[an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version |
1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.) |
2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2"Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. |
3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. |
4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4After he has arisen, his empire 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 power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted and given to others. |
5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5"The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power. |
6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last. In those days she will be betrayed, together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her. |
7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7"One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. |
8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8He will also seize their gods, their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone. |
9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country. |
10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry the battle as far as his fortress. |
11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11"Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated. |
12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant. |
13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped. |
14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14"In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Those who are violent among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success. |
15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand. |
16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16The invader will do as he pleases; no one will be able to stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land and will have the power to destroy it. |
17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17He will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South. And he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans will not succeed or help him. |
18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them, but a commander will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back on him. |
19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall, to be seen no more. |
20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20"His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor. In a few years, however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle. |
21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21"He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue. |
22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed. |
23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few people he will rise to power. |
24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses--but only for a time. |
25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25"With a large 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 large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him. |
26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26Those who eat from the king's provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle. |
27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time. |
28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country. |
29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29"At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before. |
30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30Ships of the western coastlands will oppose 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. |
31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31"His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. |
32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him. |
33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33"Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. |
34[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 34When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. |
35[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 35Some 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. |
36[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 36"The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. |
37[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 37He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. |
38[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 38Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. |
39[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 39He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price. |
40[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 40"At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. |
41[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 41He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. |
42[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 42He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. |
43[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 43He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites in submission. |
44[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 44But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. |
45[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 45He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him. |
[an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
|