CHAPTER 11
Now then,
I will tell
you the truth:
Three
more
kings
will arise
in Persia,
and then a fourth,
who will be
far
richer than the others.
By the power
of his wealth,
he will stir up
everyone
against the kingdom
of Greece.
But as soon as he is established,
his kingdom
will be broken up
and parceled
out toward the four
winds
of heaven.
It will not go
to his descendants,
nor will it
have the authority
with which
he ruled,
because
his kingdom
will be uprooted
and given to others.
The king
of the South
will grow strong,
but one of
his commanders
will grow even
stronger
and will rule
his own kingdom
with great
authority.
After
some years
they will form an alliance,
and the daughter
of the king
of the South
will go
to
the king
of the North
to seal
the agreement.
But his daughter will not
retain
her position of power,
nor will
his strength
endure.
At that time
she
will be given up,
along with her royal escort
and her father
and the one who supported her.
But one from her family line
will rise up
in his place,
come
against
the army
of the king
of the North,
and enter
his fortress,
fighting
and prevailing.
He will take
even
their gods
captive
to Egypt,
with
their metal images
and their precious
vessels
of silver
and gold.
For some years
he
will stay away
from the king
of the North,
But his sons
will stir up strife
and assemble
a great
army,
which will advance forcefully,
sweeping through
like a flood,
and will again
carry the battle
as
far as his fortress.
In a rage,
the king
of the South
will march out
to fight
the king
of the North,
who will raise
a large
army,
but it
will be given over
to the hand of his enemy.
When the army
is carried off,
the king of the South will be proud
in heart
and cast down
tens of thousands,
but he will not
triumph.
For the king
of the North
will raise
another
army,
larger
than
the first,
and after
some years
he will advance
with a great
army
and many
supplies.
In those
times
many
will rise up
against
the king
of the South.
Violent
ones
among your own people
will exalt themselves
in fulfillment
of the vision,
but they will fail.
Then the king
of the North
will come,
build up
a siege mound,
and capture
a fortified
city.
The forces
of the South
will not
stand;
even their best
troops
will not
be able
to resist.
The invader
will do
as he pleases,
and no one
will stand
against him.
He will establish
himself in the Beautiful
Land,
with destruction
in his hand.
He will resolve
to come
with the strength
of his whole
kingdom,
and will reach an agreement
with the king of the South.
He will give him a daughter
in marriage
in order to overthrow the kingdom,
but his plan will not
succeed
or help him.
Then he will turn
his face
to the coastlands
and capture
many of them.
But a commander
will put an end
to his reproach
and will turn it back
upon him.
After this, he will turn back
his face
to the fortresses
of his own land,
but he will stumble
and fall
and be no more.
In
his place
one will arise
who will send out
a tax collector
for the glory
of the kingdom;
but within a few
days
he will be destroyed,
though not
in anger
or in battle.
In
his place
a despicable person
will arise;
royal
honors
will not
be given
to him,
but he will come
in a time of peace
and seize
the kingdom
by intrigue.
Then a flood
of forces
will be swept away
before him
and destroyed,
along with
a prince
of the covenant.
After
an alliance is made
with him,
he will act
deceitfully;
for he will rise
to power
with only a few
people.
In a time of peace,
he will invade
the richest
provinces
and do
what
his fathers
and forefathers
never
did.
He will lavish on his followers
plunder,
loot,
and wealth,
and he will plot
against
the strongholds—
but only for
a time.
And with a large
army
he will stir up
his power
and his courage
against
the king
of the South,
who
will mobilize
a very
large
and powerful
army
but will not
withstand
the plots
devised
against him.
Those who eat
from
his provisions
will seek to destroy him;
his army
will be swept away,
and many
will fall
slain.
And the two
kings,
with their hearts
bent on evil,
will speak
lies
at
the same
table,
but to no
avail,
for
still
the end
will come at the appointed time.
The king of the North will return
to his land
with great
wealth,
but his heart
will be set against
the holy
covenant;
so he will do damage
and return
to his own land.
Ships
of Kittim
will come
against him,
and he will lose heart.
Then he will turn back
and rage
against
the holy
covenant
and do damage.
So he will return
and show favor
to
those who forsake
the holy
covenant.
His
forces
will rise up
and desecrate
the temple
fortress.
They will abolish
the daily sacrifice
and set up
the abomination
of desolation.
With flattery
he will corrupt
those who violate
the covenant,
but the people
who know
their God
will firmly
resist him.
Those with insight
will instruct
many,
though for a time
they will fall
by sword
and flame
or be captured
or plundered.
Some of
the wise
will fall,
so that they may be refined,
purified,
and made spotless
until
the time
of the end,
for
it will still
come at the appointed time.
Then the king
will do
as he pleases
and will exalt
and magnify
himself above
every
god,
and he will speak
monstrous things
against
the God
of gods.
He will be successful
until
the time of wrath
is completed,
for
what has been decreed
must be accomplished.
He will show no regard
for
the gods
of his fathers,
nor for the one desired
by women,
nor for
any
other god,
because
he will magnify
himself above
them all.
And in
their place,
he will honor
a god
of fortresses—
a god
his fathers
did not
know—
with gold,
silver,
precious
stones,
and riches.
He will attack
the strongest fortresses
with
the help of a foreign
god
and will greatly
honor
those who
acknowledge him,
making them rulers
over many
and distributing
land
for a price.
At the time
of the end,
the king
of the South
will engage him in battle,
but the king
of the North
will storm out
against him
with chariots,
horsemen,
and many
ships,
invading
many countries
and sweeping through them
like a flood.
He will also invade
the Beautiful
Land,
and many countries
will fall.
But these
will be delivered
from his hand:
Edom,
Moab,
and the leaders
of the Ammonites.
He will gain control
of the treasures
of gold
and silver
and over all
the riches
of Egypt,
and the Libyans
and Cushites
will also submit to him.
But news
from the east
and the north
will alarm him,
and he will go out
with great
fury
to destroy
and annihilate
many.
He will pitch
his royal
tents
between
the sea
and the beautiful
holy
mountain,
but he will meet
his end
with no one
to help
him.