1. And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I was standing for a supporter and for a fortress for him.
2. And now I will declare to you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia. And the fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
3. And a mighty king shall stand up, one who shall rule with great power and do according to his will.
4. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of the heavens. And it shall not be given to his sons, nor according to his power with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be pulled up, even for others besides these.
5. And the king of the south shall be strong. And one of his rulers, even he shall overcome him and have power. His kingdom shall be a great kingdom.
6. And in the end of years they shall join together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make a treaty. But she shall not keep the power of the arm. Nor shall he stand, nor his arm. But she shall be given up, and those who brought her in, and her begetter, and he who made her strong in these times.
7. But out of a branch of her roots, one shall stand up in his place, who shall come with an army and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north. And he shall act against them, and show himself strong.
8. And he shall also carry their gods captives with their molten images into Egypt, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold. And he shall stand for years away from the king of the north.
9. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.
10. But his sons shall be stirred up and shall gather a multitude of great forces. And one shall certainly come and overflow, and pass through. Then he shall return and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
11. And the king of the south shall be bitter, and shall come out and fight with him, even with the king of the north. And he shall send out a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
12. And when he has taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up. And he shall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be made stronger.
13. For the king of the north shall return, and shall send out a multitude greater than the former, and at the end of times, years, shall come with a great army and with much equipment.
14. And in those times there shall stand up many against the king of the south. Also the robbers of your people shall rise up to establish the vision, but they shall fall.
15. So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a siege mound, and take a fortified city. And the arms of the south shall not hold out, nor his chosen people, nor will there be any strength to hold out.
16. But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, which shall be destroyed by his hand.
17. He also shall set his face to enter with the strength of all his kingdom, and upright ones with him. So he shall do. And he shall give the daughter of women to him, to destroy it; but she shall not stand, nor be for him.
18. And he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall capture many. But a ruler shall make cease his reproach for him, but his reproach will return to him.
19. And he shall turn his face to the fortresses of his land. But he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
20. And one who sends an exacter shall stand in his place, for the glory of the kingdom. But within few days he shall be broken, not in anger nor in battle.
21. And a despised one shall stand up in his place, and they shall not give to him the honor of the king; but he will enter while at ease and seize the kingdom by intrigues.
22. And the forces of the overflow will be swept from before him, and they will be broken, and also the ruler of a covenant.
23. And after they join him, he will practice deceit. For he will come and be strong with a few people.
24. He shall enter safely, even into the rich places of the province. And he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers. He shall plunder, and spoil, and scatter goods among them. And he shall devise his plots against the strongholds, even for a time.
25. And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army, but he shall not stand. For they shall devise plots against him.
26. Yea, those who eat his food shall break him, and his army shall overflow. And many shall fall down slain.
27. And both these kings' hearts shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table. But it shall not succeed. For still the end comes at the time appointed.
28. And he shall return to his land with great riches. And his heart shall be against the holy covenant. And he will act, and he shall return to his land.
29. At the time appointed he shall return and come against the south. But it shall not be as the former or as the latter.
30. For the ships of Kittim shall come against him. And he shall be grieved and return, and have fury against the holy covenant. So he shall do; he shall even return and give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31. And forces will stand from him, and they will profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and shall remove the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the desolating abomination.
32. And he will ruin by flattery those who do evil against the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will work.
33. And those who understand among the people shall teach many; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by exile, and spoil, for days.
34. And when they stumble, they shall be helped with a little help, but many will join them, with hypocrisy.
35. And many of those who understand shall stumble, to refine and purge them, and to make white, to the time of the end. Because it is still for the appointed time.
36. And the king shall do according to his will. And he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper until the fury is fulfilled. For that which is decreed shall be done.
37. He will not regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god. For he shall magnify himself above all.
38. But in his place he shall honor the god of forces; and a god whom his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold and silver, and with precious stones and desirable things.
39. So he shall act in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge. He shall multiply in glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price.
40. And at the end-time, the king of the south shall butt at him. And the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships.
41. And he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over. He shall also enter into the glorious land, and many shall be stumbled. But these shall escape out of his hand: Edom and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.
42. And he shall stretch out his hand on the lands. And the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44. But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Then he will go out with great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction.
45. And he shall plant his palace tents between the seas in the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.