Daniel 11

New American Standard Bible 1995

Conflicts to Come

11 “In the ^(A)first year of Darius the Mede, ^[a]I arose to be ^[b]an encouragement and a protection for him. ² And now I will tell you the ^(B)truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise ^[c]in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, ^[d]he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of ^[e](C)Greece. ³ And a ^(D)mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and ^(E)do as he pleases. ⁴ But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out ^(F)toward the ^(G)four ^[f]points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be ^(H)uprooted and given to others besides ^[g]them.

⁵ “Then the ^(I)king of the South will grow strong, ^[h]along with one of his princes ^[i]who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed. ⁶ After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the ^(J)king of the North to carry out ^[j]a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her ^[k]position of power, nor will he remain with his ^[l]power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times. ⁷ But one of the ^[m]descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the ^(K)fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength. ⁸ Also their ^(L)gods with their ^[n]metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will ^[o]refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. ⁹ Then ^[p]the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

¹⁰ “His sons will ^[q]mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and ^(M)overflow and pass through, that he may ^[r]again wage war up to his very fortress. ¹¹ The ^(N)king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight ^[s]with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into ^[t]the hand of the former. ¹² When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. ¹³ For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and ^[u]after an ^(O)interval of some years he will ^[v]press on with a great army and much equipment.

¹⁴ “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will ^[w]fall down. ¹⁵ Then the king of the North will come, cast up a ^(P)siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even ^[x]their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. ¹⁶ But he who comes against him will ^(Q)do as he pleases, and ^(R)no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the ^[y](S)Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. ¹⁷ He will ^(T)set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, ^[z]bringing with him ^[aa]a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be ^[ab]on his side. ¹⁸ Then he will turn his face to the ^(U)coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will ^(V)repay him for his scorn. ¹⁹ So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will ^(W)stumble and fall and be ^(X)found no more.

²⁰ “Then in his place one will arise who will ^(Y)send an ^[ac]oppressor through the ^[ad]Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle. ²¹ In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and ^(Z)seize the kingdom by intrigue. ²² The overflowing ^(AA)forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. ²³ After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. ^24 [ae]In a time of tranquility he will enter the ^(AB)richest parts of the ^[af]realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ^[ag]ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. ²⁵ He will stir up his strength and ^[ah]courage against the ^(AC)king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him. ²⁶ Those who eat his choice food will ^[ai]destroy him, and his army will ^[aj](AD)overflow, but many will fall down slain. ²⁷ As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on ^(AE)evil, and they will ^(AF)speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the ^(AG)end is still to come at the appointed time. ²⁸ Then he will return to his land with much ^[ak]plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

²⁹ “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but ^[al]this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. ³⁰ For ships of ^[am](AH)Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. ³¹ Forces from him will arise, ^(AI)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the ^(AJ)abomination ^[an]of desolation. ³² By ^(AK)smooth words he will ^[ao]turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display ^(AL)strength and take action. ^33 [ap](AM)Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will ^(AN)fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. ³⁴ Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will ^(AO)join with them in ^(AP)hypocrisy. ³⁵ Some of ^[aq]those who have insight will fall, in order to ^(AQ)refine, ^(AR)purge and make them ^[ar](AS)pure until the ^(AT)end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

³⁶ “Then the king will ^(AU)do as he pleases, and he will exalt and ^(AV)magnify himself above every god and will ^(AW)speak ^[as]monstrous things against the ^(AX)God of gods; and he will prosper until the ^(AY)indignation is finished, for that which is ^(AZ)decreed will be done. ³⁷ He will show no regard for the ^[at]gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. ³⁸ But ^[au]instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. ³⁹ He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to ^[av]those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

⁴⁰ “At the ^(BA)end time the ^(BB)king of the South will collide with him, and the ^(BC)king of the North will ^(BD)storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, ^(BE)overflow them and pass through. ⁴¹ He will also enter the ^[aw](BF)Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, ^(BG)Moab and the foremost of the sons of ^(BH)Ammon. ⁴² Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. ⁴³ But he will ^[ax]gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and ^(BI)Libyans and ^(BJ)Ethiopians will follow at his ^[ay]heels. ⁴⁴ But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and ^[az]annihilate many. ⁴⁵ He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful ^(BK)Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.