Daniel 11

1 "And as for me, in the first year of Daryavesh the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him.

In the first year of Darius the Mede, I myself came to support and protect Michael.

2 And now what I show you is true. Look, there shall arise three more kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than all of them; and when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all the kingdom of Greece.

Now I will tell you the truth. Three kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

3 And a powerful king shall arise, who shall rule an extensive empire, and do as he pleases.

A mighty king will rise up who will rule a very great kingdom, and he will act according to his desires.

4 When he shall arise, his kingdom shall be broken up, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his authority with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, and will go to others besides these.

When he has risen up, his kingdom will be broken and divided to the four winds of heaven, but not to his own descendants, and not with his power when he had been ruling. For his kingdom will be uprooted for others besides his descendants.

5 The king of the south shall grow strong, and one of his officers shall grow more powerful, and shall have a greater kingdom than his.

The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his kingdom with great power.

6 At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain her power; neither shall his strength endure; but she shall be surrendered, and her attendants, and he who became the father of her, and he who supported her in those times.

After a few years, when the time is right, they will make an alliance. The daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to confirm the agreement. But she will not keep her arm's strength, nor will he stand, or his arm. She will be abandoned—she and those who brought her, and her father, and the one who supported her in those times.

7 But out of a shoot from her roots shall arise in his place, who shall come against the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.

But a branch from her roots will rise up in her place. He will attack the army and enter the fortress of the king of the North. He will fight them, and he will conquer them.

8 Also their gods, with their molten images, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall withdraw for some years from the king of the north.

He will carry off to Egypt their gods along with their cast metal figures and their precious vessels of silver and of gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North.

9 And he shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but he shall return into his own land.

Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South, but he will withdraw to his own land.

10 And his sons shall wage war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall advance and overflow and pass through, and they shall return and wage war, as far as his fortress.

His sons will get ready and assemble a great army. It will keep coming and will flood everything; it will pass through all the way to his fortress.

11 The king of the south shall be moved with rage and shall come forth and fight against him, even with the king of the north; and he shall raise a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.

Then the king of the South will become very angry; he will go and fight against him, the king of the North. The king of the North will raise up a great army, but the army will be given into his hand.

12 The multitude shall be taken away, and his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.

The army will be carried off, and the heart of the king of the South will be lifted up, and he will make tens of thousands to fall, but he will not be victorious.

13 The king of the north shall return, and shall raise a multitude greater than the former; and he shall advance after some years with a great army and with abundant supplies.

Then the king of the North will raise up another army, greater than the first. After some years, the king of the North will surely come with a great army supplied with much equipment.

14 And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south: also the violent ones among your people shall rise up in confirmation of the vision; but they shall fail.

In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Sons of the violent among your people will set themselves in order to fulfill a vision, but they will stumble.

15 So the king of the north shall come, and build up a siege mound and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not prevail, neither his best troops, neither shall there be any strength to resist.

The king of the North will come, pour out earth for siege mounds, and capture a city with fortifications. The forces of the South will not be able to stand, not even their best soldiers. There will be no strength to stand.

16 But he who comes against him shall do as he pleases, and no one shall be able to withstand him. And he shall stand in the beautiful land, and destruction will be within his power.

Instead, the one who comes will act according to his desires against him; no one will stand in his way. He will stand in the land of beauty, and destruction will be in his hand.

17 He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with him which he shall put into effect. And he shall give him a daughter of women to send destruction on him; but it will not last or be to his advantage.

The king of the North will set his face to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and with him will be an agreement that he will make with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter of women in marriage to ruin the kingdom of the South. But the plan will not succeed or help him.

18 After this shall he turn his face to the coastal regions, and shall capture many. But a commander shall bring his insolence to an end. In addition, he shall repay him for his insolence.

After this, the king of the North will pay attention to the coastlands and will capture many of them. But a commander will end his arrogance and will cause his arrogance to turn back upon him.

19 Then he shall turn his attention toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found again.

Then he will pay attention to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall; he will not be found.

20 Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within few days he shall be destroyed, though not in anger nor in battle.

Then someone will rise up in his place who will make a tax collector pass through for the sake of the splendor of the kingdom. But in the next days he will be broken, but not in anger or in battle.

21 In his place shall arise a despicable person, to whom the honor of kingship had not been given, but he shall come in a time of prosperity, and shall obtain the kingdom through deceit.

In his place will rise up a despised person to whom the people will not have given the honor of royal power; he will come unexpectedly and will take over the kingdom by trickery.

22 And large armies shall be swept away and shattered before him, as well as the prince of the covenant.

An army will be swept away like a flood from before him. Both that army and the leader of the covenant will be destroyed.

