Conflicts to Come

1“In the first year of Darius the Mede, [a]I arose to be of [b]assistance and a protection for him. 2And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise [c]in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, [d]he will stir up the entire empire against the realm of [e]Greece. 3And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. 4But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four [f]points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, because his sovereignty will be removed and given to others besides [g]them.

5“Then the king of the South will grow strong, [h]along with one of his princes [i]who will gain ascendancy over him and rule; his domain will be a great realm indeed. 6And after some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to reach an agreement. But she will not keep her [j]position of power, nor will he remain with his [k]power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who fathered her as well as he who supported her in those times. 7But one of the [l]descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and prevail. 8And he will also take into captivity to Egypt their gods with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he on his part will [m]refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. 9Then [n]the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

10“And his sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, so that he may [o]again wage war up to his fortress. 11And the king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight [p]with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be handed over to [q]the former. 12When the multitude is carried away, his heart will [r]be haughty, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. 13For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and [s]after an interval of some years he will [t]press on with a great army and much equipment.

14“Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also raise themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will [u]fall down. 15Then the king of the North will come, pile up an assault ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even [v]their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the [w]Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17And he will set his [x]mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, [y]bringing with him [z]a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be [aa]on his side. 18Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his taunting against him; moreover, he will repay him for his taunting. 19So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and not be found.

20“Then in his place one will arise who will allow an [ab]oppressor to pass through the [ac]Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle. 21And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the majesty of kingship has not been conferred; but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22And the overflowing forces will be flooded away from him and smashed, and also the prince of the covenant. 23After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. 24[ad]In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the [ae]realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers did not, nor his [af]ancestors; he will distribute plunder, spoils, and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25And he will stir up his strength and [ag]courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, because schemes will be devised against him. 26Those who eat his choice food will [ah]destroy him, and his army will [ai]overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the end is still to come at the appointed time. 28Then he will return to his land with much [aj]plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

29“At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but [ak]this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30For ships of [al]Kittim will come against him; therefore he will withdraw in fear and will return and curse the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and pay attention to those who abandon the holy covenant. 31Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination [am]of desolation. 32And by smooth words he will [an]turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action. 33And [ao]those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. 34Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. 35And some of [ap]those who have insight will fall, to refine, purge, and [aq]cleanse them until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

36“Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and boast against every god and will speak [ar]dreadful things against the God of gods; and he will be successful until the indignation is finished, because that which is determined will be done. 37And he will show no regard for the [as]gods of his fathers or for the [at]desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all. 38But [au]instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures. 39And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to [av]those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

40“And at the end time the king of the South will wage war with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through. 41He will also enter the [aw]Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42Then he will reach out with his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43But he will [ax]gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his [ay]heels. 44But rumors from the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and [az]annihilate many. 45And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

[a] 1 Lit my standing up was
[b] 1 Lit a strengthener
[c] 2 Lit for
[d] 2 Or they all will stir up the realm of Greece
[e] 2 Heb Javan
[f] 4 Lit winds of the heaven
[g] 4 I.e., his descendants
[h] 5 Lit and
[i] 5 Lit and he
[j] 6 Lit strength of arm
[k] 6 Lit arm
[l] 7 Lit branch of her roots
[m] 8 Lit stand from the king
[n] 9 Lit he will, and so throughout the ch
[o] 10 Or return and wage
[p] 11 Lit with him, with
[q] 11 Lit his hand
[r] 12 Lit rise
[s] 13 Lit at the end of the times, years
[t] 13 Or keep on coming
[u] 14 Lit stumble, and so throughout the ch
[v] 15 Lit the people of its choice ones
[w] 16 I.e., Israel
[x] 17 Lit face
[y] 17 Lit and
[z] 17 Lit equitable things
[aa] 17 Lit for him; i.e., for her father
[ab] 20 Or tax collector
[ac] 20 Lit splendor; i.e., prob. Jerusalem and its temple
[ad] 24 Lit In tranquility and the rich...he will enter
[ae] 24 Lit province
[af] 24 Lit fathers’ fathers
[ag] 25 Lit heart
[ah] 26 Lit break
[ai] 26 Or be swept away, and many
[aj] 28 Lit property
[ak] 29 Lit it will not happen as the first and as the last
[al] 30 I.e., Cyprus
[am] 31 Lit that makes desolate; or that causes horror
[an] 32 Or ruin those
[ao] 33 Or instructors of the people will
[ap] 35 Or the instructors
[aq] 35 Or whiten
[ar] 36 Or amazing
[as] 37 Or God
[at] 37 Or darling of
[au] 38 Lit in his place
[av] 39 Lit the one who acknowledges
[aw] 41 I.e., Israel
[ax] 43 Lit rule over
[ay] 43 Lit footsteps
[az] 44 Lit devote many to destruction