Conflicts to Come

11 “In the ^(A)first year of Darius the Mede, ^[a]I arose to be of ^[b]assistance and a protection for him. ² And now I will tell you the ^(B)truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise ^[c]in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, ^[d]he will stir up the entire empire against the realm of ^[e](C)Greece. ³ And a ^(D)mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and ^(E)do as he pleases. ⁴ But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out ^(F)toward the ^(G)four ^[f]points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, because his sovereignty will be ^(H)removed and given to others besides ^[g]them.

⁵ “Then the ^(I)king of the South will grow strong, ^[h]along with one of his princes ^[i]who will gain ascendancy over him and rule; his domain will be a great realm indeed. ⁶ And after some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the ^(J)king of the North to reach an agreement. But she will not keep her ^[j]position of power, nor will he remain with his ^[k]power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who fathered her as well as he who supported her in those times. ⁷ But one of the ^[l]descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the ^(K)fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and prevail. ⁸ And he will also take into captivity to Egypt their ^(L)gods with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he on his part will ^[m]refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. ⁹ Then ^[n]the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

¹⁰ “And his sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and ^(M)overflow and pass through, so that he may ^[o]again wage war up to his fortress. ¹¹ And the ^(N)king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight ^[p]with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be handed over to ^[q]the former. ¹² When the multitude is carried away, his heart will ^[r]be haughty, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. ¹³ For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and ^[s]after an ^(O)interval of some years he will ^[t]press on with a great army and much equipment.

¹⁴ “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also raise themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will ^[u]fall down. ¹⁵ Then the king of the North will come, pile up an ^(P)assault ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even ^[v]their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. ¹⁶ But he who comes against him will ^(Q)do as he pleases, and ^(R)no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the ^[w](S)Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. ¹⁷ And he will ^(T)set his ^[x]mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, ^[y]bringing with him ^[z]a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be ^[aa]on his side. ¹⁸ Then he will turn his face to the ^(U)coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his taunting against him; moreover, he will ^(V)repay him for his taunting. ¹⁹ So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will ^(W)stumble and fall and not be ^(X)found.

²⁰ “Then in his place one will arise who will ^(Y)allow an ^[ab]oppressor to pass through the ^[ac]Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle. ²¹ And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the majesty of kingship has not been conferred; but he will come in a time of tranquility and ^(Z)seize the kingdom by intrigue. ²² And the overflowing ^(AA)forces will be flooded away from him and smashed, and also the prince of the covenant. ²³ After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. ^24 [ad]In a time of tranquility he will enter the ^(AB)richest parts of the ^[ae]realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers did not, nor his ^[af]ancestors; he will distribute plunder, spoils, and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. ²⁵ And he will stir up his strength and ^[ag]courage against the ^(AC)king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, because schemes will be devised against him. ²⁶ Those who eat his choice food will ^[ah]destroy him, and his army will ^[ai](AD)overflow, but many will fall down slain. ²⁷ As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on ^(AE)evil, and they will ^(AF)speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the ^(AG)end is still to come at the appointed time. ²⁸ Then he will return to his land with much ^[aj]plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

²⁹ “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but ^[ak]this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. ³⁰ For ships of ^[al](AH)Kittim will come against him; therefore he will withdraw in fear and will return and curse the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and pay attention to those who abandon the holy covenant. ³¹ Forces from him will arise, ^(AI)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the ^(AJ)abomination ^[am]of desolation. ³² And by ^(AK)smooth words he will ^[an]turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be ^(AL)strong and take action. ³³ And ^[ao](AM)those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will ^(AN)fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. ³⁴ Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will ^(AO)join with them in ^(AP)hypocrisy. ³⁵ And some of ^[ap]those who have insight will fall, to ^(AQ)refine, ^(AR)purge, and ^[aq](AS)cleanse them until the ^(AT)end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

³⁶ “Then the king will ^(AU)do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and ^(AV)boast against every god and will ^(AW)speak ^[ar]dreadful things against the ^(AX)God of gods; and he will be successful until the ^(AY)indignation is finished, because that which is ^(AZ)determined will be done. ³⁷ And he will show no regard for the ^[as]gods of his fathers or for the ^[at]desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all. ³⁸ But ^[au]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 ^[av]those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

⁴⁰ “And at the ^(BA)end time the ^(BB)king of the South will wage war with him, and the ^(BC)king of the North will ^(BD)storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, ^(BE)overflow them, and pass through. ⁴¹ He will also enter the ^[aw](BF)Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, ^(BG)Moab, and the foremost of the sons of ^(BH)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 ^[ax]gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and ^(BI)Libyans and ^(BJ)Ethiopians will follow at his ^[ay]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 ^[az]annihilate many. ⁴⁵ And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful ^(BK)Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Difficult Times Will Come

