Daniel 11

¹ on whom I rely to give me support and to reinforce me.

² And now I shal tell you the truth about these things. 'Three more kings are going to rise in Persia; afourth wil come and be richer than al the others, and when, thanks to his wealth, he has grown powerful, he wilmake war on al the kingdoms of Greece.

³ A mighty king wil rise and govern a vast empire and do whatever he pleases.

⁴ But once he has come to power, his empire wil be broken up and parcelled out to the four winds ofheaven, though not to his descendants: it wil not be ruled as he ruled it, for his sovereignty will be uprooted andwil pass to others than his own descendants.

⁵ 'The king of the south wil grow powerful, but one of his princes wil grow more powerful stil , with anempire greater than his own.

⁶ Some years later, these will conclude a treaty and, to ratify the agreement, the daughter of the king ofthe south wil go to the king of the north. Her arm will not, however, retain its strength, nor his posterity endure:she wil be handed over, she, her escorts and her child, and he who has had authority over her. In due time

⁷ a sprig from her roots wil rise in his place, wil march on the defences, force the stronghold of the kingof the north, and succeed in overcoming them.

⁸ He wil even carry off al their gods, their statues, their precious gold and silver vessels as booty toEgypt. For some years he wil leave the king of the north in peace,

⁹ but the latter will invade the kingdom of the king of the south, then retire to his own country.

¹⁰ His sons wil next be on the march, mustering a host of powerful forces; and he wil advance, deploy,break through and march on the southern stronghold once again.

¹¹ The king of the south wil fly into a rage and set out to give battle to the king of the north, who wilhave an immense army on his side, but this army wil be defeated by him.

¹² The army wil be annihilated; he wil be triumphant; he wil overthrow tens of thousands; yet he wilhave no enduring strength.

¹³ The king of the north wil come back, having recruited an even larger army than before, and final y,after some years, he wil advance a second time with a great army and plentiful supplies.

¹⁴ At that time, many wil take up arms against the king of the south, and the more violent of your ownpeople wil rebel in the hope of realising the vision; but they will fail.

¹⁵ The king of the north wil then come and throw up siege-works to capture a strongly fortified city. The forces of the south wil not stand their ground; the pick of the people will not be strong enough to resist.

¹⁶ The invader wil do as he pleases, no one wil be able to resist him: he will take his stand in the Landof Splendour, destruction in his hands.

¹⁷ He wil set about conquering his entire kingdom, but wil then make a treaty with him and, tooverthrow the kingdom, give him a woman's hand; but this wil not last or be to his advantage.

¹⁸ He wil next turn to the coasts and islands and conquer many of them, but a magistrate wil put a stopto his outrages in such a way that he wil be unable to repay outrage for outrage.

¹⁹ 'He wil then turn on the strongholds of his own country, but wil stumble, fall, and never be seenagain.

²⁰ In his place there wil rise a man who wil send an extortioner to despoil the royal splendour; in a fewdays he wil be shattered, though neither publicly nor in battle.

²¹ 'In his place wil rise a wretch: royal honours wil not be given to him, but rather he wil insinuatehimself into them at his pleasure and wil gain possession of the kingdom by intrigue.

²² Armies will be utterly routed and crushed by him, the Prince of the covenant too.

²³ Through his alliances he wil act treacherously and, despite the smal ness of his fol owing, grow everstronger.

²⁴ At his pleasure, he wil invade rich provinces, acting as his fathers or his fathers' fathers never acted,distributing among them plunder, spoil and wealth, plotting his stratagems against the fortresses -- for a time.

²⁵ 'He wil summon up his might and courage against the king of the south with a great army. The kingof the south wil march to war with a huge and powerful army but wil not succeed, since he will be outwitted bytrickery.

²⁶ Those who shared his food wil ruin him; his army wil be swept away, many wil fall in the slaughter.

²⁷ 'The two kings, seated at one table, hearts bent on evil, wil tell their lies; but they will not have theirway, for the appointed time is stil to come.

²⁸ Then the wretch wil return greatly enriched to his own country, his heart set against the holycovenant; he wil take action and then return to his own country.

²⁹ In due time, he will make his way southwards again, but this time the outcome wil not be as before.

³⁰ The ships of the Kittim wil oppose him, and he wil be worsted. He wil retire and take furious actionagainst the holy covenant and, as before, wil favour those who forsake that holy covenant.

³¹ 'Forces of his wil come and profane the Citadel-Sanctuary; they will abolish the perpetual sacrificeand instal the appal ing abomination there.

³² Those who break the covenant he wil seduce by his blandishments, but the people who know theirGod will stand firm and take action.

³³ Those of the people who are wise leaders wil instruct many; for some days, however, they wilstumble from sword and flame, captivity and pil age.

³⁴ And thus stumbling, little help wil they receive, though many will be scheming in their support.

³⁵ Of the wise leaders some wil stumble, and so a number of them wil be purged, purified and madeclean -- until the time of the End, for the appointed time is stil to come.

³⁶ 'The king wil do as he pleases, growing more and more arrogant, considering himself greater thanal the gods; he will utter incredible blasphemies against the God of gods, and he wil thrive until the wrathreaches bursting point; for what has been decreed wil certainly be fulfil ed.

³⁷ Heedless of his fathers' gods, heedless of the god whom women love, heedless of any godwhatever, he wil consider himself greatest of al .

³⁸ Instead of them, he wil honour the god of fortresses, will honour a god unknown to his ancestorswith gold and silver, precious stones and valuable presents.

³⁹ He wil use the people of an alien god to defend the fortresses; he will confer great honours on thosewhom he acknowledges, by giving them wide authority and by parcel ing the country out for rent.

⁴⁰ 'When the time comes for the End, the king of the south will try conclusions with him; but the king ofthe north wil come storming down on him with chariots, cavalry, and a large fleet. He wil invade countries,overrun them and drive on.

⁴¹ He wil invade the Land of Splendour, and many wil fal ; but Edom, Moab, and what remains of thesons of Ammon wil escape him.

⁴² 'He wil reach out to attack countries: Egypt will not escape him.

⁴³ The gold and silver treasures and al the valuables of Egypt wil lie in his power. Libyans andCushites wil be at his feet:

⁴⁴ but reports coming from the East and the north wil worry him, and in great fury he wil set out to bringruin and complete destruction to many.

⁴⁵ He wil pitch the tents of his royal headquarters between the sea and the mountains of the HolySplendour. Yet he wil come to his end -- there wil be no help for him.'