Daniel 11
1 “And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood beside him to strengthen and protect him.
2 Now I will tell you the truth. Look: three more kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will amass greater wealth than all of them. When he has grown strong through his wealth, he will stir everyone up against the kingdom of Greece.
3 Then a mighty king will arise, rule with great authority, and do as he pleases.
4 As soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven. It will not pass to his descendants, nor retain the dominion he exercised, for his kingdom will be torn away and given to others besides them.
5 The king of the south will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow stronger than he and rule; his dominion will be a great dominion.
6 After 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 retain the strength of her position, and he will not stand, nor will his power. She will be handed over, along with those who brought her, the one who fathered her, and the one who supported her in those times.
7 A branch from her roots will arise in his place. He will come against the army, enter the stronghold of the king of the north, and act against them and prevail.
8 He will also carry their gods, their cast images, and their precious objects of silver and gold away as captives to Egypt. For some years he will keep away from the king of the north.
9 The king of the north will enter the kingdom of the king of the south, then return to his own land.
10 His sons will wage war and gather a multitude of great armies. One of them will advance, sweeping through and passing on; then he will return and wage war as far as his stronghold.
11 The king of the south will be enraged. He will go out and fight the king of the north, who will raise a great multitude; but that multitude will be handed over to him.”
12 “The multitude will be carried away, and his heart will be lifted up. He will bring down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail.
13 The king of the north will return and raise a multitude larger than before. After some years, he will come with a great army and abundant supplies.
14 In those times many will rise against the king of the south. The violent among your own people will rise up to fulfill the vision, but they will fall.
15 The king of the north will come, build a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the south will not stand, nor will its chosen troops; they will have no strength to resist.
16 The one who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will stand before him. He will establish himself in the Glorious Land, and destruction will be in his hand.
17 He will set his sights on coming with the full strength of his kingdom, and he will make an agreement with him and carry it out. He will give him a daughter among women to destroy him, but she will not stand, nor will she remain on his side.
18 Then he will turn his attention to the islands and capture many. But a commander will put an end to his insults; moreover, he will turn those insults back on him.
19 Then he will turn toward the strongholds of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and he will be found no more.
20 In his place will arise one who will send a tax collector through the splendor of the kingdom. In a few days he will be broken, though not in anger or in battle.
21 In his place will arise a contemptible man, to whom the majesty of the kingdom will not be given. He will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom through flattery.
22 Overwhelming forces will be swept away before him and broken, along with the prince of the covenant.
23 From the moment they ally themselves with him, he will act deceitfully. He will rise and grow strong with only a small nation.”
24 “In a time of peace, he will enter the richest parts of the province and do what neither his fathers nor their fathers did. He will distribute among them plunder, spoil, and wealth, and he will plot against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25 He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the south with a great army. The king of the south will wage war with an exceedingly great and strong army, but he will not stand, because plots will be made against him.
26 Those who eat from his table will bring him down. His army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
27 The two kings will have evil intentions, and at the same table they will speak lies to each other. But it will not succeed, for the end is still set for its appointed time.
28 He will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be against the holy covenant. He will act, then return to his own land.
29 At the appointed time he will return and come against the south, but this time will not be like the first or the last.
30 Ships from Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant. He will act, and again he will show favor to those who abandon the holy covenant.
31 Forces sent by him will rise up and profane the sanctuary, the stronghold. They will remove the regular offering and set up the abomination that causes desolation.
32 With flattery he will corrupt those who act wickedly against the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.
33 The wise among the people will give understanding to many, but for a time they will fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many will join them insincerely.”
35 “Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made clean until the time of the end, for the end is still set for its appointed time.
36 The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the wrath is complete, for what has been decreed will be done.
37 He will pay no regard to the gods of his fathers, or to the desire of women, or to any god, for he will exalt himself above them all.
38 Instead, he will honor the god of fortresses. He will honor a god unknown to his fathers with gold, silver, precious stones, and costly gifts.
39 He will act against the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, appoint them to rule over many, and distribute land for a price.
40 At the time of the end, the king of the south will clash with him. The king of the north will rush against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will invade lands, sweep through, and pass on.
41 He will enter the Glorious Land, and many will fall. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief part of the Ammonites.
42 He will stretch out his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape.
43 He will rule over the treasures of gold and silver and all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and Cushites will follow in his footsteps.
44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out in great fury to destroy and wipe out many.
45 He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas, by the holy mountain of the Glorious Land. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.”
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