3 But realize this, that ^(A)in the last days difficult times will come. ² For people will be ^(B)lovers of self, ^(C)lovers of money, ^(D)boastful, ^(E)arrogant, ^(F)slanderers, ^(G)disobedient to parents, ^(H)ungrateful, ^(I)unholy, ^3 (J)unloving, irreconcilable, ^(K)malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, ^[a](L)haters of good, ^4 (M)treacherous, ^(N)reckless, ^(O)conceited, ^(P)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of ^[b](Q)godliness although they have ^(R)denied its power; ^(S)avoid such people as these. ⁶ For among them are those who ^[c](T)slip into households and captivate ^[d](U)weak women weighed down with sins, led on by ^(V)various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to ^(W)come to the ^[e]knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as ^(X)Jannes and Jambres ^(Y)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^(Z)men of depraved mind, ^[f]worthless in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their ^(AA)foolishness will be obvious to all, just ^(AB)as was that also of ^[g]Jannes and Jambres.

¹⁰ Now you ^(AC)followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, ^(AD)love, ^[h]perseverance, ^11 (AE)persecutions, and ^(AF)sufferings, such as happened to me at ^(AG)Antioch, at ^(AH)Iconium, and at ^(AI)Lystra; what ^(AJ)persecutions I endured, and out of them all ^(AK)the Lord rescued me! ¹² Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus ^(AL)will be persecuted. ¹³ But evil people and impostors ^(AM)will proceed from bad to worse, ^(AN)deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ You, however, ^(AO)continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that ^(AP)from childhood you have known ^(AQ)the sacred writings which are able to ^(AR)give you the wisdom that leads to ^(AS)salvation through faith which is in ^(AT)Christ Jesus. ^16 (AU)All Scripture is ^[i]inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for ^[j]rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that ^(AV)the man or woman of God may be ^[k]fully capable, ^(AW)equipped for every good work.

Preach the Word

4 ^(AX)I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to ^(AY)judge the living and the dead, and by His ^(AZ)appearing and His kingdom: ² preach ^(BA)the word; be ready ^[l]in season and out of season; ^(BB)correct, rebuke, and ^[m]exhort, with ^[n]great ^(BC)patience and instruction. ³ For ^(BD)the time will come when they will not tolerate ^(BE)sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, ⁴ and they ^(BF)will turn their ears away from the truth and ^(BG)will turn aside to myths. ⁵ But as for you, ^(BH)use self-restraint in all things, ^(BI)endure hardship, do the work of an ^(BJ)evangelist, fulfill your ^(BK)ministry.

⁶ For I am already being ^(BL)poured out as a drink offering, and the time of ^(BM)my departure has come. ^7 (BN)I have fought the good fight, I have finished ^(BO)the course, I have kept ^(BP)the faith; ⁸ in the future there ^(BQ)is reserved for me ^(BR)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on ^(BS)that day; and not only to me, but also to ^(BT)all who have loved His ^(BU)appearing.

Personal Concerns

^9 (BV)Make every effort to come to me soon; ¹⁰ for ^(BW)Demas, having loved ^(BX)this present ^[o]world, has deserted me and gone to ^(BY)Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to ^[p](BZ)Galatia, ^(CA)Titus to Dalmatia. ^11 (CB)Only ^(CC)Luke is with me. Take along ^(CD)Mark and bring him with you, ^(CE)for he is useful to me for service. ¹² But I have sent ^(CF)Tychicus to ^(CG)Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the overcoat which I left at ^(CH)Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. ^14 (CI)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^(CJ)the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Be on guard against him yourself too, for he vigorously opposed our ^[q]teaching.

¹⁶ At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; ^(CK)may it not be counted against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood with me and ^(CL)strengthened me, so that through me ^(CM)the proclamation might ^[r]be ^(CN)fully accomplished, and that all ^(CO)the Gentiles might hear; and I was ^(CP)rescued out of ^(CQ)the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will ^[s](CR)bring me safely to His ^(CS)heavenly kingdom; ^(CT)to ^[t]Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹ Greet Prisca and ^(CU)Aquila, and ^(CV)the household of Onesiphorus. ^20 (CW)Erastus remained at ^(CX)Corinth, but I left ^(CY)Trophimus sick at ^(CZ)Miletus. ^21 (DA)Make every effort to come before ^(DB)winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.

^22 (DC)The Lord be with your spirit. ^(DD)Grace be with you.

The Lord Praised for His Goodness.