"In the afirst year
of Darius
the Mede
, 1I arose
to be 2an encouragement
and a protection
for him.
"And now I will tell
you the atruth
. Behold
, three
more
kings
are going to arise
1in Persia
. Then a fourth
will gain
far
more
riches
than
all
of them; as soon as he becomes strong
through his riches
, 2he will arouse
the whole
empire against the realm
of 3 bGreece
.
"And a amighty king
will arise
, and he will rule
with great
authority
and bdo
as he pleases
.
"But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom
will be broken
up and parceled
out atoward the bfour
1points
of the compass
, though not to his own descendants
, nor
according to his authority
which
he wielded
, for his sovereignty
will be cuprooted
and given to others
besides
2them.
"Then the aking of the South
will grow
strong
, 1along with one of his princes
2who will gain
ascendancy
over
him and obtain
dominion
; his domain
will be a great
dominion
indeed.
"After some years
they will form
an alliance
, and the daughter
of the king
of the South
will come
to the aking
of the North
to carry
out 1a peaceful
arrangement
. But she will not retain
her 2position
of power
, nor
will he remain
with his 3power
, 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
.
"But one of the 1descendants of her line
will arise
in his place
, and he will come
against
their army
and enter
the afortress
of the king
of the North
, and he will deal
with them and display
great strength
.
"Also their agods
with their 1metal
images
and their precious
vessels
of silver
and gold
he will take
into captivity
to Egypt
, and he on his part
will 2refrain
from attacking the king
of the North
for some years
.
"Then 1the latter will enter the realm
of the king
of the South
, but will return
to his own land
.
"His sons will 1mobilize
and assemble
a multitude
of great
forces
; and one of them will keep
on coming
and aoverflow
and pass
through
, that he may 2again
wage
war
up to his very fortress
.
"The aking of the South
will be enraged
and go
forth
and fight
1with the king
of the North
. Then the latter will raise
a great
multitude
, but that multitude
will be given
into 2the hand
of the former.
"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
.
"For the king of the North
will again
raise
a greater
multitude
than
the former
, and 1after
an ainterval
of some
years
he will 2press
on with a great
army
and much
equipment
.
"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 1fall
down
.
"Then the king of the North
will come
, cast
up a asiege
ramp
and capture
a well-fortified
city
; and the forces
of the South
will not stand
their ground, not even 1their choicest
troops
, for there
will be no
strength
to make
a stand
.
"But he who comes against
him will ado
as he pleases
, and bno
one
will be able to withstand
him; he will also stay
for a time in the 1 cBeautiful
Land
, with destruction
in his hand
.
"He will aset his face
to come
with the power
of his whole
kingdom
, 1bringing with him 2a 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 3on his side.
"Then he will turn his face
to the acoastlands
and capture
many
. But a commander
will put
a stop
to his scorn
against him; moreover
, he will brepay
him for his scorn
.
"So he will turn his face
toward the fortresses
of his own land
, but he will astumble
and fall
and be bfound
no
more.
"Then in his place one will arise
who will asend
an 1oppressor
through
the 2Jewel
of his kingdom
; yet within a few
days
he will be shattered
, though not in anger
nor
in battle
.
"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 aseize
the kingdom
by intrigue
.
"The overflowing aforces
will be flooded
away
before
him and shattered
, and also
the prince
of the covenant
.
"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
.
" 1In a time of tranquility
he will enter
the arichest
parts of the 2realm
, and he will accomplish
what
his fathers
never
did
, nor
his 3ancestors
; he will distribute
plunder
, booty
and possessions
among them, and he will devise
his schemes
against
strongholds
, but only for a time
.
"He will stir up his strength
and 1courage
against
the aking
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.
"Those who eat his choice
food
will 1destroy
him, and his army
will 2 aoverflow
, but many
will fall
down
slain
.
"As for both kings
, their hearts
will be intent on aevil
, and they will bspeak
lies
to each other at the same
table
; but it will not succeed
, for the cend
is still
to come at the appointed
time
.
"Then he will return to his land
with much
1plunder
; but his heart
will be set against
the holy
covenant
, and he will take
action
and then return
to his own land
.
"At the appointed time
he will return
and come
into the South
, but 1this last
time
it will not turn
out the way it did before
.
"For ships of 1 aKittim
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
.
"Forces from him will arise
, adesecrate
the sanctuary
fortress
, and do
away
with the regular
sacrifice
. And they will set
up the babomination
1of desolation
.
"By asmooth words he will 1turn
to godlessness
those who act
wickedly
toward the covenant
, but the people
who know
their God
will display
bstrength
and take
action
.
" 1 aThose who have insight
among the people
will give
understanding
to the many
; yet they will bfall
by sword
and by flame
, by captivity
and by plunder
for many days
.
"Now when they fall they will be granted
a little
help
, and many
will ajoin
with them in bhypocrisy
.
"Some of 1those who have
insight
will fall
, in order to arefine
, bpurge
and make
them 2 cpure
until
the dend
time
; because
it is still
to come at the appointed
time
.
"Then the king will ado
as he pleases
, and he will exalt
and bmagnify
himself above
every
god
and will cspeak
1monstrous
things
against
the dGod
of gods
; and he will prosper
until
the eindignation
is finished
, for that which is fdecreed
will be done
.
"He will show no
regard
for the 1gods
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
.
"But 1instead 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
.
"He will take action
against the strongest
of fortresses
with the help of a foreign
god
; he will give
great
honor
to 1those who
acknowledge
him and will cause them to rule
over the many
, and will parcel
out land
for a price
.
"At the aend time
the bking
of the South
will collide
with him, and the cking
of the North
will dstorm
against
him with chariots
, with horsemen
and with many
ships
; and he will enter
countries
, eoverflow
them and pass
through
.
"He will also enter the 1 aBeautiful
Land
, and many
countries will fall
; but these
will be rescued
out of his hand
: Edom
, bMoab
and the foremost
of the sons
of cAmmon
.
"Then he will stretch out his hand
against other countries
, and the land
of Egypt
will not escape
.
"But he will 1gain control
over the hidden
treasures
of gold
and silver
and over all
the precious
things
of Egypt
; and aLibyans
and bEthiopians
will follow at his 2heels
.
"But rumors from the East
and from the North
will disturb
him, and he will go
forth
with great
wrath
to destroy
and 1annihilate
many
.
"He will pitch the tents
of his royal
pavilion
between
the seas
and the beautiful
aHoly
Mountain
; yet he will come
to his end
, and no
one
will help
him.