“And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up
to confirm and strengthen him.
“And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings
shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of
them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall
stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king shall
arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And
as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided
toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor
according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom
shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.
“Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his
princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority
shall be a great authority. After some years they shall make an
alliance, 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 the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not
endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who
fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.
“And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place.
He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king
of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. He
shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images
and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years
he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. Then the
latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall
return to his own land.
“His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great
forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and
again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. Then the king of
the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the
king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it
shall be given into his hand. And when the multitude is taken away,
his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of
thousands, but he shall not prevail. For the king of the north
shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after
some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant
supplies.
“In those times many shall rise against the king of the south,
and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in
order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. Then the king of
the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-
fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or
even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. But
he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand
before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with
destruction in his hand. He shall set his face to come with the
strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an
agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women
to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his
advantage. Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and
shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his
insolence. Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him. Then
he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land,
but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
“Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of
tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he
shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. In his place shall
arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been
given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by
flatteries. Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and
broken, even the prince of the covenant. And from the time that an
alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall
become strong with a small people. Without warning he shall come
into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what
neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering
among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against
strongholds, but only for a time. And he shall stir up his power
and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And
the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and
mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised
against him. Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army
shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. And as for the
two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall
speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet
to be at the time appointed. And he shall return to his land with
great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant.
And he shall work his will and return to his own land.
“At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south,
but it shall not be this time as it was before. For ships of Kittim
shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and
shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy
covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake
the holy covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the
temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt
offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes
desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the
covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and
take action. And the wise among the people shall make many
understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and
flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall
receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with
flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be
refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for
it still awaits the appointed time.
“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things
against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is
accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no
attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by
women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall
magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses
instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall
honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a
foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He
shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a
price.
“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him,
but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind,
with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come
into countries and shall overflow and pass through. He shall come
into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these
shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part
of the Ammonites. He shall stretch out his hand against the
countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become
ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious
things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in
his train. But news from the east and the north shall alarm him,
and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to
destruction. And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea
and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with
none to help him.
