1I stepped forward to help him and keep him safe. It was the first year that Darius, the Mede, was king.
The kings of Egypt and Syria
2‘Now then, what I’m about to tell you is true. Three more kings will come to power in Persia. Then a fourth one will rule. He will be much richer than all the others. He will use his wealth to gain power. And he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.3After him, a mighty king will come to power. He will rule with great power and do as he pleases.4Not long after his rule ends, his kingdom will be broken up. It will be divided up into four parts. His children will not receive it when he dies. And it will not be as strong as his kingdom. It will be pulled up by the roots. And it will be given to others.5‘The king of Egypt will become strong. But one of his commanders will become even stronger. He will rule over his own kingdom with great power.6After many years, the two kingdoms will join forces. The daughter of the next king of Egypt will go to the king of Syria. She will join forces with him. But she will not hold on to her power. And he and his power will not last either. In those days she and her attendants will die. They will die when the people she trusts lie to her. The same thing will happen to her father and the one who helped her.7‘Someone from her family line will take her place. He will attack the army of the next king of Syria. Then he will enter his fort. He will fight against that army and win.8He will take the metal statues of their gods. He will also take away their priceless objects of silver and gold. He will carry everything off to Egypt. For many years he will leave the king of Syria alone.9Then the king of Syria will march into territory that was controlled by Egypt. After that, he will return to his own country.10His sons will prepare for war. They will gather a huge army. It will sweep along like a mighty flood. The army will fight its way as far as one of the Egyptian forts.11‘Another king of Egypt will march out with mighty force. He will be very angry. By then, another person will have become king in Syria. The king of Egypt will come to fight against him. The king of Syria will gather a huge army. But that army will lose the battle.12His soldiers will be carried off. Then the king of Egypt will be filled with pride. He will kill many thousands of soldiers. But his success will not last.13The king of Syria will bring another army together. It will be larger than the first one. After several years, he will march out with a huge army. It will have everything it needs for battle.14‘In those times many people will rise up against the next king of Egypt. Lawless people in your own nation will refuse to obey him. That is what you saw in your vision. But they will not succeed.15Then the king of Syria will go to a certain city that has high walls around it. He will build ramps against them. And he will capture that city. The forces of Egypt will not have the power to stop him. Even their best troops will not be strong enough to stand up against him.16He will do anything he wants to. No one will be able to stand up against him. He will take over the beautiful land of Israel. And he will have the power to destroy it.17The king of Syria will decide to come with the might of his entire kingdom. He will join forces with the king of Egypt. And the king of Syria will give his daughter to him to become his wife. The king of Syria will do this in order to take control of Egypt. But his plans will not succeed or help him.18Then he will turn his attention to the lands along the Mediterranean coast. He will take over many of them. But a commander will put an end to his proud actions. He will turn his pride back on him.19After this, the king of Syria will return to the forts in his own country. But he will trip and fall. And he will never be seen again.20‘The next king after him will send someone out to collect taxes. The taxes will help maintain the glory of his kingdom. But in a few years the king will be destroyed. It will not happen because someone becomes angry with him or kills him in battle.21‘After him, another king will take his place. Many people will hate him. He will not be honoured as a king should be. He will lead an army into the kingdom when its people feel secure. He will make clever plans to capture it.22Then he will sweep away a huge army. The army and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed.23The king of Syria will make an agreement with that prince. But then the king of Syria will not keep his word. He will rise to even greater power with the help of only a few people.24When the people in the richest areas feel secure, he will attack them. He will do what the kings before him could not do. And he will reward his followers with the goods and wealth he takes. He will make clever plans to take over the forts. But that will last for only a short time.25‘He will become stronger and more confident. He will do that by gathering a large army. Then he will go to war against the next king of Egypt. That king will fight against him with a huge and very powerful army. But the king of Egypt will not be able to stand up against him. So the plans of the king of Syria will succeed.26The trusted advisers of the king of Egypt will try to destroy him. His army will be swept away. Many of his soldiers will be wounded or killed.27The kings of Syria and Egypt will sit at the same table. But in their hearts they will plan to do what is evil. And they will tell lies to each other. But it will not do them any good. God will put an end to their plans at his appointed time.28The king of Syria will return to his own country. He will go back there with great wealth. But he will make evil plans against the holy temple in Jerusalem. He will do a lot of harm to the temple and the people who worship there. Then he will return to his own country.29‘At God’s appointed time, the king of Syria will march south again. But this time things will turn out differently.30Roman ships will oppose him. He will lose hope. Then he will turn back. He will take out his anger against the holy temple. And he will do good to the Jews who desert it.31‘His army will come and make the temple area “unclean”. They will put a stop to the daily sacrifices. Then they will set up a hated thing that destroys.32He will pretend to praise those who have broken the covenant. He will lead them to do what is evil. But the people who know their God will firmly oppose him.33‘Those who are wise will teach many others. But for a while, some of the wise will be killed by swords. Others will be burned to death. Still others will be made prisoners. Or they will be robbed of everything they have.34When that happens, they will receive a little help. Many who are not honest will join them.35So some of the wise people will suffer. They will be made pure in the fire. They will be made spotless until the time of the end. It will still come at God’s appointed time.
