¹“As for me , in the first year of Darius the Mede , I stood up to confirm and strengthen him .

²“Now I will show you the truth. Behold , three more kings will stand up in Persia . The fourth will be far richer than all of them . When he has grown strong through his riches , he will stir up all against the realm of Greece .

³A mighty king will stand up , who will rule with great dominion , and do according to his will .

⁴When he stands up , his kingdom will be broken and will be divided towards the four winds of the sky , but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled ; for his kingdom will be plucked up , even for others besides these.

⁵“The king of the south will be strong . One of his princes will become stronger than him , and have dominion . His dominion will be a great dominion .

⁶At the end of years they will join themselves together ; and 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 . He will also not stand , nor will his arm ; but she will be given up , with those who brought her , and he who became the father of her , and he who strengthened her in those times .

⁷“But out of a shoot from her roots one will stand up in his place , who will come to the army and will enter into the fortress of the king of the north , and will deal against them and will prevail .

⁸He will also carry their gods with their molten images , and with their goodly vessels of silver and of gold , captive into Egypt . He will refrain some years from the king of the north .

⁹He will come into the realm of the king of the south , but he will return into his own land.

¹⁰His sons will wage war , and will assemble a multitude of great forces which will come on , and overflow , and pass through . They will return and wage war , even to his fortress .

¹¹“The king of the south will be moved with anger and will come out and fight with him , even with the king of the north . He will send out a great multitude , and the multitude will be given into his hand .

¹²The multitude will be carried off , and his heart will be exalted . He will cast down tens of thousands , but he won’t prevail .

¹³The king of the north will return , and will send out a multitude greater than the former . He will come on at the end of the times , even of years , with a great army and with abundant supplies .

¹⁴“In those times many will stand up against the king of the south . Also the children of the violent amongst your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision , but they will fall .

¹⁵So the king of the north will come and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city . The forces of the south won’t stand , neither will his select troops , neither will there be any strength to stand .

¹⁶But he who comes against him will do according to his own will , and no one will stand before him . He will stand in the glorious land , and destruction will be in his hand .

¹⁷He will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom , and with him equitable conditions. He will perform them . He will give him the daughter of women , to destroy the kingdom , but she will not stand , and won’t be for him .

¹⁸After this he will turn his face to the islands, and will take many , but a prince will cause the reproach offered by him to cease . Yes, moreover , he will cause his reproach to turn on him .

¹⁹Then he will turn his face towards the fortresses of his own land ; but he will stumble and fall , and won’t be found .

²⁰“Then one who will cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory will stand up in his place ; but within few days he shall be destroyed , not in anger , and not in battle .

²¹“In his place a contemptible person will stand up , to whom they had not given the honour of the kingdom ; but he will come in time of security, and will obtain the kingdom by flatteries .

²²The overwhelming forces will be overwhelmed from before him , and will be broken . Yes , also the prince of the covenant .

²³After the treaty made with him he will work deceitfully ; for he will come up and will become strong with few people .

²⁴In time of security he will come even on the fattest places of the province . He will do that which his fathers have not done , nor his fathers’ fathers. He will scatter amongst them prey , plunder , and wealth . Yes, he will devise his plans against the strongholds , but only for a time .

²⁵“He will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army ; and the king of the south will wage war in battle with an exceedingly great and mighty army , but he won’t stand ; for they will devise plans against him .

²⁶Yes, those who eat of his delicacies will destroy him , and his army will be swept away . Many will fall down slain .

²⁷As for both these kings , their hearts will be to do evil, and they will speak lies at one table ; but it won’t prosper , for the end will still be at the appointed time .

²⁸Then he will return into his land with great wealth . His heart will be against the holy covenant . He will take action , and return to his own land.

²⁹“He will return at the appointed time and come into the south ; but it won’t be in the latter time as it was in the former .

³⁰For ships of Kittim will come against him . Therefore he will be grieved , and will return , and have indignation against the holy covenant , and will take action . He will even return , and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant .

³¹“Forces from him will profane the sanctuary , even the fortress , and will take away the continual burnt offering . Then they will set up the abomination that makes desolate .

³²He will corrupt those who do wickedly against the covenant by flatteries ; but the people who know their God will be strong and take action .

³³“Those who are wise amongst the people will instruct many ; yet they will fall by the sword and by flame , by captivity and by plunder, many days .

³⁴Now when they fall , they will be helped with a little help ; but many will join themselves to them with flatteries .

³⁵Some of those who are wise will fall —to refine them , and to purify , and to make them white , even to the time of the end , because it is yet for the time appointed .

³⁶“The king will do according to his will . He will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and will speak marvellous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the indignation is accomplished , for that which is determined will be done .

³⁷He won’t regard the gods of his fathers, or the desire of women, or regard any god ; for he will magnify himself above all .

³⁸But in their place , he will honour the god of fortresses . He will honour a god whom his fathers didn’t know with gold , silver , and with precious stones and pleasant things .

³⁹He will deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. He will increase with glory whoever acknowledges him . He will cause them to rule over many , and will divide the land for a price .

⁴⁰“At the time of the end the king of the south will contend with him ; and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind , with chariots , with horsemen , and with many ships. He will enter into the countries, and will overflow and pass through .

⁴¹He will enter also into the glorious land, and many countries will be overthrown ; but these will be delivered out of his hand : Edom, Moab , and the chief of the children of Ammon .

⁴²He will also stretch out his hand on the countries. The land of Egypt won’t escape .

⁴³But he will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver , and over all the precious things of Egypt . The Libyans and the Ethiopians will follow his steps .

⁴⁴But news out of the east and out of the north will trouble him ; and he will go out with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many .

⁴⁵He will plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain ; yet he will come to his end , and no one will help him .