¹⁷ ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. ¹⁸ But the ^[a](A)saints of the Highest One will ^(B)receive the kingdom and take possession of the kingdom forever, ^[b]for all ages to come.’

¹⁹ “Then I desired to know the ^[c]exact meaning of the ^(C)fourth beast, which was different from all ^[d]the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, ²⁰ and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of the horns fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and ^[e]which was larger in appearance than its associates. ²¹ I kept looking, and that horn was ^(D)waging war with the ^[f]saints and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came and ^(E)judgment was ^[g]passed in favor of the ^[h]saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the ^[i]saints took possession of the kingdom.

²³ “This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth and trample it down and crush it. ²⁴ As for the ^(F)ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will ^[j]humble three kings. ²⁵ And he will ^[k](G)speak against the ^(H)Most High and ^(I)wear down the ^[l]saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make ^(J)alterations in times and in law; and ^[m]they will be handed over to him for a ^[n](K)time, ^[o]times, and half a ^[p]time. ²⁶ But the court will ^[q]convene for judgment, and his dominion will be ^(L)taken away, ^[r]annihilated and destroyed ^[s]forever. ²⁷ Then the ^[t](M)sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the ^[u]saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an ^(N)everlasting kingdom, and all the empires will ^(O)serve and obey Him.’

²⁸ “^[v]At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were ^(P)greatly alarming me and my ^[w]face became pale, but I ^(Q)kept the matter ^[x]to myself.”

²⁷ And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of ^[a](A)abominations will come the one who ^[b]makes desolate, until a ^(B)complete destruction, one that is ^[c]decreed, gushes forth on the one who ^[d]makes desolate.”

³¹ Forces from him will arise, ^(A)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the ^(B)abomination ^[a]of desolation.

³⁵ And some of ^[a]those who have insight will fall, to ^(A)refine, ^(B)purge, and ^[b](C)cleanse them until the ^(D)end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

³⁶ “Then the king will ^(E)do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and ^(F)boast against every god and will ^(G)speak ^[c]dreadful things against the ^(H)God of gods; and he will be successful until the ^(I)indignation is finished, because that which is ^(J)determined will be done. ³⁷ And he will show no regard for the ^[d]gods of his fathers or for the ^[e]desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all. ³⁸ But ^[f]instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures. ³⁹ And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to ^[g]those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

⁴⁰ “And at the ^(K)end time the ^(L)king of the South will wage war with him, and the ^(M)king of the North will ^(N)storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, ^(O)overflow them, and pass through. ⁴¹ He will also enter the ^[h](P)Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, ^(Q)Moab, and the foremost of the sons of ^(R)Ammon. ⁴² Then he will reach out with his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. ⁴³ But he will ^[i]gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and ^(S)Libyans and ^(T)Ethiopians will follow at his ^[j]heels. ⁴⁴ But rumors from the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and ^[k]annihilate many. ⁴⁵ And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful ^(U)Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

The Time of the End

12 “Now at that time ^(V)Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a ^(W)time of distress ^(X)such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the ^(Y)book, will be rescued. ² And ^(Z)many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, ^(AA)these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting ^[l]contempt. ³ And ^[m]those who have ^(AB)insight will ^(AC)shine like the glow of the ^[n]expanse of heaven, and those who ^[o](AD)lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. ⁴ But as for you, Daniel, ^(AE)keep these words secret and ^(AF)seal up the book until the ^(AG)end of time; ^(AH)many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.”

⁵ Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the stream and the other on that bank of the stream. ⁶ And ^(AI)someone said to the man ^(AJ)dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “^(AK)How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” ⁷ And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, ^[p]as he ^(AL)raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by ^(AM)Him who lives forever that it would be for a ^[q](AN)time, ^[r]times, and half a ^[s]time; and as soon as ^[t]they finish ^(AO)smashing the ^[u]power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. ⁸ But as for me, I heard but did not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the ^[v]outcome of these events?” ⁹ And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words will be kept secret and ^(AP)sealed up until the end time. ^10 (AQ)Many will be purged, ^[w]cleansed, and refined, but the ^(AR)wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but ^[x]those who ^(AS)have insight will understand. ¹¹ And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the ^(AT)abomination ^[y]of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ^12 (AU)Blessed is the one who is patient and attains to the ^(AV)1,335 days! ¹³ But as for you, go your way to the ^[z]end; then you will ^(AW)rest and ^[aa]rise for your ^(AX)allotted portion at the end of the ^[ab]age.”

Man of Lawlessness

2 Now we ask you, ^(A)brothers and sisters, regarding the ^[a](B)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(C)gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your ^[b]composure or be disturbed either by a ^(D)spirit, or a ^[c](E)message, or a ^(F)letter as if from us, to the effect that ^(G)the day of the Lord ^(H)has come. ^3 (I)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[d](J)apostasy comes first, and the ^(K)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(L)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[e](M)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(N)displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that ^(O)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know ^(P)what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(Q)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[f](R)He who now restrains will do so until ^[g]He is ^[h]removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one ^(S)will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate ^(T)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^(U)appearance of His ^[i]coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose ^[j]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(V)Satan, with all power and false ^[k](W)signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with ^[l]all the deception of wickedness for ^(X)those who perish, because they did not accept the love of ^(Y)the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason ^(Z)God ^[m]will send upon them ^[n]a ^(AA)deluding influence so that they will believe ^[o]what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be ^[p]judged who ^(AB)did not believe the truth, but ^[q](AC)took pleasure in wickedness.