Daniel 11

Kings of Persia and Greece

1“And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood to strengthen and protect him. 2And now I will tell you the truth.

Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will become far richer than all of them. When he becomes strong through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. 3Then a mighty king will arise. He will rule with great dominion and do according to his will. 4But when he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of the heavens, but not to his descendants and not according to the dominion with which he ruled, for his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these.

The King of the South and the King of the North

5“The king of the south will become strong, but one of his officials will become stronger than he and rule. His dominion will be a great dominion. 6At the end of years they will join themselves together. The daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm will not stand. She will be given up, along with those who brought her, the one who fathered her, and the one who supported her in those times.

A Branch from Her Roots Will Rise

7“But a branch from her roots will arise in his place. He will come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north. He will act against them and prevail. 8Even their gods, with their cast images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, he will carry captive to Egypt. For some years he will stand away from the king of the north. 9Then the king of the north will come into the kingdom of the king of the south but will return to his own land.

The Sons of the North Make War

10“His sons will stir themselves up and gather a multitude of great forces. One will surely come and overflow and pass through, and again he will carry the war as far as his fortress. 11Then the king of the south will become enraged and go out and fight with him, with the king of the north. He will raise a great multitude, but the multitude will be given into his hand. 12When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up. He will cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not prevail.

The King of the North Returns

13“For the king of the north will again raise a multitude greater than the first, and after some years he will surely come with a great army and abundant supplies. 14In those times many will rise against the king of the south. Violent men from your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision, but they will stumble. 15Then the king of the north will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the south will not stand, even his chosen people will have no strength to stand. 16The one who comes against him will do according to his will, and no one will stand before him. He will stand in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.

A Daughter Is Given in Marriage

17“He will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and an agreement will be with him. He will act and give him the daughter of women to destroy it, but she will not stand with him or be for him. 18Then he will turn his face toward the coastlands and capture many, but a commander will make his reproach cease; indeed, he will turn his reproach back upon him. 19Then he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and not be found.

A Tax Collector and a Despised One

20“Then one will arise in his place who sends an exactor through the glory of the kingdom, but within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger or in battle. 21In his place a despised one will arise, to whom they did not give the majesty of kingship. He will come in a time of ease and seize the kingdom through intrigue. 22Forces like a flood will be swept away from before him and broken, and also a prince of the covenant. 23From the time an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully. He will rise and become strong with a small people. 24In a time of ease he will enter the richest parts of the province and do what his fathers and his fathers’ fathers did not do. Plunder, spoil, and possessions he will scatter among them. Against fortresses he will devise his plans, but only for a time.

The Two Kings Speak Lies at One Table

25“He will stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. The king of the south will stir himself to battle with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he will not stand, for plans will be devised against him. 26Those who eat his delicacies will break him, and his army will overflow, and many will fall slain. 27As for the two kings, their hearts will be toward evil. At one table they will speak lies, but it will not prosper, for the end is still for the appointed time.

He Turns His Heart against the Holy Covenant

28“Then he will return to his land with great possessions, but his heart will be against the holy covenant. He will act and return to his land. 29At the appointed time he will return and come into the south, but this latter time will not be like the former. 30For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart and turn back. He will become furious against the holy covenant and act. He will return and give attention to those who abandon the holy covenant.

The Abomination That Makes Desolate

31“Forces from him will arise and profane the sanctuary fortress. They will remove the continual offering and set up the detestable thing that makes desolate. 32Those who act wickedly against the covenant he will make profane by smooth words, but the people who know their God will stand firm and act. 33Those among the people who have insight will make many understand, though they will stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder, for days. 34When they stumble, they will be helped with a little help, and many will join themselves to them with smooth words. 35Some of those with insight will stumble, to refine them, purify them, and make them white until the time of the end, for it is still for the appointed time.

The King Exalts Himself above Every God

36“The king will do according to his will. He will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and speak extraordinary things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the indignation is completed, for what is decreed will be done. 37He will give no attention to the gods of his fathers or to the desire of women or to any god, for he will magnify himself above all. 38Instead, he will honor a god of fortresses in its place, a god whom his fathers did not know. He will honor it with gold, silver, precious stones, and desirable things. 39He will act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he will multiply with honor, and he will cause them to rule over many and divide land for a price.

The Final Conflict of North and South

40“At the time of the end, the king of the south will push against him, and the king of the north will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will enter lands, overflow, and pass through. 41He will enter the Beautiful Land, and many will stumble. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42He will stretch out his hand against lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43He will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will follow in his steps. 44But reports from the east and from the north will terrify him, and he will go out in great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. 45He will plant the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and there will be no one to help him.