DanielChapitre 11

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And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, took my stand to strengthen and protect him.
Now I will tell you the truth. Three more kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will gain far greater riches than all the rest. When he has grown strong through his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
Then a warrior king will arise, who will rule with vast dominion and do as he pleases.
But no sooner will he have arisen than his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the dominion he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides them.
The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow stronger than he and will rule a realm greater than his own.
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 seal the agreement. But she will not retain her power, nor will he and his power endure. In those days she will be surrendered, along with her escort, the one who fathered her, and the one who supported her.
In her place one from her family line will arise. He will come against the army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, deal with them, and prevail.
He will also carry off to Egypt their gods with their cast images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone.
Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South, but will retreat to his own land.
His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great host of forces; one of them will surely advance and sweep on like an overwhelming flood, then return and press the attack as far as his enemy's fortress.
Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a great army, but that army will be given into his hand.
When the army is carried off, his heart will be lifted up; he will bring down tens of thousands, yet he will not prevail.
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 abundant supplies.
In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Violent men among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but they will fail.
Then the king of the North will come, throw up siege ramps, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not withstand him; even their finest troops will have no strength to stand.
The invader will do as he pleases; no one will stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.
He will resolve to come with the full might of his kingdom, and he will make terms; he will give a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but the plan will not stand, and she will not be on his side.
Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and capture many of them, but a commander will put an end to his insolence and turn his insolence back upon him.
He will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, to be found no more.
His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor, but within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger or in battle.
In his place will arise a contemptible man who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will come in when the people feel secure and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
Overwhelming forces will be swept away before him and shattered, and so will a prince of the covenant.
After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; he will rise to power with only a few people.
When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and do what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did: he will scatter plunder, spoil, and wealth among his followers. He will plot to overthrow fortresses, but only for a time.
With a great army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a vast and powerful army, but he will not stand, for plots will be devised against him.
Those who eat from his provisions will destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
The two kings, their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and speak lies, but to no avail, for the end will still come at the appointed time.
He will return to his own land with great wealth, his heart set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own land.
At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but the outcome will not be as it was the first time, nor as it will be at the last.
Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
His forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress; they will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination that causes desolation.
With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will stand firm and take action.
Those among the people who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many will join them insincerely.
Some of the wise will stumble, 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 will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say outrageous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be done.
He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, or for the one desired by women, or for any god, but will magnify himself above them all.
In their place he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god, and those who acknowledge him he will greatly honor. He will make them rulers over many and will distribute the land for a price.
At the time of the end the king of the South will clash with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots and horsemen and many ships. He will invade the lands and sweep through them like a flood.
He will also invade the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall, but these will escape his hand: Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites.
He will stretch out his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape.
He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites in submission.
But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many.
He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, with no one to help him.