The king who honours himself
36‘A certain king will do as he pleases. He will honour himself. He will put himself above every god. He will say things against the greatest God of all. Those things have never been heard before. He will have success until God is not angry anymore. What God has decided to do must take place.37The king will not show any respect for the gods his people have always worshipped. There is a god desired by women. He will not respect that god either. He will not have respect for any god. Instead, he will put himself above all of them.38In place of them, he will worship a god of war. He will honour a god his people have not known before. He will give gold and silver to that god. He will bring jewels and expensive gifts to it.39He will attack the strongest forts. A new god will help him do it. He will greatly honour those who recognise him as their leader. He will make them rulers over many people. And he will give them land as a reward.40‘A king in the south will go to war against him. It will happen at the time of the end. The king who will honour himself will rush out against him. He will come with chariots and horsemen. He will attack with a lot of ships. He will lead his army into many countries. He will sweep through them like a flood.41He will also march into the beautiful land of Israel. Many countries will fall. But Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be saved from his mighty hand.42His power will reach out into many countries. Even Egypt will not escape.43He will gain control of all Egypt’s riches. He will take their gold and silver treasures. The people of Libya and Cush will be under his control.44But reports from the east and the north will terrify him. He will march out with great anger to destroy many people and wipe them out.45He will set up his royal tents. He will put them between the Mediterranean Sea and the beautiful holy mountain of Zion. But his end will come. And no one will help him.
Daniel 11
English Standard Version
The Kings of the South and the North
1“And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. (Da 9:1)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. (Da 10:21)3Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. (Da 7:6; Da 8:4; Da 8:5; Da 8:21; Da 11:16; Da 11:36)4And 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. (Ps 109:13; Da 7:2; Da 8:8; Da 8:22)5“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. (Da 7:6)6After 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[1] her in those times. (Da 11:23)7“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. (Da 11:10; Da 11:19; Da 11:38)8He 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. (Da 11:43)9Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.10“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. (Isa 8:8; Da 11:7; Da 11:26; Da 11:40)11Then 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. (Da 8:7; Da 11:13)12And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.13For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years[2] he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies. (Da 4:16; Da 11:11)14“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. (Da 11:19; Da 11:33)15Then 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. (Eze 4:2)16But 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. (Jos 10:8; Da 8:9; Da 11:3; Da 11:36; Da 11:41)17He 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,[3] but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. (Jer 42:15)18Afterward 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,[4] he shall turn his insolence back upon him. (Ho 12:14)19Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found. (Job 20:8; Ps 37:36; Jer 46:6; Eze 26:21; Da 11:7; Da 11:10; Da 11:38)20“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. (Isa 60:17; Zec 9:8)21In 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. (Da 11:24; Da 11:34)22Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. (Jer 46:7; Da 11:10)23And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people.24Without warning he shall come into the richest parts[5] 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. (Ge 27:28; Ge 27:39; Da 11:21)25And 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. (Da 8:9)26Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. (Da 11:10; Da 11:40)27And 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. (Da 11:35)28And 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.29“At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.30For 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. (Ge 10:4; Nu 24:24; Da 11:28)31Forces 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. (Da 8:13; Da 12:11; Mt 24:15; Mr 13:14)32He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.33And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. (Da 12:3; Da 12:10)34When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery,35and 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. (Da 11:27; Da 11:40; Mal 3:3; Re 7:14)36“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. (De 10:17; Isa 10:25; Da 7:25; Da 8:12; Da 9:27; Da 11:3; Da 11:16; 2Th 2:4; Re 13:5)37He 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. (Da 11:36)38He 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. (Joe 3:5)39He 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.[6] (La 5:2; La 5:6)40“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack[7] 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. (Da 11:10; Da 11:26; Da 11:27; Da 11:35; Zec 9:14)41He 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. (Isa 11:14; Da 8:9; Da 11:16)42He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.43He 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. (2Ch 12:3; Eze 30:4; Na 3:9)44But 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.45And 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.