And now will I shewthee the truth. Behold, thereshallstand up yet threekings in Persia; and the fourthshall be far richerthanthey all: and by his strengththrough his riches he shallstir up all against the realm of Grecia.
And when he shallstand up, his kingdomshall be broken, and shall be dividedtoward the fourwinds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominionwhich he ruled: for his kingdomshall be plucked up, even for othersbesidethose.
And the king of the southshall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strongabove him, and havedominion; his dominionshall be a greatdominion.
And in the end of yearstheyshalljointhemselvestogether; for the king’sdaughter of the southshallcome to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neithershall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and theythatbrought her, and he thatbegat her, and he thatstrengthened her in thesetimes.
But out of a branch of her rootsshall one stand up in his estate, whichshallcomewith an army, and shallenterinto the fortress of the king of the north, and shalldealagainstthem, and shallprevail:
And shallalsocarrycaptivesintoEgypttheirgods, withtheirprinces, and withtheirpreciousvessels of silver and of gold; and he shallcontinuemoreyearsthan the king of the north.
But his sonsshall be stirred up, and shallassemble a multitude of greatforces: and one shallcertainlycome, and overflow, and passthrough: thenshall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
And the king of the southshall be movedwithcholer, and shallcomeforth and fightwith him, evenwith the king of the north: and he shall set forth a greatmultitude; but the multitudeshall be giveninto his hand.
For the king of the northshallreturn, and shall set forth a multitudegreaterthan the former, and shallcertainlycomeaftercertainyearswith a greatarmy and withmuchriches.
And in thosetimesthereshallmanystand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy peopleshallexaltthemselves to establish the vision; but theyshallfall.
So the king of the northshallcome, and cast up a mount, and take the mostfencedcities: and the arms of the southshall not withstand, neither his chosenpeople, neithershallthere be any strength to withstand.
But he thatcomethagainst him shall do according to his own will, and noneshallstandbefore him: and he shallstand in the gloriousland, which by his handshall be consumed.
He shallalso set his face to enterwith the strength of his wholekingdom, and uprightoneswith him; thusshall he do: and he shallgive him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.
Afterthisshall he turn his faceunto the isles, and shalltakemany: but a prince for his own behalfshallcause the reproachoffered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shallcause it to turnupon him.
Thenshallstand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
And in his estateshallstand up a vileperson, to whomtheyshall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shallcome in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
He shallenterpeaceablyevenupon the fattestplaces of the province; and he shall do thatwhich his fathershave not done, nor his fathers’fathers; he shallscatteramongthem the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shallforecast his devicesagainst the strongholds, even for a time.
And he shallstir up his power and his courageagainst the king of the southwith a greatarmy; and the king of the southshall be stirred up to battlewith a verygreat and mightyarmy; but he shall not stand: for theyshallforecastdevicesagainst him.
And boththesekings’heartsshall be to do mischief, and theyshallspeaklies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the timeappointed.
For the ships of Chittimshallcomeagainst him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and haveindignationagainst the holycovenant: so shall he do; he shallevenreturn, and haveintelligencewiththemthatforsake the holycovenant.
And armsshallstand on his part, and theyshallpollute the sanctuary of strength, and shalltakeaway the dailysacrifice, and theyshallplace the abominationthatmakethdesolate.
And some of them of understandingshallfall, to try them, and to purge, and to makethemwhite, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a timeappointed.
And the kingshall do according to his will; and he shallexalthimself, and magnifyhimselfaboveevery god, and shallspeakmarvellousthingsagainst the God of gods, and shallprospertill the indignation be accomplished: for thatthat is determinedshall be done.
But in his estateshall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathersknew not shall he honourwithgold, and silver, and withpreciousstones, and pleasantthings.
Thusshall he do in the moststrongholdswith a strange god, whom he shallacknowledge and increasewithglory: and he shallcausethem to ruleovermany, and shalldivide the land for gain.
And at the time of the end shall the king of the southpush at him: and the king of the northshallcomeagainst him like a whirlwind, withchariots, and withhorsemen, and withmanyships; and he shallenterinto the countries, and shalloverflow and passover.
He shallenteralsointo the gloriousland, and manycountriesshall be overthrown: but theseshallescape out of his hand, evenEdom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
But he shallhavepowerover the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the preciousthings of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopiansshall be at his steps.