Daniel, 11

1. standing as a reinforcement and a bulwark for me.

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

2. Now I shall tell you the truth. "Three kings of Persia are yet to come; and a fourth shall acquire the greatest riches of all. Strengthened by his riches, he shall rouse all the kingdom of Greece.

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.

3. But a powerful king shall appear and rule with great might, doing as he pleases.

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

4. No sooner shall he appear than his kingdom shall be broken and divided in four directions under heaven; but not among his descendants or in keeping with his mighty rule, for his kingdom shall be torn to pieces and belong to others than they.

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.

5. "The king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his princes shall grow stronger still and govern a domain greater than his.

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.

6. After some years they shall become allies: the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north in the interest of peace. But her bid for power shall fail: and her line shall not be recognized, and she shall be given up, together with those who brought her, her son and her husband. But later

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

7. a descendant of her line shall succeed to his rank, and shall come against the rampart and enter the stronghold of the king of the north, and conquer them.

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.

8. Even their gods, with their molten images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, he shall carry away as booty into Egypt. For years he shall have nothing to do with the king of the north.

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,

9. Then the latter shall invade the land of the king of the south, and return to his own country.

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

10. "But his sons shall prepare and assemble a great armed host, which shall advance like a flood, then withdraw. When it returns and surges around the stronghold,

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.

11. the king of the south, provoked, shall go out to fight against the king of the north, whose great host shall make a stand but shall be given into his hand

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.

12. and be carried off. In the pride of his heart, he shall lay low tens of thousands, but he shall not triumph.

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

13. For the king of the north shall raise another army, greater than before; after some years he shall attack with this large army and great resources.

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.

14. In those times many shall resist the king of the south, and outlaws of your people shall rise up in fulfillment of vision, but they shall fail.

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.

15. When the king of the north comes, he shall set up siegeworks and take the fortified city by storm. The power of the south shall not withstand him, and not even his picked troops shall have the strength to resist.

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.

16. He shall attack him and do as he pleases, with no one to withstand him. He shall stop in the glorious land, dealing destruction.

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.

17. He shall set himself to penetrate the entire strength of his kingdom. He shall conclude an agreement with him and give him a daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but this shall not succeed in his favor.

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.

18. He shall turn to the coastland and take many, but a leader shall put an end to his shameful conduct, so that he cannot renew it against him.

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.

19. He shall turn to the strongholds of his own land, but shall stumble and fall, to be found no more.

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

20. In his stead one shall arise who will send a tax collector through the glorious kingdom, but he shall soon be destroyed, though not in conflict or in battle.

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.

21. "There shall rise in his place a despicable person, to whom the royal insignia shall not be given. By stealth and fraud he shall seize the kingdom.

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.

22. Armed might shall be completely overwhelmed by him and crushed, and even the prince of the covenant.

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

23. After allying with him, he shall treacherously rise to power with a small party.

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

24. By stealth he shall enter prosperous provinces and do that which his fathers or grandfathers never did; he shall distribute spoil, booty, and riches among them and devise plots against their strongholds; but only for a time.

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.

25. He shall call on his strength and cleverness to meet the king of the south with a great army; the king of the south shall prepare for battle with a very large and strong army, but he shall not succeed because of the plots devised against him.

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.

26. Even his table companions shall seek to destroy him, his army shall be overwhelmed, and many shall fall slain.

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

27. The two kings, resolved on evil, shall sit at table together and exchange lies, but they shall have no success, because the appointed end is not yet.

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.

28. "He shall turn back toward his land with great riches, his mind set against the holy covenant; he shall arrange matters and return to his land.

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.

29. At the time appointed he shall come again to the south, but this time it shall not be as before.

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

30. When ships of the Kittim confront him, he shall lose heart and retreat. Then he shall direct his rage and energy against the holy covenant; those who forsake it he shall once more single out.

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.

31. Armed forces shall move at his command and defile the sanctuary stronghold, abolishing the daily sacrifice and setting up the horrible abomination.

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

32. By his deceit he shall make some who were disloyal to the covenant apostatize; but those who remain loyal to their God shall take strong action.

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.

33. The nation's wise men shall instruct the many; though for a time they will become victims of the sword, of flames, exile, and plunder.

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.

34. When they fall, few people shall help them, but many shall join them out of treachery.

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

35. Of the wise men, some shall fall, so that the rest may be tested, refined, and purified, until the end time which is still appointed to come.

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.

36. "The king shall do as he pleases, exalting himself and making himself greater than any god; he shall utter dreadful blasphemies against the God of gods. He shall prosper only till divine wrath is ready, for what is determined must take place.

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.

37. He shall have no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one in whom women delight; for no god shall he have regard, because he shall make himself greater than all.

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.

38. Instead, he shall give glory to the god of strongholds; a god unknown to his fathers he shall glorify with gold, silver, precious stones, and other treasures.

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.

39. To defend the strongholds he shall station a people of a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he shall provide with abundant honor; he shall make them rule over the many and distribute the land as a reward.

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.

40. "At the appointed time the king of the south shall come to grips with him, but the king of the north shall overwhelm him with chariots and horsemen and a great fleet, passing through the countries like a flood.

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.

41. He shall enter the glorious land and many shall fall, except Edom, Moab, and the chief part of Ammon, which shall escape from his power.

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.

42. He shall extend his power over the countries, and not even the land of Egypt shall escape.

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

43. He shall control the riches of gold and silver and all the treasures of Egypt; Libya and Ethiopia shall be in his train.

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:

44. When news from the east and the north terrifies him, he shall set out with great fury to slay and to doom many.

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.

45. He shall pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the sea and the glorious holy mountain, but he shall come to his end with none to help him.

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.'