Daniel, 11

1. on whom I rely to give me support and to reinforce me.

1. And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

2. And now I shall tell you the truth about these things. 'Three more kings are going to rise in Persia; a fourth will come and be richer than all the others, and when, thanks to his wealth, he has grown powerful, he will make war on all the kingdoms of Greece.

2. "And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia; and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them; and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

3. A mighty king will rise and govern a vast empire and do whatever he pleases.

3. Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will.

4. But once he has come to power, his empire will be broken up and parcelled out to the four winds of heaven, though not to his descendants: it will not be ruled as he ruled it, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and will pass to others than his own descendants.

4. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.

5. 'The king of the south will grow powerful, but one of his princes will grow more powerful still, with an empire greater than his own.

5. "Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and his dominion shall be a great dominion.

6. Some years later, these will conclude a treaty and, to ratify the agreement, the daughter of the king of the south will go to the king of the north. Her arm will not, however, retain its strength, nor his posterity endure: she will be handed over, she, her escorts and her child, and he who has had authority over her. In due time

6. After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make peace; but she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his offspring shall not endure; but she shall be given up, and her attendants, her child, and he who got possession of her.

7. a sprig from her roots will rise in his place, will march on the defences, force the stronghold of the king of the north, and succeed in overcoming them.

7. "In those times a branch from her roots shall arise in his place; he shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail.

8. He will even carry off all their gods, their statues, their precious gold and silver vessels as booty to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the north in peace,

8. He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their molten images and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north.

9. but the latter will invade the kingdom of the king of the south, then retire to his own country.

9. Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return into his own land.

10. His sons will next be on the march, mustering a host of powerful forces; and he will advance, deploy, break through and march on the southern stronghold once again.

10. "His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress.

11. The king of the south will fly into a rage and set out to give battle to the king of the north, who will have an immense army on his side, but this army will be defeated by him.

11. Then the king of the south, moved with anger, shall come out and fight with the king of the north; and he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand.

12. The army will be annihilated; he will be triumphant; he will overthrow tens of thousands; yet he will have no enduring strength.

12. And when the multitude is taken, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.

13. The king of the north will come back, having recruited an even larger army than before, and finally, after some years, he will advance a second time with a great army and plentiful supplies.

13. For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the former; and after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.

14. At that time, many will take up arms against the king of the south, and the more violent of your own people will rebel in the hope of realising the vision; but they will fail.

14. "In those times many shall rise against the king of the south; and the men of violence among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfil the vision; but they shall fail.

15. The king of the north will then come and throw up siege-works to capture a strongly fortified city. The forces of the south will not stand their ground; the pick of the people will not be strong enough to resist.

15. Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks, and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his picked troops, for there shall be no strength to stand.

16. The invader will do as he pleases, no one will be able to resist him: he will take his stand in the Land of Splendour, destruction in his hands.

16. But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and all of it shall be in his power.

17. He will set about conquering his entire kingdom, but will then make a treaty with him and, to overthrow the kingdom, give him a woman's hand; but this will not last or be to his advantage.

17. He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of peace and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom; but it shall not stand or be to his advantage.

18. He will next turn to the coasts and islands and conquer many of them, but a magistrate will put a stop to his outrages in such a way that he will be unable to repay outrage for outrage.

18. Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many of them; but a commander shall put an end to his insolence; indeed he shall turn his insolence back upon him.

19. 'He will then turn on the strongholds of his own country, but will stumble, fall, and never be seen again.

19. Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.

20. In his place there will rise a man who will send an extortioner to despoil the royal splendour; in a few days he will be shattered, though neither publicly nor in battle.

20. "Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute through the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle.

21. 'In his place will rise a wretch: royal honours will not be given to him, but rather he will insinuate himself into them at his pleasure and will gain possession of the kingdom by intrigue.

21. In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given; he shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

22. Armies will be utterly routed and crushed by him, the Prince of the covenant too.

22. Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, and the prince of the covenant also.

