Moff DAN Chapter 11

◄ DAN 11 ► ║ ═ ©

2 However, I will now show you the true predictions in God’s book. Three more kings shall arise in Persia, then a fourth far more rich than them all; when he has grown powerful through his wealth, he shall rouse all the realms of Greece to conflict. 3 But a warrior of a monarch shall arise, ruling in mighty power, and doing as he pleases; 4 when he comes to power, his kingdom shall be shattered and scattered to the four winds of heaven; it shall not pass to his posterity, nor shall it be so powerful as it was in his hands, for his kingdom shall be torn up and divided among more than his four generals.

5 Strong shall be the king of the South, but one of his captains shall be stronger still. 6 After some years they shall join forces; the daughter of the king of the South shall be married to the king of the North, to settle their dispute, but this will prove no strength; neither her husband nor his children shall be left alive--she and her suite and her son and her husband shall be surrendered. 7 But then shall arise a scion of her own family, in succession to his father, who shall head an army to enter the fortress of the king of the North; he shall take action and master the men of the 8 North, carrying off their gods, metal images, and rare vessels of silver and gold, to Egypt. For some years he shall cease attacking the king of the North. 9 The king of the North shall then invade the realm of the king of the South, but he shall 10 retreat to his own country; his sons shall then make war, gathering a vast army for the attack, and one of them shall surge forward to the south, pushing the attack as far as the 11 fortress of Gaza. In a fit of mad rage the king of the South shall march out to fight the king of the North, who shall raise a large army, but it shall fall into the hands of his foe 12 and be taken prisoner, to the proud joy of the king of the South, who shall rout tens of thousands of them. However, 13 he shall not hold his own; the king of the North shall again raise an army, larger than before, and finally, after some years, renew the attack with a large host and vast resources.

14 At that time many shall rise against the king of the South, and some wild spirits among your own nations shall start up to fulfil the prediction of the vision--only to be routed. 15 The king of the North shall come and throw up siege-works and capture some strongly fortified towns; the Southern power shall be powerless to resist, their picked troops shall make no stand; 16 the Northern invader shall do as he pleases, with none to oppose him; he shall occupy the fair land of Palestine, holding it all in his hand, 17 and then plan to advance against Egypt with the entire strength of his army. But he must come to terms, and attempt to master Egypt by marrying the princess of Egypt; the plan will fail, and he shall not succeed. 18 Thereafter he shall turn to the coast-lands of the West and capture many of them, but a certain Roman general shall put a stop to his defiant insults and pay him back for them. 19 He shall then retire to the fortresses of his own land, only to meet trouble and to disappear.

20 In place of him one shall arise who by raising tribute shall ruin the glory of the realm, but very soon he shall be broken, though by no open blow nor in battle. 21 In place of him a despicable creature shall arise, one on whom the royal honour is not conferred but who comes when men are off their guard and gains the kingdom by means of crafty promises; 22 the opposing forces shall be swept before him and shattered, and so shall God’s high priest. 23 As soon as anyone becomes his ally, he starts to outwit him, for he rises to power by aid only of a small party; 24 when men are off their guard, he attacks the leaders in each province. He shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers ever did, he shall scatter prey, plunder, and property, among his followers, and even make plans for a time against the fortresses of Egypt, 25 daring to match himself against the king of the South with a large army; the king of the South shall fight with a vast and powerful host, but he shall fail, for treacherous plans shall be laid against him-- 26 indeed his own courtiers shall prove the ruin of him, and his host shall be swept away, many of them dropping dead. 27 Each of the two kings shall be bent on mischief, telling lies, for all their close alliance, but their alliance shall not prosper, for the end can only come at the time appointed. 28 He shall then return to his own country with rich plunder, and turning against the sacred nation he shall do as he pleases there, and then go back to his own land.

29 At the time appointed he shall again invade the South, but he shall not fare as he did before, 30 for Romans shall confront him and cow him, till he retires; then in a fury he shall do as he pleases with the sacred nation, keeping in touch with apostates from the sacred nation; 31 armed forces shall be set on foot by him, the temple fortress shall be desecrated, the daily sacrifice shall be abolished, and an appalling abomination erected; 32 by means of specious promises he shall pervert those who bring guilt upon the nation. But those who know their God shall be steadfast and take action; 33 these pious loyalists will be a lesson to the masses; but for many a day they shall be cut down or burned or carried 34 captive or plundered. As they are being overborne, they shall receive a little help, though many join them under false pretences. 35 Some of the pious, however, shall remain pious, and so be refined, purified, and made white, till the crisis at the close (for the appointed hour is still to come). 36 The king shall do as he pleases, he shall uplift himself and exalt himself over every god, uttering amazing vaunts against the God of gods; he shall prosper till the wrath divine has run its course (for what has been decreed must be fulfilled). 37 He shall not heed the gods of his fathers or Tam-muz or any other god, for he shall exalt himself above all gods; 38 but his majesty shall honour the god of fortresses and another god (whom his fathers never knew) with gold and silver and jewels and costly gifts! 39 For his strong forts, he shall procure soldiers who worship a foreign god; his favourites he shall advance to high honour and make them rulers over the masses, selling land to them for a bribe.

40 When the end arrives, the king of the South shall butt at him, but the king of the North shall storm at him like a whirlwind, with chariots and cavalry and a large fleet, invading his lands and flooding into them. 41 He shall also invade the fair land of Palestine, and myriads shall be killed. (But these nations shall be saved from him, the Edomites, the Moabites, and the main part of the Ammonites.) 42 As he exerts his force against the various lands, the land of Egypt shall not escape, 43 but he shall lay hands on the treasures of gold and silver and all the valuables in Egypt, the Libyans and the Ethiopians following in his train. 44 Then rumours from the east and the north shall alarm him, till he retires in great fury to inflict doom and destruction on many, 45 pitching his royal pavilions between the Mediterranean and the sacred hill so fair. So shall he come to his end, with none to help him.

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