Warring Kings of North and South

“Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her [a]authority, and neither he nor his [b]authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail. And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their [c]princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.

“Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. 10 However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come (A)and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return (B)to his fortress and stir up strife.

11 “And the king of the South shall be (C)moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the (D)multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. 12 When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be [d]lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.

14 “Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, [e]violent men of your people shall exalt themselves [f]in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall (E)fall. 15 So the king of the North shall come and (F)build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the [g]forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist. 16 But he who comes against him (G)shall do according to his own will, and (H)no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his [h]power.

17 “He shall also (I)set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and [i]upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, (J)or be for him. 18 After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall (K)stumble and fall, (L)and not be found.

20 “There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 11:6 Lit. arm
  2. Daniel 11:6 Lit. arm
  3. Daniel 11:8 Or molded images
  4. Daniel 11:12 Proud
  5. Daniel 11:14 Or robbers, lit. sons of breakage
  6. Daniel 11:14 Lit. to establish
  7. Daniel 11:15 Lit. arms
  8. Daniel 11:16 Lit. hand
  9. Daniel 11:17 Or bring equitable terms

“The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power. After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power[a] will not last. In those days she will be betrayed, together with her royal escort and her father[b] and the one who supported her.

“One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North(A) and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. He will also seize their gods,(B) their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt.(C) For some years he will leave the king of the North alone. Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country. 10 His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood(D) and carry the battle as far as his fortress.

11 “Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated.(E) 12 When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant. 13 For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.

14 “In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Those who are violent among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success. 15 Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps(F) and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand. 16 The invader will do as he pleases;(G) no one will be able to stand against him.(H) He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land and will have the power to destroy it.(I) 17 He will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South. And he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans[c] will not succeed(J) or help him. 18 Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands(K) and will take many of them, but a commander will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back on him.(L) 19 After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall,(M) to be seen no more.(N)

20 “His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor.(O) In a few years, however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 11:6 Or offspring
  2. Daniel 11:6 Or child (see Vulgate and Syriac)
  3. Daniel 11:17 Or but she