Daniel 11

Conflicts to Come

1“In the 1first year of Darius the Mede, 2I arose to be 3an encouragement and a protection for him. 2And now I will tell you the 4truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise 5in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, 6he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of 78Greece. 3And a 9mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and 10do as he pleases. 4But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out 11toward the 12four 13points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be 14uprooted and given to others besides 15them.

5“Then the 16king of the South will grow strong, 17along with one of his princes 18who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed. 6After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the 19king of the North to carry out 20a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her 21position of power, nor will he remain with his 22power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times. 7But one of the 23descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the 24fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength. 8Also their 25gods with their 26metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will 27refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. 9Then 28the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

10“His sons will 29mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and 30overflow and pass through, that he may 31again wage war up to his very fortress. 11The 32king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight 33with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into 34the hand of the former. 12When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, 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 35after an 36interval of some years he will 37press 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 lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will 38fall down. 15Then the king of the North will come, cast up a 39siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even 40their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16But he who comes against him will 41do as he pleases, and 42no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the 4344Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17He will 45set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, 46bringing with him 47a 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 48on his side. 18Then he will turn his face to the 49coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will 50repay him for his scorn. 19So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will 51stumble and fall and be 52found no more.

20“Then in his place one will arise who will 53send an 54oppressor through the 55Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle. 21In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and 56seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22The overflowing 57forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, 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. 2458In a time of tranquility he will enter the 59richest parts of the 60realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his 61ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25He will stir up his strength and 62courage against the 63king 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, for schemes will be devised against him. 26Those who eat his choice food will 64destroy him, and his army will 6566overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on 67evil, and they will 68speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the 69end is still to come at the appointed time. 28Then he will return to his land with much 70plunder; 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 71this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30For ships of 7273Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31Forces from him will arise, 74desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the 75abomination 76of desolation. 32By 77smooth words he will 78turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display 79strength and take action. 338081Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will 82fall 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 83join with them in 84hypocrisy. 35Some of 85those who have insight will fall, in order to 86refine, 87purge and make them 8889pure until the 90end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

36“Then the king will 91do as he pleases, and he will exalt and 92magnify himself above every god and will 93speak 94monstrous things against the 95God of gods; and he will prosper until the 96indignation is finished, for that which is 97decreed will be done. 37He will show no regard for the 98gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38But 99instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to 100those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

40“At the 101end time the 102king of the South will collide with him, and the 103king of the North will 104storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, 105overflow them and pass through. 41He will also enter the 106107Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, 108Moab and the foremost of the sons of 109Ammon. 42Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43But he will 110gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and 111Libyans and 112Ethiopians will follow at his 113heels. 44But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and 114annihilate many. 45He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful 115Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.