1 He helps and strengthens me in the same way that I have helped him in the first year of Darius, the Mede. 2 But now, I shall tell you the truth.
2 There shall be three more kings in Persia, and the fourth shall have more riches than all the others. And when he has grown strong with his riches, he will stir up everything against the kingdom of Greece.
3 A powerful king will rise and reign over a vast empire and do as he pleases.
4 But as soon as he has secured his reign, his empire will be broken up and divided out to the four winds of heaven, though not among his descendants. It will not be the same dynasty, but his kingdom shall be taken from them and passed on to others.
5 The king of the South will grow powerful, but one of his leaders will grow more powerful still and will have an empire greater than his.
6 Some years later, they will be allies and the daughter of the king of the South shall come to the king of the North to conclude the alliance. But she will not endure; for she will be put to death with those who brought her, and her son and husband as well.
7 Then, a bud from her roots will sprout in her place, and will cross the land of “the army” and enter the fortress of the king of the North.
8 He will be victorious in wars and will appropriate to himself their gods, statues and objects of silver and gold: all this plunder will be brought into Egypt. For some years, he shall remain far away from the king of the North.
9 The king of the North will invade the king dom of the South, and then return to his own country.
10 His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great multitude of troops. One of them will come like an overflowing river; he will break through and then withdraw after having fought right up to his fortress.
11 Then the king of the South, enraged, will set out to fight against the king of the North. He will mobilize a great army, and the multitude will fall into his hands
12 and perish. Then he will become proud and crush tens of thousands of men, but his strength will not last.
13 The king of the North will attack after mobilizing a greater army than the first. And after several years, he will come with a large army and abundant provisions and supplies.
14 Then many will rise against the king of the South, and the violent among your people will rise against him, trusting in a vision, but they will throw up siegeworks and will capture the fortified city.
15 The king of the South will not be able to resist, he and the picked troops of his people.
16 He who marches against him will do as he pleases, and none can resist him, and he will settle in the Beautiful Land, bringing destruction.
17 He shall plan to reign over his whole kingdom, and will conclude an agreement with him, giving him one of his daughters, in order to destroy the kingdom. But he will not succeed, so it will not happen.
18 Then he will turn against the islands and seize a good number of them, but a commander will humble him, and he will not be able to avenge himself.
19 So he will turn against the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble, fall and never rise again.
20 In his place will rise another who will send a tax collector to despoil the Glory of his Kingdom, but he will be overthrown within a few days, though neither with arms nor in battle.
21 In his place a contemptible man will rise to whom royal dignity has not been given, but he will intervene unexpectedly and will gain possession of the kingdom by in trigue.
22 The enemy forces will be completely routed and utterly destroyed by him, and the Prince of the covenant, too.
23 He will act with cun ning, making good use of the pacts concluded with him, and with a few men, he will grow strong.
24 He will invade the richest provinces and will do what his predecessors had not done. He will divide the plunder, the booty and the riches among his friends. He will devise plans against fortresses, but up to a certain period only.
25 He will direct his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will go to war with a great and powerful army, but will not be able to resist, for conspiracies have been plotted against him.
26 Those who ate from his table will ruin him, his army will be disbanded and many will fall dead by the sword.
27 The two kings will not think of anything but to do harm and to deceive each other while sitting at the same table. But they will not accomplish anything, since there is still time before the appointed moment.
28 The king of the North will return to his land with great riches and will devise plans against the Holy Covenant. He will act against it, then he will return to his land.
29 In due time he will return again to the South, but in this second time, things will not be as before.
30 The ships of Kittim will come against him and he will have to abandon his plan, but he will vent his anger against the Holy Covenant, and will again favor those who have turned away from the Holy Cove nant.
31 He will send some of his forces to profane the Citadel sanctuary, to suppress the perpetual sacrifice and there to set up the Abominable Idol of the devastator.
32 He will corrupt with flatteries those who violate the Covenant, but the people who know their God will stand firm.
33 The most intelligent among the people will teach many, but they will fall by the sword or be burned or exiled or plundered of their goods for some time.
34 And when they fall, they will re ceive little help; but many will join them in de ceit.
35 Some among the learned will stumble, but this will be so as to prove them, to purify and cleanse them until the end which is to come at its appointed time.
36 The king will act according to his whims, becoming conceited and exalting himself above all the gods, and he will speak outrageous blasphemies against the God of gods. He will prosper until the Wrath is filled to overflowing, for what has been decreed will be fulfilled.
37 He will pay no heed to his fathers’ gods, will not mind the favorite god of the women, or any other god, but will exalt only himself as greater than them all.
38 In their place, he will worship the god of fortresses, a god unknown to his ancestors, and will honor him with gold, silver and precious stones and jewels.
39 Trusting in a foreign god, he will attack the fortresses. Those who adore him will be given great honor,
they will have authority to divide the land as a reward.
40 When the end-time comes, the king of the South will confront him. The king of the North will attack him with chariot cavalry and many ships. He will enter his lands, invade them and pass through them.
41 He will come to the Beautiful Land where many will fall; only the people of Edom, Moab and the best of the Ammonites will escape.
42 He will stretch out his hand to many countries, including Egypt.
43 He will seize the treasures of gold and silver and all precious objects of Egypt. Libyans and Ethiopians will join him.
44 But reports coming from the East and the North will worry him, and he will set out in a rage, determined to utterly wipe out and destroy many.
45 He will set up the tent of his military camp between the sea and the Holy Mountain of the Beautiful Land. Then he will come to his end and no one will come to his aid.