Kings of the South and North 1 UST I myself helped and protected Michael during the first year that Darius the Mede was king. BSB BSB: “And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him.
2 UST And now I will tell you what will surely happen in the future. Pay attention. Three more kings will rule Persia, and then there will be a fourth king who will be much richer than the others. Because he will be so rich, he will be able to assemble a great army from throughout his empire to attack 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 UST Then there will be a king who is very powerful. He will reign over a very large empire. He will do whatever he wants to do. BSB BSB: Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
4 UST But while he is still powerful, he will die. His kingdom will break up into four parts. Men who are not his descendants will rule those parts. They will not be as powerful as he was as a king. That is because his empire will be like a plant that someone has pulled out of the ground. Other people will rule its parts. 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 UST The king who rules the southern part will become very powerful. But one of the military commanders of the great king who died will become more powerful than him. He will become a king, and he will rule a large empire{ in the north}. 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 UST After many years, the southern king and the northern king will become allies. To make a peace treaty, the southern king will allow the northern king to marry his daughter. But she will not be the queen for very long. Her husband, the northern king, will not continue to rule. People will kill her, her child, her husband, and the officials who brought her from the southern kingdom. 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 UST But then a member of her family will become the next southern king. He will lead his army to attack the northern army, and he will defeat them when they fight. He will conquer the capital city of the northern kingdom. 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 UST He will also take away the idols that represent their gods and their gold and silver treasures. He will bring them back to Egypt with him. For the next several years he will not attack the northern king. 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 UST Then the northern king will invade the southern kingdom. But he will lose the battle and have to retreat to his own kingdom. BSB BSB: who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land.
10 UST But his sons who rule after him will prepare to attack the southern kingdom again. They will gather a very large army. As that army marches south, it will cover the land like a huge flood.{ After some fighting, there will be a truce, but then} the northern army will attack again. It will conquer a city that has strong walls around it. 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 UST This will make the southern king very angry. He will lead his army to fight against the northern king. The northern king will gather a great army, but the southern king will defeat that great army. 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 UST When his soldiers destroy the northern army, they will kill tens of thousands of its soldiers. This will make the southern king very proud. But his army will not continue to win battles. 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 UST Instead, the northern king will prepare to fight again. He will gather an even bigger army than the one that he had before. After several years, he will invade the southern kingdom with a large army that has much military 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 UST When that happens, many people will rebel against the southern king. Some violent men among the Israelites will revolt against him, but he will defeat them. However, this will help make happen the things I am showing you. 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 UST Then the northern king will invade the southern kingdom. His soldiers will attack a city that has strong walls around it. They will capture it by piling up dirt against its walls. The northern army will be so strong that the southern army will not be able to defend that city, even with its best troops. 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 UST The northern king who is attacking will succeed in his plans. The southern king will not be able to oppose him. His army will occupy the beautiful land of Israel, and he will have the power to destroy it. 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 UST Then the northern king will determine to invade the southern kingdom with as strong an army as he can form from his kingdom. He will bring a peace treaty and make the southern king agree to it. He will allow the southern king to marry his daughter, but he will want his daughter to work for him against her husband. But this plan will not succeed, so it will not help 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 UST The northern king will then attack the regions by the sea, and he will conquer many of them. This will shame the rulers that controlled those regions. But a military commander from another kingdom will defeat him. That will shame the northern king instead. 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 UST The northern king will have to return to the strong forts in his own land. But he will die there, and that will be the end of him. 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 UST The king who rules after him will send one of his officials to collect tribute from{ Judea,} the most glorious part of his kingdom. But after a few years, that king will die. He will not die in battle or because people rebel angrily against him{; instead, someone will murder him}. 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 UST Great armies will oppose him, but he will defeat them and destroy them. He will also remove God’ s high priest. BSB BSB: Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
23 UST The rulers of other nations will make treaties with him, but he will betray them. He will begin with a small army, but he will become very powerful. 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 UST When people are not expecting it, he will capture the most fertile regions in the southern kingdom. The kings who ruled the northern kingdom before him had not been able to do that, but he will do it. He will reward his troops and supporters with valuable possessions that he takes from those regions. He will make plans to capture the cities in the southern kingdom that have walls around them. But he will pursue those plans only for a short 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 UST The northern king will feel strong and confident, and he will gather a large army to attack the southern king. The southern king will gather a very large army so that he can fight against him. But he will lose the battle because some of his officials will betray 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 UST Some of his own royal officials will help destroy him. The northern king will defeat his army, and many of his soldiers will die. 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 UST Then the northern king and the southern king will meet together to make a peace treaty. But each one will be trying to trick the other, so they will lie to each other. However, neither one will get what he wants, because God has decided what will ultimately happen. 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 UST The northern king will then return to his own land. He will take away many valuable things that his army has captured. He will be hostile to the Jewish people, and he will harm them on his way back 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 UST At the time that God has determined, the northern king will invade the southern kingdom again. But this time he will not be successful as he was before. BSB BSB: At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first.
30 UST An army will sail across the sea to oppose him. This will terrify hm, and he will have to retreat. This will make him very angry, and so he will harm the Jewish people again as he retreats. He will favor those Jews who no longer obey the agreement between Yahweh and the Israelites. 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 UST Some Jews will be wickedly disobeying the agreement with Yahweh. The northern king will deceive them so that they become loyal to him. But other Jews will still be loyal to Yahweh, their God. They will firmly oppose him. BSB BSB: With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
33 UST Some wise Jewish leaders will help other Jews recognize that they should resist the northern king. But for a short time, the northern king’ s soldiers will be able to kill them with their swords or by burning them. They soldiers will take some of them as prisoners, and they will steal their possessions. 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 UST While the Jews who are loyal to Yahweh are suffering in this way, some people will help them a little bit. However, some of them will not help them sincerely. BSB BSB: Now when they fall, they will be granted a little help, but many will join them insincerely.
35 UST Some of those wise leaders will die. But as a result, other Jews will live in a way that honors Yahweh even more. These things must happen at the time when God has determined, so this suffering will continue until God ends it. 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 UST This northern king will do whatever he wants to do. He will boast and say that he is greater than any god. He will even say bad things about{ Yahweh,} the one true God. He will succeed until God has finished punishing his people for their sins. That is because God will do what he has announced. 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 UST This northern king will no longer worship the gods that his ancestors worshiped. He will also not worship the god that many women adore. Because he will think that he is greater than any god, he will not worship those gods. 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 UST Instead, he will honor a god that he thinks will help him win wars. His ancestors did not worship that god, but he honors it with gifts of gold, silver, jewels and other expensive items. 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 UST He will ask that foreign god to help him conquer strong fortresses. He will greatly honor those who obey him as their king. He will make them rule over many people, and to reward them, he will give them property. 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 UST The northern king will invade the beautiful land of Israel. His soldiers will kill many people. But the Edomites, Moabites, and most of the Ammonites will survive his attack. 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 UST The northern king will invade many countries. He will even defeat the kingdom of Egypt. BSB BSB: He will extend his power over many countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape.
43 UST The northern king will become the owner of gold and silver treasures and other valuable items that belonged to the Egyptians. The Libyans and Cushites will obey him as their king. 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 UST But he will become very frightened when he hears reports about what is happening in the east and in the north. He will become very angry, and he will lead his army to defeat his enemies and destroy them completely. 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 UST The northern king will set up his royal tents in the area between the sea and the mountain{ in Jerusalem} where Yahweh’ s holy temple is. But that is where he will die. No one will be able to help him{ so that he does not die}. 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.