DanielChapter 11

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¹In the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to help him and protect him. ²Now I will tell you the truth. Three more kings will rise up in Persia. Then a fourth king will come. He will be much richer than all the others. He will use the power of his riches to stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. ³Then a mighty king will rise up. He will rule with great power and do whatever he wants. ⁴But as soon as he has risen to power, his kingdom will be broken up. It will be divided toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his children and grandchildren. It will not have the power he ruled with. His kingdom will be pulled up by the roots and given to others. ⁵The king of the South will grow strong. But one of his commanders will grow even stronger. He will rule his own kingdom with great power. ⁶After some years, the two kings will make a treaty. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the deal. But she will not keep her power. And his strength will not last. At that time she will be handed over. So will the royal servants who came with her, and her father, and the one who helped her. ⁷But someone from her family will rise up in his place. He will attack the army of the king of the North. He will go into his fortress. He will fight them and win. ⁸He will even carry off their gods to Egypt. He will take their metal idols and their valuable silver and gold objects. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone. ⁹Then the king of the North will attack the land of the king of the South. But he will go back to his own land. ¹⁰His sons will prepare for war. They will gather a huge army. It will move forward with great force, sweeping through like a flood. And it will carry the fight all the way to his fortress again. ¹¹The king of the South will be very angry. He will march out to fight the king of the North. The king of the North will gather a large army. But it will be handed over to his enemy. ¹²The army will be carried away. Then the king of the South will be filled with pride. He will kill tens of thousands of people. But he will not win in the end. ¹³For the king of the North will gather another army. It will be bigger than the first one. After some years he will march out with a huge army and lots of supplies. ¹⁴At that time many people will rise up against the king of the South. Violent men among your own people will lift themselves up, and so the vision will come true. But they will fail. ¹⁵Then the king of the North will come. He will build a dirt ramp up to the walls and capture a strong city. The armies of the South will not be able to stand up to him. Even their best soldiers won't have the strength to fight back. ¹⁶The attacker will do whatever he wants. No one will be able to stand up to him. He will take over the Beautiful Land. He will have the power to destroy it. ¹⁷He will make up his mind to come with the strength of his whole kingdom. He will make a deal with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter to marry so he can destroy the kingdom. But his plan will not work. It will not help him. ¹⁸Then he will turn to the lands along the coast. He will capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his proud insults. He will turn his insults back on him. ¹⁹After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land. But he will stumble and fall. He will be gone forever. ²⁰Another king will take his place. He will send out a tax collector to keep up the royal glory. But in a few days he will be destroyed. It won't happen in anger or in battle. ²¹Then an evil, hated man will take his place. He will not be given the honor of a king. But he will come when people feel safe. He will take the kingdom by tricks and schemes. ²²A flood of armies will be swept away before him and destroyed. A prince of the covenant will be destroyed too. ²³Others will make a treaty with him. But he will lie and cheat, because he will rise to power with only a few people. ²⁴When people feel safe, he will attack the richest provinces. He will do what his fathers and grandfathers never did. He will hand out stolen goods and riches to his followers. He will make plans to attack strong cities. But this will last only for a while. ²⁵He will stir up his power and courage. He will march with a large army against the king of the South. The king of the South will gather a very large and strong army to fight. But he won't be able to stand, because of the plans made against him. ²⁶Even those who eat food from the king's table will try to destroy him. His army will be swept away. Many will fall and be killed. ²⁷The two kings will have evil in their hearts. They will sit at the same table and tell each other lies. But it won't do them any good. The end will still come at the set time. ²⁸The king of the North will go back to his land with great riches. But his heart will be against the holy covenant. He will do damage. Then he will go back to his own land. ²⁹At the set time he will attack the South again. But this time it won't turn out like the first time. ³⁰Ships from Kittim will come against him, and he will lose courage. Then he will turn back. He will rage against the holy covenant and do damage. He will go back and be kind to those who turn away from the holy covenant. ³¹His armies will rise up. They will make the temple fortress unclean. They will stop the daily sacrifice. And they will set up the disgusting thing that brings ruin. ³²He will use smooth words to lead astray those who break the covenant. But the people who know their God will stand strong against him. ³³Those who are wise will teach many people. But for a time some of them will be killed by the sword or by fire. Some will be captured or robbed. ³⁴When they fall, they will be given a little help. But many people who join them will not be sincere. ³⁵Some of the wise will fall. This will make them pure and clean and without fault until the time of the end, because the end will still come at the set time. ³⁶Then the king will do whatever he wants. He will lift himself up. He will make himself greater than every god. He will say shocking things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of God's anger is over, because what has been decided must happen. ³⁷He will not care about the gods of his fathers. He will not care about the god loved by women, or any other god. That is because he will make himself greater than all of them. ³⁸Instead, he will honor a god of fortresses. His fathers never knew this god. He will honor it with gold, silver, jewels, and riches. ³⁹He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will give great honor to those who accept him. He will make them rulers over many people. He will give out land for a price. ⁴⁰At the time of the end, the king of the South will fight against him. But the king of the North will rush out against him like a storm. He will come with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. ⁴¹He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall. But some will escape from his hand. These are Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites. ⁴²He will reach out his power over many countries. Not even Egypt will escape. ⁴³He will take control of the treasures of gold and silver. He will take all the riches of Egypt. The Libyans and Cushites will also give in to him. ⁴⁴But news from the east and the north will frighten him. He will go out in a great rage to destroy many. He will set them apart to be completely destroyed. ⁴⁵He will set up his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, and no one will help him.