Daniel 11

1As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him.

2Now I will tell you the truth: three more kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will be far richer than all of them. When he has become strong through his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

3Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great dominion and do as he pleases.

4But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power with which he ruled, for his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these.

5The king of the south will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger than he and will rule, and his dominion will be a great dominion.

6After some years they will form an alliance. The daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not keep her power, and he and his power will not last. She will be handed over, along with those who brought her, her father, and the one who supported her in those times.

7But one from a branch of her roots will arise in his place. He will come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north; he will deal with them and prevail.

8He will also carry off to Egypt as plunder their gods, with their cast images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will keep away from the king of the north.

9Then he will come into the realm of the king of the south, but he will return to his own land.

10His sons will prepare for war and gather a great horde of armies. One of them will keep advancing, sweeping on like a flood and passing through, and he will again carry the war as far as his fortress.

11Then the king of the south will be enraged and will go out and fight against him, against the king of the north. He will raise a great horde, but the horde will be given into his hand.

12When the horde has been carried off, his heart will be lifted up, and he will bring down tens of thousands, yet he will not remain strong.

13For the king of the north will again raise a horde, greater than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and much equipment.

14In those times many will rise up against the king of the south. Violent men among your own people will lift themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will fail.

15Then the king of the north will come and build up a siege ramp and capture a fortified city. The forces of the south will not stand; even their best troops will have no strength to stand.

16The one who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will stand before him. He will take his stand in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.

17He will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he will bring an agreement with him and carry it out. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but she will not stand by him or be on his side.

18Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his insolence; indeed, he will turn his insolence back on him.

19Then he will turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more.

20In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector through the glorious kingdom. But within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger or in battle.

21In his place a contemptible person will arise, to whom royal majesty has not been given. He will come in without warning and seize the kingdom through intrigue.

22Overwhelming forces will be swept away before him and broken, and the prince of the covenant as well.

23After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully, and he will rise to power with only a few people.

24Without warning he will invade the richest parts of the province and do what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did: he will scatter plunder, spoil, and wealth among them. He will devise plans against fortresses, but only for a time.

25He will stir up his strength and his courage against the king of the south with a great army. The king of the south will go to war with a very great and powerful army, but he will not stand, because of the plans devised against him.

26Those who eat from his table will destroy him. His army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.

27The two kings, their hearts set on evil, will sit at one table and speak lies to each other, but it will not succeed, for the end will still come at the appointed time.

28He will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action and then return to his own land.

29At the appointed time he will come back into the south, but this time it will not turn out as it did before.

30Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. He will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and take action. He will turn back and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

31Forces sent by him will rise up and profane the sanctuary fortress. They will abolish the regular offering and set up the abomination that makes desolate.

32With smooth words he will corrupt those who act wickedly against the covenant, but the people who know their God will stand firm and take action.

33Those among the people who have insight will give understanding to many, though for some days they will fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.

34When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many will join them insincerely.

35Some of those who have insight will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white until the time of the end, for it is still to come at the appointed time.

36The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and he will say astonishing things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the wrath is completed, for what has been decreed will be done.

37He will pay no attention to the gods of his fathers or to the one desired by women, nor will he pay attention to any god, for he will magnify himself above them all.

38He will honor a god of fortresses in his place. A god whom his fathers did not know he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

39He will act against the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he will greatly honor; he will make them rulers over many and distribute land for a price.

40At the time of the end the king of the south will engage him in battle, and the king of the north will storm against him with chariots and horsemen and many ships. He will invade lands, sweep through them like a flood, and pass on.

41He will also invade the Beautiful Land, and many will fall. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites.

42He will stretch out his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape.

43He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will follow at his heels.

44But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out in great fury to destroy and wipe out many.

45He will pitch his royal tents between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.