23. Through his alliances he will act treacherously and, despite the smallness of his following, grow ever stronger.

23. And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully; and he shall become strong with a small people.

24. At his pleasure, he will invade rich provinces, acting as his fathers or his fathers' fathers never acted, distributing among them plunder, spoil and wealth, plotting his stratagems against the fortresses -- for a time.

24. Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province; and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time.

25. 'He will summon up his might and courage against the king of the south with a great army. The king of the south will march to war with a huge and powerful army but will not succeed, since he will be outwitted by trickery.

25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him.

26. Those who shared his food will ruin him; his army will be swept away, many will fall in the slaughter.

26. Even those who eat his rich food shall be his undoing; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.

27. 'The two kings, seated at one table, hearts bent on evil, will tell their lies; but they will not have their way, for the appointed time is still to come.

27. And as for the two kings, their minds shall be bent on mischief; they shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail; for the end is yet to be at the time appointed.

28. Then the wretch will return greatly enriched to his own country, his heart set against the holy covenant; he will take action and then return to his own country.

28. And he shall return to his land with great substance, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will, and return to his own land.

29. In due time, he will make his way southwards again, but this time the outcome will not be as before.

29. "At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south; but it shall not be this time as it was before.

30. The ships of the Kittim will oppose him, and he will be worsted. He will retire and take furious action against the holy covenant and, as before, will favour those who forsake that holy covenant.

30. For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant.

31. 'Forces of his will come and profane the Citadel-Sanctuary; they will abolish the perpetual sacrifice and install the appalling abomination there.

31. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

32. Those who break the covenant he will seduce by his blandishments, but the people who know their God will stand firm and take action.

32. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant; but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

33. Those of the people who are wise leaders will instruct many; for some days, however, they will stumble from sword and flame, captivity and pillage.

33. And those among the people who are wise shall make many understand, though they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder, for some days.

34. And thus stumbling, little help will they receive, though many will be scheming in their support.

34. When they fall, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery;

35. Of the wise leaders some will stumble, and so a number of them will be purged, purified and made clean -- until the time of the End, for the appointed time is still to come.

35. and some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine and to cleanse them and to make them white, until the time of the end, for it is yet for the time appointed.

36. 'The king will do as he pleases, growing more and more arrogant, considering himself greater than all the gods; he will utter incredible blasphemies against the God of gods, and he will thrive until the wrath reaches bursting point; for what has been decreed will certainly be fulfilled.

36. "And the king shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is determined shall be done.

37. Heedless of his fathers' gods, heedless of the god whom women love, heedless of any god whatever, he will consider himself greatest of all.

37. He shall give no heed to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women; he shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.

38. Instead of them, he will honour the god of fortresses, will honour a god unknown to his ancestors with gold and silver, precious stones and valuable presents.

38. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

39. He will use the people of an alien god to defend the fortresses; he will confer great honours on those whom he acknowledges, by giving them wide authority and by parcelling the country out for rent.

39. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god; those who acknowledge him he shall magnify with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.

40. 'When the time comes for the End, the king of the south will try conclusions with him; but the king of the north will come storming down on him with chariots, cavalry, and a large fleet. He will invade countries, overrun them and drive on.

40. "At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him; but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through.

41. He will invade the Land of Splendour, and many will fall; but Edom, Moab, and what remains of the sons of Ammon will escape him.

41. He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites.

42. 'He will reach out to attack countries: Egypt will not escape him.

42. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

43. The gold and silver treasures and all the valuables of Egypt will lie in his power. Libyans and Cushites will be at his feet:

43. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall follow in his train.

44. but reports coming from the East and the north will worry him, and in great fury he will set out to bring ruin and complete destruction to many.

44. But tidings from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go forth with great fury to exterminate and utterly destroy many.

45. He will pitch the tents of his royal headquarters between the sea and the mountains of the Holy Splendour. Yet he will come to his end -- there will be no help for him.'

45. And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.