23 And after an alliance is made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall become strong with a small force.

From the time an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; with only a small number of people he will become strong.

24 In a time of prosperity he shall come even on the richest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor their fathers; he shall distribute among them plunder, and spoil, and property. He shall devise plans against their strongholds, but only for a time.

Without warning he will come into the richest part of the province, and he will do what neither his father nor his father's father did. He will spread among his followers the booty, the plunder, and the wealth. He will plan the overthrow of fortresses, but only for a time.

25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall wage war in battle with an extremely large and powerful army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise plans against him.

He will wake up his power and his heart against the king of the South with a great army. The king of the South will wage war with a large, very powerful army, but he will not stand because others will make plots against him.

26 Yes, those who eat of his royal food shall seek to destroy him, and his army shall be swept away; and many shall fall slain.

Even those who eat his fine food will try to destroy him. His army will be swept away like a flood, and many of them will fall killed.

27 As for both these kings, their minds shall be fixed on evil, and they shall speak lies at the table; but it shall not succeed; for still the end shall be at the appointed time.

Both these kings, with their hearts set on evil against each other, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but it will be of no use. For the end will come at the time that has been fixed.

28 Then shall he return into his land with great property; and his mind shall be against the holy covenant. And he shall take action, and then return to his own land.

Then the king of the North will go back into his land with great riches, with his heart set against the holy covenant. He will act and then will return to his own land.

29 At the appointed time he shall return, and come into the south; but this time the outcome shall not be as it was before.

At the appointed time he will return and come against the South again. But this time it will not be as before.

30 For ships from Kittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be intimidated, and shall turn back, and be enraged against the holy covenant, and shall take action. He shall turn back, and show regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.

For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will become afraid and will turn back. He will be furious against the holy covenant, and he will show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

31 Forces shall come at his order, and they shall profane the sanctuary and the fortress, and shall take away the daily burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that causes desolation.

His forces will rise up and profane the fortress sanctuary. They will take away the regular burnt offering, and they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

32 And those who act wickedly toward the covenant he shall corrupt by smooth words; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and take action.

As for those who acted wickedly against the covenant, he will deceive them and corrupt them. But the people who know their God will be strong and will take action.

33 And those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for some time.

The wise among the people will make many understand. But they will stumble by the sword and by flame; they will stumble into captivity and into being robbed for days.

34 Now when they shall fall, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join with them insincerely.

In their stumbling, they will be helped with a little help. In hypocrisy many will join themselves with them.

35 Some of those who are wise shall fall, to be refined, purified and cleansed until the time of the end; for the appointed time is still to come.

Some of the wise will stumble so that refining will happen to them, and cleansing, and purifying, until the time of the end. For the appointed time is still to come.

36 And the king shall do as he pleases. And he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak outrageous things against the God of gods. And he shall prosper until the indignation is accomplished; for that which is decreed shall be done.

The king will act according to his desires. He will lift himself up and make himself great above every god. Against the God of gods he will say astonishing things, for he will succeed until the wrath is completed. For what has been decreed will be done.

37 Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the one desired by women, nor show regard to any other god, because he shall magnify himself above all.

He will pay no attention to the gods of his ancestors or to the god desirable to women. Neither will he will pay attention to any other god. For all above every one he will make himself great.

38 But instead he shall honor the god of fortresses; a god whom his fathers did not know shall he honor with gold and silver, and with valuable stones, and costly gifts.

He will honor the god of fortresses instead of these. It is a god whom his fathers did not acknowledge that he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and valuable gifts.

39 And he shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he shall grant considerable honor; and he shall make them rulers over many, and shall divide the land for a price.

He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. To anyone who acknowledges him, he will give much honor. He will make them rulers over many people, and he will divide up the land as a reward.

40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south attack him. And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall invade countries, and pass through like a flood.

At the time of the end the king of the South will attack. The king of the North will storm against him with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. He will go against lands, flood them, and pass through.

41 He shall enter also into the beautiful land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.

He will go into the land of beauty, and tens of thousands of Israelites will fall. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the remainder of the people of Ammon.

42 He shall reach out his hand also on other countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

He will extend his hand into lands; the land of Egypt will not be rescued.

43 But he shall have control over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the riches of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his feet.

He will have control over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the riches of Egypt; the Libyans and the Cushites will be in his footsteps.

44 But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go out with tremendous rage to destroy and utterly sweep away many.

But news from the east and the north will frighten him, and he will go out with great rage to completely destroy and to set many apart for destruction.

45 And he shall pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with no one to help him.

He will set up the tent of his royal residence between the seas and the mountain of the beauty of holiness. He will come to his end, and there will be no helper for him.