Kings of the South and North 1 DRA And from the first year of Darius the Mede I stood up that he might be strengthened and confirmed. BSB BSB: “And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him.
2 DRA And now I will shew thee the truth. Behold there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. BSB BSB: Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
3 DRA But there shall rise up a strong king, and shall rule with great power: and he shall do what he pleaseth. BSB BSB: Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
4 DRA And when he shall come to his height, his kingdom shall be broken, and it shall be divided towards the four winds of the heaven: but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be rent in pieces, even for strangers, beside these. BSB BSB: But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.
5 DRA And the king of the south shall be strengthened, and one of his princes shall prevail over him, and he shall rule with great power: for his dominion shall be great. BSB BSB: The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority.
6 DRA And after the end of years they shall be in league together: and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make friendship, but she shall not obtain the strength of the arm, neither shall her seed stand: and she shall be given up, and her young men that brought her, and they that strengthened her in these times. BSB BSB: After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. But his daughter will not retain her position of power, nor will his strength endure. At that time she will be given up, along with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.
7 DRA And a plant of the bud of her roots, shall stand up: and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the province of the king of the north: and he shall abuse them, and shall prevail. BSB BSB: But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing.
8 DRA And he shall also carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven things, and their precious vessels of gold and silver: he shall prevail against the king of the north. BSB BSB: He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,
9 DRA And the king of the south shall enter into the kingdom, and shall return to his own land. BSB BSB: who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land.
10 DRA And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and he shall come with haste like a flood: and he shall return and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his forces. BSB BSB: But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress.
11 DRA And the king of the south being provoked shall go forth, and shall fight against the king of the north, and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude, and a multitude shall be given into his hand. BSB BSB: In a rage, the king of the South will march out to fight the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be delivered into the hand of his enemy.
12 DRA And he shall take a multitude, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many thousands: but he shall not prevail. BSB BSB: When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be proud in heart and will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not triumph.
13 DRA For the king of the north shall return and shall prepare a multitude much greater than before: and in the end of times and years, be shall come in haste with a great army, and much riches. BSB BSB: For the king of the North will raise another army, larger than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies.
14 DRA And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south, and the children of prevaricators of thy people shall lift up themselves to fulfill the vision, and they shall fall. BSB BSB: In those times many will rise up against the king of the South. Violent ones among your own people will exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they will fail.
15 DRA And the king of the north shall come, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take the best fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up to resist, and they shall not have strength. BSB BSB: Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will not be able to resist.
16 DRA And he shall come upon him and do according to his pleasure, and there shall be none to stand against his face: and he shall stand in the glorious land, and it shall be consumed by his hand. BSB BSB: The invader will do as he pleases, and no one will stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.
17 DRA And he shall set his face to come to possess all his kingdom, and he shall make upright conditions with him: and he shall give him a daughter of women, to overthrow it: and she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him. BSB BSB: He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plan will not succeed or help him.
18 DRA And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: and he shall cause the prince of his reproach to cease, and his reproach shall be turned upon him. BSB BSB: Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his reproach and will turn it back upon him.
19 DRA And he shall turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he shall stumble, and fall, and shall not be found. BSB BSB: After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.
20 DRA And there shall stand up in his place, one most vile, and unworthy of kingly honour: and in a few days he shall be destroyed, not in rage nor in battle. BSB BSB: In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.
22 DRA And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken; yea also the prince of the covenant. BSB BSB: Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
23 DRA And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people. BSB BSB: After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; for he will rise to power with only a few people.
24 DRA And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers’ fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time. BSB BSB: In a time of peace, he will invade the richest provinces and do what his fathers and forefathers never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will plot against the strongholds—but only for a time.
25 DRA And his strength and his heart shall be stirred up against the king of the south with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him. BSB BSB: And with a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South, who will mobilize a very large and powerful army but will not withstand the plots devised against him.
26 DRA And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain. BSB BSB: Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
27 DRA And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time. BSB BSB: And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.
28 DRA And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall succeed and shall return into his own land. BSB BSB: The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant; so he will do damage and return to his own land.
29 DRA At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the south, but the latter time shall not be like the former. BSB BSB: At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first.
30 DRA And the galleys and the Romans shall come upon him, and he shall be struck, and shall return, and shall have indignation against the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed: and he shall return and shall devise against them that have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary. BSB BSB: Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
32 DRA And such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble: but the people that know their God shall prevail and succeed. BSB BSB: With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
33 DRA And they that are learned among the people shall teach many: and they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by spoil for many days. BSB BSB: Those with insight will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by sword or flame, or be captured or plundered.
34 DRA And when they shall have fallen they shall be relieved with a small help: and many shall be joined to them deceitfully. BSB BSB: Now when they fall, they will be granted a little help, but many will join them insincerely.
35 DRA And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white even to the appointed time, because yet there shall be another time. BSB BSB: Some of the wise will fall so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
The King Who Exalts Himself 36 DRA And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished. For the determination is made. BSB BSB: Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.
37 DRA And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things. BSB BSB: He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.
38 DRA But he shall worship the god Maozim in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price. BSB BSB: And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.
39 DRA And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall increase glory and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis. BSB BSB: He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing the land for a price.
40 DRA And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through. BSB BSB: At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood. 41 DRA And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon. BSB BSB: He will also invade the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall. But these will be delivered from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites.
42 DRA And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. BSB BSB: He will extend his power over many countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape.
43 DRA And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Libya, and Ethiopia. BSB BSB: He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will also submit to him.
44 DRA And tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many. BSB BSB: But news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out with great fury to destroy many and devote them to destruction.
45 DRA And he shall fix his tabernacle Apadno between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him. BSB BSB: He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, but he will meet his end with no one to help him.