Kings of the South and North 1 ULT And I, in the year of one to Darius the Mede, I stood as one strengthening and as a fortress for him. BSB BSB: “And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him.
2 ULT And now, I will declare the truth to you. Behold, three more kings will be standing in Persia, and a fourth will become wealthy{ with} wealth greater than all. And according to his strength by his riches, he will awaken all against the kingdom of Javan. 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 ULT Then a mighty king will stand, and he will rule{ with} great dominion, and he will do according to his will. BSB BSB: Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
4 ULT But as he stands, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of the heavens, but not to his posterity, and not according to his dominion{ by} which he ruled. For his kingdom will be uprooted, and to others besides 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 ULT Then the king of the south will become strong, but{ one} from his princes then will become stronger than him, and he will rule. His dominion{ will be} a great dominion. 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 ULT And at the end of years, they will unite themselves. The daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make uprightnesses. But she will not retain the strength of the arm, and he will not stand, nor his arm. And she will be given up, she and the ones having brought her and the one having fathered her and the one strengthening her, in{ those} 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 ULT But from a branch of her roots, one will stand{ in} his place. And he will come against the army, and he will enter into the fortress of the king of the north. And he will do with them and be strong. 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 ULT And also he will bring into captivity{ to} Egypt their gods with their metal images with the silver and gold vessels of their delight. And he,{ for} years he will stand from 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 ULT Then he will come into the kingdom of the king of the south, but he will return to his land. BSB BSB: who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land.
10 ULT And his sons will be stirred up, and they will assemble the multitude of a great army. And coming, it will come, and it will overflow and pass through, and it will return and be stirred up to his fortress. 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 ULT Then the king of the south will embitter himself, and he will go out and fight with him, with the king of the north. And he will make a great multitude stand, but the multitude will 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 ULT and the multitude will be taken away. And his heart will rise up, for he will have made myriads fall, but he will 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 ULT For the king of the north will return and make stand a multitude greater than the first. And at the end of times, years, coming, he will come with a great army and with much equipment. 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 ULT And in those times, many will stand against the king of the south. And sons of violence of your people will lift themselves up to make the vision stand, but they will stumble. 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 ULT And the king of the north will come, and he will pour out a mound, and he will capture a city of fortifications. And the arms of the south will not stand, even his choice people, for there will be no strength to stand. 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 ULT But the one coming against him will act according to his desire, and no one will be standing to his face. And he will stand in the land of beauty, and destruction{ will be} in 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 ULT And he will set his face to come with the strength of all of his kingdom, and uprightnesses with him, thus he will do. And he will give a daughter of women to him, to ruin it. But it will not stand, and it will not 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 ULT And he will turn his face to the coastlands, and he will capture many. But a commander will end his reproach{ that is} to him; without his{ own} reproach, he will return{ it} to 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 ULT And he will turn his face to the fortresses of his land, but he will stumble and fall, and he will 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 ULT And one making an exactor pass through the splendor of the kingdom will stand in his place. But in a few days he will be broken, but not in nostrils and not 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 ULT And the arms of the flood will be swept away from to his face, and they will be broken, and also the leader 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 ULT And after the joining together with him, he will act{ with} deceit. And he will go up, and he will become strong with a few of 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 ULT In security he will come even into the fatnesses of the province, and he will do what his fathers and the fathers of his fathers did not do. He will scatter plunder and spoil and wealth to them, and he will devise his devices against fortifications, but 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 ULT And he will awaken his strength and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south will be stirred up to battle with an army great and mighty unto much. But he will not stand, for they will devise devices 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 ULT Even the eaters of his portion will break him. And his army will be swept away, and many will fall 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 ULT And the two of them, the kings, their heart{ will be} to evil, and at one table they will speak falsehood. But it will not prosper, for the end{ is} still for the appointed 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 ULT And he will return to his land with great wealth. And his heart{ will be} against the covenant of holiness. And he will act, and he will return to his 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 ULT At the appointed time, he will return and come into the south. But it will not be like the former and like the latter. BSB BSB: At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first.
30 ULT For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will be frightened, and he will return. And he will rage against the covenant of holiness, and he will act. And he will return, and he will attend to the forsakers of the covenant of holiness. 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 ULT And he will pollute with flatteries the wicked actors of the covenant. But the people knowing its God, they will be strong and act. BSB BSB: With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
33 ULT And the makers wise of the people will make many understand. But they will stumble by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder,{ for} 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 ULT And when they stumble, they will be helped{ with} a little help. And many will join themselves with them by intrigues. BSB BSB: Now when they fall, they will be granted a little help, but many will join them insincerely.
35 ULT And some of the ones making wise will stumble to refine and to purify and to whiten them until the time of the end. For{ it is} still for the appointed 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 ULT And the king will act according to his desire. And he will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god. And he will speak astonishing{ things} against the God of gods. And he will prosper until the indignation finishes. For what is decreed will be done. 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 ULT And to the gods of his fathers and to the desire of women, he will not attend. And he will not attend to any god, for he will magnify himself above all. 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 ULT But in its place he will honor a god of fortresses. Indeed, a god whom his fathers did not know, he will honor with gold and with silver, with precious stone and with desirable things. 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 ULT And he will act against the fortifications of fortresses with a foreign god.{ To those} who acknowledge{ him}, he will increase glory, and he will make them rule over many, and he will divide the land for a price. 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.
41 ULT And he will come into the land of beauty, and many will stumble. But these will escape from his hand: Edom and Moab and the first of the sons 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 ULT And he will stretch out his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not be an escape. BSB BSB: He will extend his power over many countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape.
43 ULT And he will rule over the treasures of gold and silver and over all of the delights of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Cushites will be in his steps. 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 ULT But reports from the east and from the north will terrify him, and he will go out in great heat to destroy and to devote 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 ULT And he will plant the tents of his palace between the seas, to the mountain of the beauty of holiness. But he will come to his end, and no one will be helping 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.