Daniel 11

Conflicts to Come

1“In the 1first year of Darius the Mede, 2I arose to be of 3assistance 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 stir up the entire 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, because his sovereignty will be 14removed 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 rule; his domain will be a great realm indeed. 6And after 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 reach an agreement. But she will not keep her 20position of power, nor will he remain with his 21power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who fathered her as well as he who supported her in those times. 7But one of the 22descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the 23fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and prevail. 8And he will also take into captivity to Egypt their 24gods with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he on his part will 25refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. 9Then 26the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

10“And his sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and 27overflow and pass through, so that he may 28again wage war up to his fortress. 11And the 29king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight 30with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be handed over to 31the former. 12When the multitude is carried away, his heart will 32be haughty, 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 33after an 34interval of some years he will 35press 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 raise themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will 36fall down. 15Then the king of the North will come, pile up an 37assault ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even 38their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16But he who comes against him will 39do as he pleases, and 40no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the 4142Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17And he will 43set his 44mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, 45bringing with him 46a 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 47on his side. 18Then he will turn his face to the 48coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his taunting against him; moreover, he will 49repay him for his taunting. 19So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will 50stumble and fall and not be 51found.

20“Then in his place one will arise who will 52allow an 53oppressor to pass through the 54Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle. 21And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the majesty of kingship has not been conferred; but he will come in a time of tranquility and 55seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22And the overflowing 56forces will be flooded away from him and smashed, 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. 2457In a time of tranquility he will enter the 58richest parts of the 59realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers did not, nor his 60ancestors; he will distribute plunder, spoils, and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25And he will stir up his strength and 61courage against the 62king 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, because schemes will be devised against him. 26Those who eat his choice food will 63destroy him, and his army will 6465overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on 66evil, and they will 67speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the 68end is still to come at the appointed time. 28Then he will return to his land with much 69plunder; 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 70this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30For ships of 7172Kittim will come against him; therefore he will withdraw in fear and will return and curse the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and pay attention to those who abandon the holy covenant. 31Forces from him will arise, 73desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the 74abomination 75of desolation. 32And by 76smooth words he will 77turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be 78strong and take action. 33And 7980those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will 81fall 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 82join with them in 83hypocrisy. 35And some of 84those who have insight will fall, to 85refine, 86purge, and 8788cleanse them until the 89end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

36“Then the king will 90do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and 91boast against every god and will 92speak 93dreadful things against the 94God of gods; and he will be successful until the 95indignation is finished, because that which is 96determined will be done. 37And he will show no regard for the 97gods of his fathers or for the 98desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against 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, precious stones, and treasures. 39And he 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 make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

40“And at the 101end time the 102king of the South will wage war with him, and the 103king of the North will 104storm against him with chariots, 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 reach out with 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 terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and 114annihilate many. 45And he 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.