New American Standard Bible 1995

International Standard Version

1"In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him.

1In year one of King Darius the Mede, I arose to fortify and strengthen him.'"

2"And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.

2"'Now I'll tell you the truth: Pay attention! Three more kings will arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain more than them all. As soon as he gains power by means of his wealth, he'll stir up everyone against the Grecian kingdoms.

3"And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.

3"'A mighty king will come to power, and he'll rule with awesome energy, doing whatever he pleases.

4"But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.

4However, after he has come to power, his kingdom will be broken and parceled out in all directions. It won't go to his succeeding descendants, nor will its power match how he ruled, because his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to successors besides them.

5"Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed.

5"'The southern king will become strong, along with one of his officials, who will become stronger than he and rule over his own realm with great power.

6"After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times.

6After a number of years, they'll become allies and the daughter of the southern king will go to the northern king in order to craft alliances. But she won't remain in power, nor will he retain his power. Instead, she'll be surrendered, along with her entourage, the one who fathered her, and the one who supported her at that time.

7"But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength.

7"'One of her family line will replace him. He'll come against the army and enter the fortress of the northern king, conquering them and becoming victorious.

8"Also their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years.

8He'll also take their gods, their molten images, and their valuable vessels of silver and gold into Egypt as hostages. He'll avoid the northern king for a number of years.

9"Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

9Then he'll come against the realm of the southern king and then return to his own territory.

10"His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress.

10His sons will prepare for war, assembling an army of considerable force. One of them will come on forcefully, overflowing, passing through, and waging war up to his own fortress.

11"The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former.

11"'The southern king will fly into a rage and march out to fight the northern king. He'll gather a large army, but that army will be handed over to him.

12"When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail.

12When that army has been defeated, he'll become overconfident and slaughter many thousands, but he won't succeed.

13"For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment.

13The northern king will return and raise a greater army than before. After a few years, he'll advance with a great force and with a vast amount of armaments.'"

14"Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down.

14"'During those years, many will rebel against the southern king. The more violent ones among your people will rebel in order to fulfill this vision, but they will fail.

15"Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand.

15Then the northern king will come, erect a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The southern forces won't prevail—not even with their best troops—and they'll have no strength to take a stand.

16"But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.

16"'However, the one who invades him will do whatever he wants to do. No one will oppose him. He'll establish himself in the Beautiful Land, wielding devastating power.

17"He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side.

17He'll decide to come with the full power of his kingdom, bringing with him an alliance that he'll implement. He'll give him a daughter in marriage to overthrow it, but it won't succeed or work out for him.

18"Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will repay him for his scorn.

18Then he'll turn his attention to the coastal lands and will capture many. But a commander will put an end to his insolence, repaying him for his scorn.

19"So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more.

19He'll turn his attention toward the fortresses in his own territory, but he'll stumble and fall, and won't endure.

20"Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle.

20His successor will send out a tax collector for royal splendor, but in a short period of time he'll be shattered, though neither in anger nor in battle.'"

21"In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

21"'In his place there will arise a despicable person, upon whom no royal authority has been conferred, but he'll invade in a time of tranquility, taking over the kingdom through deception.

22"The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant.

22Overwhelming forces will be carried away before him, along with the Commander-in-Chief of the covenant.

23"After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.

23From the time that an alliance is made with him, he'll act deceitfully, and he will go up and take power with only a small group of nations.

24"In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time.

24He'll invade the most prosperous areas of the province during a time of tranquility, accomplishing what neither his predecessors nor his ancestors ever could. He'll distribute war spoils, booty, and wealth to them, and he'll plot the overthrow of fortresses, though only for a time.

25"He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him.

25He'll encourage himself against the southern king by raising a large army. As a result, the southern king will mobilize for war with a large and powerful army, but he won't succeed because they will devise elaborate schemes against him.

26"Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow, but many will fall down slain.

26His own security detail will undermine him, his army will be swept away, and many will fall and be killed in battle.

27"As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time.

27Now as for the two kings, their intentions will be evil, and they'll promote deception at their dinner table, but none of this will succeed, because the end won't have come yet.

28"Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

28Then he'll return to his homeland with great wealth, will focus his attention against the holy covenant, and will take action as he returns to his land.'"

29"At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before.

29"'At the scheduled time he'll return, moving southward, but the end result won't be as before,

30"For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.

30because ships will come against him from the Mediterranean islands. Disheartened, he'll return, incited to vehemence against the holy covenant, and he'll take action. As he returns, he'll show deference to those who abandon the holy covenant.

31"Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.

31Armed forces will arise from his midst, and they'll desecrate the fortified Sanctuary, abolish the daily sacrifice, and establish the destructive desecration.

32"By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.

32Through flattery he'll corrupt those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but people who know their God will be strong and take action.

33"Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.

33Insightful people will impart understanding to many, though they'll fall by sword, by fire, by captivity, and as war booty for a while.

34"Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.

34When they fall, they'll be given some relief, but many will join them by pretending to be sympathetic to their cause.

35"Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

35Some of the insightful will fall so they may be refined, purged, and purified until the time of the end, since it will surely come about.'"

36"Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.

36"'The king will do as he pleases. He'll exalt and magnify himself above every god, speaking amazing things against the God of Gods. He'll succeed until the indignation is completed, because what has been determined must be carried out.

37"He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all.

37He'll recognize neither the gods of his ancestors nor those desired by women—he won't recognize any god, because he'll exalt himself above everything.

38"But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.

38He'll glorify the god of fortresses, a god whom his ancestors never knew, honoring him with gold, silver, valuable jewels, and treasures.

39"He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

39He'll take action against the strongest fortresses. With the help of a foreign god, he'll recognize those who honor him, making them rule over many, and he'll parcel out the land for a profit.

40"At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through.

40"'At the time of the end, the southern king will oppose him, and the northern king will overrun him with chariots, cavalry, and many ships. He'll invade countries, moving swiftly and sweeping through.

41"He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.

41He'll enter the Beautiful Land, and many will fall, even though these will escape his control: Edom, Moab, and certain Ammonite officials.

42"Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.

42He'll extend his power over other countries, and even the land of Egypt won't escape.

43"But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels.

43He'll capture treasures of gold, silver, and all the treasures of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites at his feet.

44"But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many.

44However, reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he'll march out in great anger, intending to destroy and to desolate many.

45"He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

45When he pitches his royal pavilions between the seas facing the mountain of holy Glory, he'll come to his end, and no one will help him.'"

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.