[1] And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to
confirm and strengthen him. [2] "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. [3] Then a mighty king
shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his
will. [4] And when 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 dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up and
go to others besides these. [5] "Then the king of the south shall be
strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and his dominion
shall be a great dominion. [6] 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 peace; but she shall not retain the strength of her
arm, and he and his offspring shall not endure; but she shall be given up,
and her attendants, her child, and he who got possession of her. [7] "In
those times a branch from her roots 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. [8] He shall also carry off to
Egypt their gods with their molten images and with their precious vessels
of silver and of gold; and for some years he shall refrain from attacking
the king of the north. [9] Then the latter shall come into the realm of the
king of the south but shall return into his own land. [10] "His sons shall
wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on and
overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his
fortress. [11] Then the king of the south, moved with anger, shall come out
and fight with the king of the north; and he shall raise a great multitude,
but it shall be given into his hand. [12] And when the multitude is taken,
his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but
he shall not prevail. [13] For the king of the north shall again raise a
multitude, greater than the former; and after some years he shall come on
with a great army and abundant supplies. [14] "In those times many shall
rise against the king of the south; and the men of violence among your own
people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfil the vision; but they
shall fail. [15] 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 picked troops, for there shall be no strength
to stand. [16] But he who comes against him shall do according to his own
will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious
land, and all of it shall be in his power. [17] He shall set his face to
come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of
peace 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. [18] Afterward
he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many of them; but
a commander shall put an end to his insolence; indeed he shall turn his
insolence back upon him. [19] 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. [20] "Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of
tribute through the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he shall be
broken, neither in anger nor in battle. [21] 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. [22] Armies shall
be utterly swept away before him and broken, and the prince of the covenant
also. [23] And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act
deceitfully; and he shall become strong with a small people. [24] 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. [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 with an exceedingly great and mighty army; but
he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. [26] Even those
who eat his rich food shall be his undoing; his army shall be swept away,
and many shall fall down slain. [27] And as for the two kings, their minds
shall be bent on mischief; they shall speak lies at the same table, but to
no avail; for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. [28] And he shall
return to his land with great substance, but his heart shall be set against
the holy covenant. And he shall work his will, and return to his own land.
[29] "At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south; but it
shall not be this time as it was before. [30] 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 give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant. [31] Forces from
him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away
the continual burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that
makes desolate. [32] He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the
covenant; but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take
action. [33] And those among the people who are wise shall make many
understand, though they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and
plunder, for some days. [34] When they fall, they shall receive a little
help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery; [35] and some
of those who are wise shall fall, to refine and to cleanse them and to make
them white, until the time of the end, for it is yet for the time
appointed. [36] "And the king shall do according to his will; 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 determined shall be done. [37] He
shall give no heed to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by
women; he shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify
himself above all. [38] 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. [39] He shall deal with the
strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god; those who acknowledge
him he shall magnify with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and
shall divide the land for a price. [40] "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. [41] 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. [42] He shall stretch out his hand against the countries,
and the land of Egypt shall not escape. [43] He shall become ruler of the
treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt; and
the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall follow in his train. [44] But tidings
from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go forth with
great fury to exterminate and utterly destroy many. [45] 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.
