< Daniel 11 >
1 And I myself, in the first year of Darius the Mede, took my stand to support and defend him.
And I also, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
2 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.
And now I will tell thee what is true. Behold, there shall arise yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than they all; and, relying upon his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
3 Then a mighty king will come to power. He will rule with great authority and do whatever he wants.
But a mighty king shall arise, and rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4 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.
But when he shall have arisen, his kingdom shall be broken in pieces, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor with the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, and divided amongst others besides those.
5 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.
And the king of the South shall become strong; but one of his princes shall become stronger than he, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
6 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,
And after some years they shall ally themselves with each other; and the daughter of the king of the South shall come to the king of the North, to make peace; but she shall not retain the power of giving aid; neither shall he stand, nor his aid; but she shall be given up, and they that caused her to go, and he that begat her, and he that received her in those times.
7 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.
But from a shoot of her roots shall one arise in his place, who shall come to an army, and shall come against the fortresses of the king of the North, and shall deal with them according to his pleasure, and prevail against them.
8 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.
And their gods, with their molten images, and their precious vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry into captivity into Egypt; then shall he stand away for many years from the king of the North;
9 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.
and he shall come against the kingdom of the king of the South, but he shall return into his own land.
10 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.
But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of large forces; and one of them shall move onward, and overflow, and pass through, and shall again stir himself up to carry on the war even to his stronghold.
11 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.
Then shall the king of the South be enraged, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the North; and shall lead forth a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.
12 After capturing such a large army, he will become very proud, and will kill thousands. But this triumph will not last long.
And the multitude shall be elated, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down tens of thousands; but he shall not be strong.
13 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.
For the king of the North shall return and raise up against him a multitude greater than the former, and shall steadily come after certain years with a great army and with great riches.
14 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.
And in those times many will stand up against the king of the South; and violent men of thy people shall exalt themselves, so as to establish the vision, and shall fall.
15 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.
And the king of the North shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a fortified city; and the arms of the South shall not withstand, neither his chosen men, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.
16 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.
And he that cometh against him shall do according to his will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the beautiful land, and destruction shall be in his hand.
17 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.
And he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and shall make pacification with him; and he shall give him his daughter in marriage, to ruin his dominion. But it shall not succeed, neither shall it be for him.
18 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.
After this he shall turn his face to the isles, and shall take many; but a commander shall put an end to his scorn; nay, shall cause his scorn to return upon himself.
19 He will return to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and will be gone.
Then shall he turn his face to the strongholds of his own land; and he shall stumble, and fall, and shall not be found.
20 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.
Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exacter of tribute through the glory of his kingdom; but within few days shall he be destroyed, neither by anger nor by battle.
21 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.
And in his place shall arise a despised person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom; but in the midst of peace he shall come in and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22 Great armies will be swept away before him. They will be broken, as well as the prince of the agreement.
And the forces of a flood shall be overwhelmed before him, and shall be broken in pieces; and even the prince that is allied with him.
23 After making an alliance with him, he will act deceptively. He will come to power peacably, becoming strong though only having a few supporters.
For after making a league with him, he will practise deceit; for he will come up, and prevail with a small people.
24 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.
In the midst of security shall he come into the fattest provinces of the land, and he shall do what his fathers never did, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and riches; and he shall form his devices against the strongholds, even to a set time.
25 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.
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 be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall form devices against him.
26 Those closest to him will destroy him. His army will be wiped out—many will fall in battle.
Even they that eat of his own food shall destroy him; and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain.
27 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.
And the hearts of both these kings shall be to do mischief; and at one table shall they speak lies; but it shall not prosper; for yet the end is for the appointed time.
28 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.
Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and he will set his heart against the holy covenant, and he will execute his purposes, and return to his own land.
29 At the time predicted he will return to invade the south again, but this time it won't be like before.
At the appointed time he shall again go against the South; but the second time it shall not be as at the first.
30 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.
For the Chittaean ships shall come against him, and he shall be discouraged, and return, and be enraged against the holy covenant, and execute his purposes; and he shall again have an understanding with them that forsake the holy covenant.
31 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.
And forces shall be raised by him, which shall pollute the sanctuary, the stronghold, and take away the daily sacrifice, and set up the abomination of the destroyer.
32 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.
And such as do wickedly against the covenant will he lead to apostasy by flatteries; but the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
33 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.
And they that have understanding among the people shall instruct many; but they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
34 During this time of persecution they will receive a little help, and many who join them won't be sincere.
And whilst they fall they shall receive a little help, and many shall join themselves to them with flatteries.
35 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.
And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purify, and cleanse, even to the time of the end, for it is yet at the time appointed.
36 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.
And the king shall do according to his will; and he will exalt himself and magnify himself against every god, and he will speak horrible things against the God of gods, and he will prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done.
37 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.
Neither will he regard the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women; nor will he regard any god, but he will magnify himself against all.
38 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.
But in their place will he honor the god of strongholds, even the god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and with silver, and with precious stones, and with jewels.
39 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.
And he shall do his will against fenced strongholds with a strange god; whoever acknowledge him, to them he will give great honor, and give them dominion over many, and divide the land amongst them for a reward.
40 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.
But at the time of the end shall the king of the South push at him, and the king of the North shall rush against him like a whirlwind with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and overflow them, and pass over them.
41 He will invade the Beautiful Land and kill many people there. However, Moab, Edom, and most of the Ammonites will escape his power.
He shall also enter into the beautiful land, and multitudes shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.
42 He will extend his attacks against different countries—even the land of Egypt will not be able to escape.
He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 He will acquire the gold and silver and riches of Egypt, ruling over them and also the Libyans and Ethiopians.
And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Lybians and Ethiopians shall be in his train.
44 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.
But tidings out of the East and out of the North shall trouble him, and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to take away many.
45 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.
And he shall pitch his palace-tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain; but he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.