ULT DAN chapter 11

11 As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and protect him. 2 Now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will gain far more riches than all the others. When he becomes strong through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great dominion and do according to his desires. 4 But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, and not according to his authority with which he ruled. For his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these.

5 Then the king of the South will become strong, but one of his princes will become stronger than he and will rule; his dominion will be a great dominion. 6 After some years, they will make an alliance. The daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to make an agreement. But she will not retain the strength of her arm, nor will he endure, or his arm. She will be given up, along with those who brought her, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.[fn]

7 But from a branch of her roots one will rise up in his place. He will come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the North. He will deal with them and will prevail. 8 He will also carry away as booty to Egypt their gods along with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North. 9 Then he will come into the realm of the king of the South but will return to his own land.

10 His sons will wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces. It will keep coming and overflow like a flood and pass through, and again will carry the war as far as his fortress. 11 Then the king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight against him, against the king of the North. Then he will raise up a great multitude, but the multitude will be given into his hand. 12 When the multitude is carried off, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will again raise a multitude, greater than the first. At the end of some years, he will surely come with a great army and much equipment. 14 In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Men of violence among your people will lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will stumble. 15 Then the king of the North will come, heap up siege ramps, and capture a city with fortifications. The forces of the South will not stand, not even his choicest troops, for there will be no strength to stand. 16 But he who comes against him will act according to his desires; no one will stand before him. He will stand in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17 He will set his face to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and with him will be an agreement that he will make. He will give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But it will not stand or be to his advantage. 18 After this, he will turn his face to the coastlands and will capture many. But a commander will end his insolence against him. Moreover, he will cause his insolence to turn back upon him. 19 Then he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and not be found.

20 Then will arise in his place one who will send a tax collector for the splendor of the kingdom. But in a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle. 21 In his place will arise a despicable person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He will come unexpectedly and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 And the overflowing forces will be swept away before him and broken, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully, and he will go up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 Without warning he will come into the richest parts of the province, and he will do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers did. He will scatter among them plunder, booty, and possessions. He will devise his plans against fortresses, but only for a time. 25 He will stir up his power and his heart against the king of the South with a great army. The king of the South will wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he will not stand, because plots will be devised against him. 26 Even those who eat his fine food will break him. His army will be swept away, and many will fall down slain. 27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but it will not suceed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time.

28 Then he will return to his land with much plunder, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action and then return to his own land. 29 At the appointed time he will return and come into the South. But this last time it will not be as before. 30 For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will withdraw in fear and return. He will curse the holy covenant and take action. He will come back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will rise up and profane the sanctuary fortress. They will take away the regular burnt offering, and they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 He will corrupt with flattery those who act wickedly toward the covenant. But the 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. But they will stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for some days. 34 When they stumble, they will receive a little help. Many will join themselves with them in hypocrisy. 35 Some of those who have insight will stumble in order to refine, purify, and cleanse them, until the time of the end. For it is still to come at the appointed time.

36 The king will act according to his desires. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god. Against the God of gods, he will speak astonishing things. He will be succeessful until the indignation is accomplished. For what is decreed will be done. 37 He will pay no attention to the gods of his fathers or to the one desired by women. Neither will he pay attention to any other god. For he will magnify himself above all. 38 He will honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know, he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will heap great honor on those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over the many, and he will divide up the land for a price.[fn]

40 At the time of the end the king of the South will wage war with him. But the king of the North will storm against him with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. He will come into countries, overflow, and pass through. 41 He will come into the Beautiful Land, and many will fall. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the main part of the sons of Ammon. 42 He will stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 He will become ruler over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; the Libyans and the Cushites will be in his footsteps. 44 But rumors from the east and the north will terrify him, and he will go out with great rage to exterminate and to devote many to destruction. 45 He will pitch his palatial tents between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Instead of his arm , which the Hebrew text has, some ancient and many modern versions read his seed , that is, his children.

Instead of He will attack the strongest fortresses , some modern versions have He will defend his fortress.

ULT DAN Chapter 11