Daniel 11:11-35

11Then the king of the south will be very angry. He will march with his army to fight against the king of the north. The king from the north will also have a large army, but the king of the south will win the battle.

12The king of the south will boast that he has destroyed this large army. He will be proud that he has killed thousands of people. But he will not continue to win battles.

13The king of the north will again bring together a large army. It will be even bigger than the army that he had before. After a few years, he will march forward with his great army and all their many weapons.

14At that time, many people will turn against the king of the south. Violent men from your own people in Israel will also be ready to attack him. This would make the vision become true. They will fight against him, but they will fail.

15Then the king from the north will march south with his army. He will build up heaps of earth around the walls of a strong city. He will take the city for himself. The soldiers of the kingdom in the south will not be able to stop him. Even their best soldiers will not be strong enough to win the fight.

16The king who attacked from the north will do whatever he wants to do. Nobody will be able to stop him. He will march into the Beautiful Land. He will have the power to destroy it.

17The king from the north will decide to march south with all his kingdom's strong army. He will make an agreement with the king of the south. He will give one of his daughters to marry the king of the south. He will try to destroy that kingdom, but his plan will fail. His daughter will not be able to do anything to help him.

18After this, he will decide to attack the countries near the sea. He will take many of their cities for himself. But an officer of a foreign army will stop him. He will cause the king of the north to stop boasting. He will no longer be proud but he will be ashamed.

19So the king of the north will return to the strong cities in his own country. But he will lose his power and he will fall. Nobody will ever see him again.

20Then another king will rule in the north. He will try to make his kingdom even greater. He will send out a cruel man to take taxes from people. But that king will soon die. This will not happen in a battle or because people are angry with him.

21The king who rules after him will be an evil man. He will not belong to the royal family, so he should not be the king. He will deceive people to make himself the king. It will happen at a time when people think that they are safe.

22He will quickly destroy any army that tries to attack him. He will even kill the leader of God's covenant.

23He will agree to be friends with other leaders. But then he will deceive them. He will become more and more powerful, but he will rule only a few people.

24His army will suddenly attack a region that is very rich. The king will do things that none of his ancestors did. He will take valuable things from his enemies when he fights against them. He will share those things with the men who help him. He will make plans to attack strong cities. But he will only be able to do this for a short time.

25The evil king of the north will bring together a large, strong army. He will feel brave enough to attack the king of the south. The king of the south will fight against him with an even larger and more powerful army. But the king of the south will not be able to win the battle. His own men will turn against him.

26Even those who eat the king's food will try to kill him. Many of his soldiers will die in the battle. His army will run away.

27These two kings will sit at the same table to make plans. But they will deceive each other with evil lies. Their plans will be useless. God has already decided when their time as kings will finish.

28Then the king of the north will return to his own country. He will take many valuable things with him. As he returns, he will cause trouble for the people who obey God's covenant. He will do whatever he wants to do against them. Then he will continue his journey back to his own country.

29At the time that God chooses, the king will attack the south again. This time the result will be different from the first time.

30People will come in ships from the west to attack him. He will be afraid and he will turn back. He will be angry as he travels home. So he will cause more trouble for the people who obey God's covenant. He will give honour to those people who turn away from the holy covenant.

31He will send his soldiers to attack Jerusalem's strong place. They will go into the holy place of the temple and they will make it unclean. They will stop people from offering the sacrifices each day. They will put a disgusting thing that causes trouble in the holy place.

32The king will deceive the people who are no longer faithful to God. He will make them help him. But the people who are still faithful to God will work hard to stop him.

33Wise Israelite leaders will teach many other people. But these teachers will suffer for some time. People will kill them in battle, or with fire. People will rob them. People will put some of them in prison.

34When God's people are in a time of trouble, they will receive a little help. Many people will join them who are not their true friends.

35Some of the wise leaders will suffer. As a result, God will make them clean and pure. This will continue until the time for the end. God has decided when that time will come.