1And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him.
2And now I will declare to you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise for Persia, and the fourth will grow far richer than all of them; and by his strength, through his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
3Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great dominion and do as he pleases.
4But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, yet not to his posterity nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these.
5Then the king of the South will grow strong, but one of his officers will grow stronger than he and will rule; his dominion will be a great dominion.
6And at the end of some years they will form an alliance; and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to make an equitable arrangement. But she will not retain the strength of her arm, and neither he nor his arm will endure; and she will be given up, along with those who brought her, and the one who begot her, and the one who supported her in those times.
7Then a branch from her roots will arise in his place; he will come against the army and enter the stronghold of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and prevail.
8And their gods too, with their cast images, together with their precious vessels of silver and gold, he will carry off as captives to Egypt; and for some years he will refrain from attacking the king of the North.
9Then he will come into the kingdom of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.
10But his sons will wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one will surely come and overflow and sweep through, then return, and they will wage war as far as his stronghold.
11Then the king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North; and he will raise a great multitude, but the multitude will be given into his hand.
12When the multitude is carried off, his heart will be exalted, and he will cast down tens of thousands, yet he will not prevail.
13For the king of the North will return and raise a multitude greater than the first, and at the end of the times, after some years, he will surely come with a great army and abundant supplies.
14And in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; and violent men among your people will exalt themselves to fulfill a vision, but they will stumble.
15Then the king of the North will come and throw up a siege ramp and capture a fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand, nor will his chosen troops, and there will be no strength to make a stand.
16And the one who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will stand before him; and he will take his stand in the land of the Splendor, with destruction in his hand.
17He will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and terms of agreement with him; and he will act, and he will give him a daughter of women to ruin it. But it will not stand, nor will it be to his advantage.
18Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many; but a commander will put an end to his reproach against him, indeed will turn his reproach back upon him.
19Then he will turn his face back to the strongholds of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and will not be found.
20And in his place one will arise who sends an exactor of tribute through the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be broken, though neither in anger nor in battle.
21And in his place a despised one will arise, on whom the majesty of kingship has not been conferred; but he will come in a time of ease and seize the kingdom through intrigues.
22And the forces of the flood will be swept away before him and broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
23And after an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; he will rise up and grow strong with only a small nation.
24In a time of ease he will come into the richest parts of the province, and he will do what his fathers and his fathers’ fathers never did: he will scatter among them plunder, spoil, and possessions; and against fortresses he will devise his schemes—but only for a time.
25And he will stir up his power and his heart against the king of the South with a great army; and the king of the South will engage in battle with a very great and mighty army, but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him.
26Those who eat his fine food will break him; and his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
27As for the two kings, their hearts will be bent on evil, and at one table they will speak lies; but it will not succeed, for the end is still for the appointed time.
28Then he will return to his land with great possessions, and his heart will be set against the holy covenant; and he will act, and return to his own land.
29At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this time it will not be as the former or the latter.
30For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will be disheartened and turn back; and he will vent his fury against the holy covenant, and he will act; then he will return and give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31And forces from him will arise, and they will profane the sanctuary, the stronghold, and remove the daily sacrifice, and set up the abomination that makes desolate.
32And those who act wickedly against the covenant he will corrupt with smooth words, but the people who know their God will stand firm and act.
33And the wise among the people will give understanding to the many, yet they will stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, for days.
34And when they stumble, they will be helped with a little help, but many will join themselves to them with flattery.
35And some of the wise will stumble, in order to refine among them and to purge and to cleanse, until the time of the end; for it is still for the appointed time.
36And the king will do as he pleases; he will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and against the God of gods he will speak astonishing things. And he will prosper until the wrath is completed, for what is decreed will be done.
37And to the God of his fathers he will pay no regard, nor to the desire of women, nor to any god will he pay regard, for he will magnify himself above all.
38But instead he will honor a god of fortresses; a god whom his fathers did not know he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
39And he will deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god; whoever acknowledges him he will increase with honor, and he will make them rule over the many, and parcel out land for a price.
40And at the time of the end the king of the South will clash with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots and horsemen and many ships; and he will come into the lands and overflow and pass through.
41And he will come into the beautiful land, and many will stumble; but these will escape from his hand: Edom and Moab and the chief of the sons of Ammon.
42And he will stretch out his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape.
43And he will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will be at his steps.
44But reports from the east and from the north will alarm him, and he will go out in great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction.
45And he will pitch his royal tents between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain; yet he will come to his end, with none to help him.
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