such a large army, he will become very proud, and will kill thousands. But this triumph will not last long.

13 And the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and he shall come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance.

Years later the king of the north will once again raise an army, even larger than before, and will invade with this huge army, accompanied by plenty of supplies.

14 And in those times many shall stand up against the king of the south. Also the sons of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision, but they shall fall.

At the same time many will rebel against the king of the south. Violent men from your own people will rebel in order to fulfill this vision, but they shall fail.

15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, nor his chosen people. Neither shall there be any strength to stand.

Then the king of the north will come and build siege ramps and he will capture a city with strong defenses. The forces of the south will not be able to prevent it—even his best troops won't be able to resist the attack.

16 But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction.

The invader will do whatever he wants; no one will be able to oppose him. He will stand in the Beautiful Land with the power to destroy it.

17 And he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions, and he shall perform them. And he shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her, but she shall not stand, nor be for him.

He will be determined to come with all the power of his kingdom and will make a peace treaty with the king of the south. To secure this he will give him a daughter of women to marry in order to destroy the kingdom. But she will not be successful and will not support him.

18 After this he shall turn his face to the isles, and shall take many. But a ruler shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease. Yea, moreover, he shall cause his reproach to turn upon him.

Then he will turn to attack the coastlands and will conquer many, but a commander will put a stop to his arrogant behavior, paying him back for it.

19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.

He will return to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and will be gone.

20 Then someone shall stand up in his place who shall cause an exactor to pass through the glory of the kingdom, but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.

His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain royal wealth. However, in a short time he will die, but not violently or in battle.

21 And in his place he who is contemptible shall stand up, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom. But he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

A contemptible person will follow him who will not be given royal majesty. He will take over peacably and assume control of the kingdom through deception.

22 And the overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken, yea, also the ruler of the covenant.

Great armies will be swept away before him. They will be broken, as well as the prince of the agreement.

23 And after the league made with him, he shall work deceitfully, for he shall come up, and shall become strong, with a small people.

After making an alliance with him, he will act deceptively. He will come to power peacably, becoming strong though only having a few supporters.

24 He shall come in time of security even upon the fattest places of the province, and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers. He shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance. Yea, he shall devise his devices against the strongholds, even for a time.

He will invade the richest parts of the land and do what his fathers and forefathers never did—he will distribute plunder, spoil, and possessions. He will make plans to attack fortresses, but only for a time.

25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall war in battle with a very great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for they shall devise devices against him.

Then he will draw on his strength and courage to gather a large army against the king of the south. The king of the south will prepare for war. Fighting back with a large and powerful army, but he will not be successful because of plots made against him.

26 Yea, those who eat of his food shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain.

Those closest to him will destroy him. His army will be wiped out—many will fall in battle.

27 And as for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table. But it shall not prosper, for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.

The two kings, with evil intentions, will tell each other lies even as they sit together at the same table. But their scheming is pointless—the end will come at the time predicted.

28 Then he shall return into his land with great substance. And his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall do his pleasure, and return to his own land.

The king of the north will return to his own country with all the wealth he has looted. He will be determined to attack the people of the holy agreement, and do all he can to destroy it before returning to his own country.

29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come into the south, but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former.

At the time predicted he will return to invade the south again, but this time it won't be like before.

30 For ships of Kittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved, and shall return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure. He shall even return, and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.

Ships from Cyprus will come to attack him, frightening him off so that he retreats. But this will make him mad, and he will attack the people of the holy agreement, recognizing those who abandon their commitment to the holy agreement.

31 And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

His forces will occupy and defile the Temple fortress. They will put a stop to the continual service, and set up a form of idolatry that causes devastation.

32 And he shall pervert by flatteries such as do wickedly against the covenant. But the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

The king will use flattery to corrupt those who break the solemn agreement, but the people who know their God will stand firm in their resistance.

33 And those who are wise among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, many days.

Wise leaders of the people will teach many, though for a time they will be killed by sword and fire, or they will be imprisoned and robbed.

34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help, but many shall join themselves to them with flatteries.

During this time of persecution they will receive a little help, and many who join them won't be sincere.

35 And some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for the time appointed.

Some of the wise will be killed, so that they may be refined and purified and cleansed until the time of the end, for the predicted time is still to come.

36 And the king shall do according to his will. And he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods. And he shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that which is determined shall be done.

The king will do whatever he wants, praising himself and considering himself greater than any god, even saying outrageous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of anger has finished, for what has been decided will be accomplished.

37 Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all.

He will have no time for the gods of his forefathers, nor for the one loved by women, nor for any other god, for he considers himself greater than any of these.

38 But in his place he shall honor the god of fortresses. And a god whom his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

Instead he will honor the god of fortresses—a god unknown to his forefathers—giving him offerings of gold and silver and precious stones and expensive gifts.

39 And he shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he will increase with glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price.

He will deal with strong fortresses with the help of this foreign god. He will give riches to those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over the people, and distributing the land at a price.

40 And at the time of the end, the king of the south shall contend with him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through.

At the time of the end the king of the south will attack him. But the king of the north will retaliate with force like a storm, with chariots and horsemen and many ships. He will advance, sweeping through many lands.

41 He shall also enter into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown. But these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.

He will invade the Beautiful Land and kill many people there. However, Moab, Edom, and most of the Ammonites will escape his power.

42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

He will extend his attacks against different countries—even the land of Egypt will not be able to escape.

43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

He will acquire the gold and silver and riches of Egypt, ruling over them and also the Libyans and Ethiopians.

44 But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him, and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and to utterly sweep away many.

But news from the east and the north will alarm him, and in a furious rage he will set out to destroy and exterminate many people.

45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain, yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

He will set up his royal camp between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. But he will die with no one to help him.