\v 2 And now I will reveal a truth to you. Three kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
\v 4 When he has risen up, his kingdom will be broken and divided to the four winds of heaven, but not to his own descendants, and not with his power when he had been ruling. For his kingdom will be uprooted for others besides his descendants.
\v 6 After a few years, when the time is right, they will make an alliance. The daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to confirm the agreement. But she will not keep her arm's strength, nor will he stand, or his arm. She will be abandoned—she and those who brought her, and her father, and the one who supported her in those times.
\f + \ft Instead of \fqa his arm \fqb , which the Hebrew text has, some ancient and many modern versions read \fqa his seed \fqb , that is, \fqa his children \fqb . \f*
\v 7 But a branch from her roots will rise up in her place. He will attack the army and enter the fortress of the king of the North. He will fight them, and he will conquer them.
\v 8 He will carry off to Egypt their gods along with their cast metal figures and their precious vessels of silver and of gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North.
\v 10 His sons will get ready and assemble a great army. It will keep coming and will overflow like a flood; it will pass through all the way to his fortress.
\v 11 Then the king of the South will become very angry; he will go and fight against him, the king of the North. The king of the North will raise up a great army, but the army will be given into his hand.
\v 12 The army will be carried off, and the heart of the king of the South will be lifted up, and he will make tens of thousands to fall, but he will not be victorious.
\v 13 Then the king of the North will raise up another army, greater than the first. After some years, the king of the North will surely come with a great army supplied with much equipment.
\v 14 In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Sons of the violent among your people will set themselves in order to fulfill a vision, but they will stumble.
\v 15 The king of the North will come, pour out earth for siege mounds, and capture a city with fortifications. The forces of the South will not be able to stand, not even their best soldiers. There will be no strength to stand.
\v 16 Instead, the one who comes will act according to his desires against him; no one will stand in his way. He will stand in the land of beauty, and destruction will be in his hand.
\v 17 The king of the North will set his face to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and with him will be an agreement that he will make with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter of women in marriage to ruin the kingdom of the South. But the plan will not succeed or help him.
\v 18 After this, the king of the North will pay attention to the coastlands and will capture many of them. But a commander will end his arrogance and will cause his arrogance to turn back upon him.
\v 20 Then someone will rise up in his place who will make a tax collector pass through for the sake of the splendor of the kingdom. But in the next days he will be broken, but not in anger or in battle.
\v 21 In his place will rise up a despised person to whom the people will not have given the honor of royal power; he will come unexpectedly and will take over the kingdom by trickery.
\v 24 Without warning he will come into the richest part of the province, and he will do what neither his father nor his father's father did. He will spread among his followers the booty, the plunder, and the wealth. He will plan the overthrow of fortresses, but only for a time.
\v 25 He will wake up his power and his heart against the king of the South with a great army. The king of the South will wage war with a large, very powerful army, but he will not stand because others will make plots against him.
\v 27 Both these kings, with their hearts set on evil against each other, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but it will be of no use. For the end will come at the time that has been fixed.
\v 28 Then the king of the North will go back into his land with great riches, with his heart against the holy covenant. He will act and then will return to his own land.
\v 29 At the appointed time he will return and come against the South again. But this time it will not be as before.
\v 30 For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will become afraid and will turn back. He will be furious against the holy covenant, and he will show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
\v 31 His forces will rise up and profane the fortress sanctuary. They will take away the regular burnt offering, and they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.
\v 32 He will flatter those who broke the covenant and will corrupt them. But the people who know their God will be strong and will take action.
\v 33 The wise among the people will give understanding to many. But for days they will fall by the sword and by flame, they will be taken as prisoners and robbed of their possessions.
\v 34 When they stumble, they will receive a little help, and many will join them who do not mean what they say.
\v 35 Some of the wise will stumble so that they may be refined, cleansed, and made pure until the time of the end. For the appointed time is still to come.
\v 36 The king will do whatever he wants. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and will speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the wrath is completed. For what has been decreed will be done.
\v 37 He will show no consideration for the gods of his ancestors, for the god desired by women, or for any other god. He will act proudly and claim to be above them all.
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\v 38 Instead of them, he will honor the god of fortresses. He will honor a god whom his ancestors did not know with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
\v 39 He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of people who belong to a foreign god. He will give honor to whoever acknowledges him. He will make them rulers over many people, and he will divide up the land as a reward.
\v 40 At the time of the end the king of the South will attack. The king of the North will rush at him like a storm with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.
\v 41 He will come into the glorious land, and tens of thousands of Israelites will stumble and fall, but many of Edom and Moab, and the remaining people of Ammon will escape from his hand.
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\v 42 He will extend his power over many countries; the land of Egypt will not escape.
\v 43 He will have authority over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the riches of Egypt; the Libyans and the Ethiopians will serve him.
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\v 44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out with great rage to destroy and to set many apart for destruction.
\v 45 He will set up the tents of his palace between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain. He will come to his end, and there will be no one to help him.
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