Daniel 11

1As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood to strengthen and fortify him.

2And now I will declare truth to you. Behold, three more kings will yet arise in Persia, and the fourth will amass riches greater than all others; by his strength through his wealth he will rouse everyone against Greece's kingdom.

3And a mighty king will arise who will rule a great dominion and do as he desires.

4But when he arises, his kingdom will break and be divided toward the four winds of heaven, yet not to his posterity, nor like his dominion that he ruled; for his kingdom will be uprooted, going to others besides these.

5The king of the south will become strong, and one of his princes will become stronger than him and rule a great dominion, his dominion.

6At the end of years they shall ally, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make agreements, but she shall not retain the power of the arm, nor shall he stand—nor his arm—but she shall be given up, together with those who brought her, he who begot her, and he who strengthened her in those times.

7From a branch of her roots one will arise in his place, who will come against the army, enter the stronghold of the northern king, act against them, and prevail.

8He will also carry their gods captive into Egypt, with their cast images and their precious silver-and-gold vessels; and he will continue for years longer than the king of the north.

9He entered the kingdom of the king of the south but returned to his own land.

10His sons will rouse themselves and gather a multitude of great armies, which will surely come, overflow, and pass through, then return and stir up strife up to his fortress.

11The king of the south will rage and march out to fight against him—against the king of the north—and muster a great multitude, yet that multitude will be delivered into his hand.

12The multitude will be carried away, his heart exalted and lifted up; he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail.

13The king of the north will return and assemble a greater multitude than the former, and after certain years he will surely come with a mighty force and abundant supplies.

14In those times many will arise against the king of the south, and the violent among your people will lift themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will stumble.

15The king of the north will come and raise a siege ramp and seize fortified cities, but the forces of the south will not endure, nor his elite troops, nor any strength to endure.

16The one who comes against him will act according to his desire, and no one will stand before him. He will take his stand in the glorious land, destruction in his power.

17He will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, upright ones with him, and he will carry it out: he will give him the daughter of women to destroy her, but she will not stand, nor be to him.

18He turns back and sets his face toward the islands, capturing many. A commander causes his reproach against him to cease; without reproach of his own, he turns it back on him.

19He will turn his face toward the strongholds of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and will not be found.

20Then one will arise in his place who sends an exactor through the glory of the kingdom, but after a few days he will be shattered, neither in anger nor in battle.

21A despised man arose in his place, to whom they had not granted the majesty of the kingdom, but he came amid tranquility and seized the kingdom by flatteries.

22Mighty overflowing forces will be swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant.

23After an alliance with him, he will act deceitfully, rise up, and grow strong with a small people.

24In prosperity he will enter even the richest parts of the province and do what his fathers never did, nor their forefathers; he will scatter plunder, spoil, and possessions among them, and plot his schemes against the fortresses, but only for a time.

25He will rouse his strength and resolve against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south will bestir himself for battle with a very great and mighty army, but he will not stand, because they will devise schemes against him.

26Those who eat his food portion will shatter him, his army will be swept away, and many slain will fall.

27Both kings will set their hearts on evil and speak lies at one table, but it will not succeed, for the end remains fixed for the appointed time.

28He will return to his land with abundant possessions, his heart set against the sacred covenant, and he will act before returning to his land.

29At the appointed time he will return and come to the south, but it will not be as at first or as afterward.

30Ships from Kittim will come against him, so he will grow disheartened and turn back, rage against the holy covenant and carry out his purpose, turn back again and pay attention to those abandoning the holy covenant.

31Mighty forces from him will arise and profane the sanctuary, the fortress; they will remove the continual and set up the desolating abomination.

32He shall corrupt with flattery those who do wickedly against the covenant, but the people who know their God shall be strong and act.

33Wise ones among the people will instruct many, yet they will stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder, for days.

34When they fall, they will receive meager assistance, and many will join them with hypocrisies.

35Some of the wise will fall, to be refined, purified, and whitened until the time of the end—for it is yet for the appointed time.

36The king will do according to his desire, lifting himself up and making himself great above every god, and against the God of gods he will speak astounding things; he will succeed until the indignation is finished, for what is decreed will be carried out.

37He will not pay attention to his fathers' gods, nor to women's desire, nor pay attention to any god, because he exalts himself above all.

38In his place he will honor the god of strongholds, a god whom his fathers did not know, with gold, silver, costly stones, and desirable things.

39He will advance strong fortresses with a foreign god, multiplying glory for those whom he has acknowledged and will acknowledge, causing them to rule over many, and dividing the land for a price.

40At the time of the end the king of the south will charge him, and the king of the north will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships; he will enter the lands, overflow, and pass through.

41He will enter the goodly land also, and many lands will fall; but these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.

42He will extend his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape.

43He will govern the treasures of gold and silver and all the desirable things of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians will be at his steps.

44Reports from the east and the north will terrify him, and he will go forth in great wrath to annihilate and utterly destroy many.

45He will pitch the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain, yet he will come to his end with none to help him.