< Daniel 11 >
1 'And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, my standing [is] for a strengthener, and for a stronghold to him;
“And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him.
2 and, now, truth I declare to thee, Lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirreth up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan.
Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
3 And a mighty king hath stood, and he hath ruled a great dominion, and hath done according to his will;
Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
4 and according to his standing is his kingdom broken, and divided to the four winds of the heavens, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion that he ruled, for his kingdom is plucked up — and for others apart from these.
But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.
5 'And a king of the south — even of his princes — doth become strong, and doth prevail against him, and hath ruled; a great dominion [is] his dominion.
The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority.
6 'And at the end of years they do join themselves together, and a daughter of the king of the south doth come in unto the king of the north to do upright things; and she doth not retain the power of the arm; and he doth not stand, nor his arm; and she is given up, she, and those bringing her in, and her child, and he who is strengthening her in [these] times.
After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. But his daughter will not retain her position of power, nor will his strength endure. At that time she will be given up, along with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.
7 'And [one] hath stood up from a branch of her roots, [in] his station, and he cometh in unto the bulwark, yea, he cometh into a stronghold of the king of the south, and hath wrought against them, and hath done mightily;
But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing.
8 and also their gods, with their princes, with their desirable vessels of silver and gold, into captivity he bringeth [into] Egypt; and he doth stand more years than the king of the north.
He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,
9 'And the king of the south hath come into the kingdom, and turned back unto his own land;
who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land.
10 and his sons stir themselves up, and have gathered a multitude of great forces, and he hath certainly come in, and overflowed, and passed through, and he turneth back, and they stir themselves up unto his stronghold.
But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress.
11 And the king of the south doth become embittered, and hath gone forth and fought with him, with the king of the north, and hath caused a great multitude to stand, and the multitude hath been given into his hand,
In a rage, the king of the South will march out to fight the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be delivered into the hand of his enemy.
12 and he hath carried away the multitude, his heart is high, and he hath caused myriads to fall, and he doth not become strong.
When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be proud in heart and will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not triumph.
13 'And the king of the north hath turned back, and hath caused a multitude to stand, greater than the first, and at the end of the times a second time he doth certainly come in with a great force, and with much substance;
For the king of the North will raise another army, larger than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies.
14 and in those times many do stand up against the king of the south, and sons of the destroyers of thy people do lift themselves up to establish the vision — and they have stumbled.
In those times many will rise up against the king of the South. Violent ones among your own people will exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they will fail.
15 'And the king of the north cometh in, and poureth out a mount, and hath captured fenced cities; and the arms of the south do not stand, nor the people of his choice, yea, there is no power to stand.
Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will not be able to resist.
16 And he who is coming unto him doth according to his will, and there is none standing before him; and he standeth in the desirable land, and [it is] wholly in his hand.
The invader will do as he pleases, and no one will stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.
17 And he setteth his face to go in with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; and he hath wrought, and the daughter of women he giveth to him, to corrupt her; and she doth not stand, nor is for him.
He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plan will not succeed or help him.
18 'And he turneth back his face to the isles, and hath captured many; and a prince hath caused his reproach of himself to cease; without his reproach he turneth [it] back to him.
Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his reproach and will turn it back upon him.
19 And he turneth back his face to the strongholds of his land, and hath stumbled and fallen, and is not found.
After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.
20 'And stood up on his station hath [one] causing an exactor to pass over the honour of the kingdom, and in a few days he is destroyed, and not in anger, nor in battle.
In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.
21 'And stood up on his station hath a despicable one, and they have not given unto him the honour of the kingdom, and he hath come in quietly, and hath strengthened the kingdom by flatteries.
In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
22 And the arms of the flood are overflowed from before him, and are broken; and also the leader of the covenant.
Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
23 And after they join themselves unto him, he worketh deceit, and hath increased, and hath been strong by a few of the nation.
After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; for he will rise to power with only a few people.
24 Peaceably even into the fertile places of the province He cometh, and he hath done that which his fathers did not, nor his fathers' fathers; prey, and spoil, and substance, to them he scattereth, and against fenced places he deviseth his devices, even for a time.
In a time of peace, he will invade the richest provinces and do what his fathers and forefathers never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will plot against the strongholds—but only for a time.
25 'And he stirreth up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great force, and the king of the south stirreth himself up to battle with a very great and mighty force, and standeth not, for they devise devices against him,
And with a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South, who will mobilize a very large and powerful army but will not withstand the plots devised against him.
26 and those eating his portion of food destroy him, and his force overfloweth, and fallen have many wounded.
Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
27 'And both of the kings' hearts [are] to do evil, and at one table they speak lies, and it doth not prosper, for yet the end [is] at a time appointed.
And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.
28 And he turneth back [to] his land with great substance, and his heart [is] against the holy covenant, and he hath wrought, and turned back to his land.
The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant; so he will do damage and return to his own land.
29 At the appointed time he turneth back, and hath come against the south, and it is not as the former, and as the latter.
At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first.
30 And ships of Chittim have come in against him, and he hath been pained, and hath turned back, and hath been insolent toward the holy covenant, and hath wrought, and turned back, and he understandeth concerning those forsaking the holy covenant.
Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 And strong ones out of him stand up, and have polluted the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual [sacrifice], and appointed the desolating abomination.
His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.
32 And those acting wickedly [against] the covenant, he defileth by flatteries; and the people knowing their God are strong, and have wrought.
With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
33 And the teachers of the people give understanding to many; and they have stumbled by sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil — days.
Those with insight will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by sword or flame, or be captured or plundered.
34 And in their stumbling, they are helped — a little help, and joined to them have been many with flatteries.
Now when they fall, they will be granted a little help, but many will join them insincerely.
35 And some of the teachers do stumble for refining by them, and for purifying, and for making white — till the end of the time, for [it is] yet for a time appointed.
Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
36 'And the king hath done according to his will, and exalteth himself, and magnifieth himself against every god, and against the God of gods he speaketh wonderful things, and hath prospered till the indignation hath been completed, for that which is determined hath been done.
Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.
37 And unto the God of his fathers he doth not attend, nor to the desire of women, yea, to any god he doth not attend, for against all he magnifieth himself.
He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.
38 And to the god of strongholds, on his station, he giveth honour; yea, to a god whom his fathers knew not he giveth honour, with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things.
And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.
39 And he hath dealt in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange god whom he hath acknowledged; he multiplieth honour, and hath caused them to rule over many, and the ground he apportioneth at a price.
He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing the land for a price.
40 'And at the time of the end, push himself forward with him doth a king of the south, and storm against him doth a king of the north, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he hath come in to the lands, and hath overflowed, and passed over,
At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
41 and hath come into the desirable land, and many do stumble, and these escape from his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.
He will also invade the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall. But these will be delivered from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites.
42 'And he sendeth forth his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt is not for an escape;
He will extend his power over many countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape.
43 and he hath ruled over treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim and Cushim [are] at his steps.
He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will also submit to him.
44 'And reports trouble him out of the east and out of the north, and he hath gone forth in great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction;
But news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out with great fury to destroy many and devote them to destruction.
45 and he planteth the tents of his palace between the seas and the holy desirable mountain, and hath come unto his end, and there is no helper to him.
He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, but he will meet his end with no one to help him.