Daniel 10:1-11:35

New American Standard Bible

Daniel Is Terrified by a Vision

10 In the third year of ^(A)Cyrus king of Persia, a ^[a]message was revealed to ^(B)Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the ^[b](C)message was true and it concerned great ^[c]conflict, but he understood the ^[d]message and had an ^(D)understanding of the vision.

² In those days, I, Daniel, had been ^(E)mourning for three ^[e]entire weeks. ³ I ^(F)did not eat any ^[f]tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. ⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great ^(G)river, that is, the ^[g]Tigris, ⁵ I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man ^(H)dressed in linen, whose waist ^(I)had a belt of pure ^(J)gold of Uphaz. ⁶ His body also was like topaz, his face ^[h]had the appearance of lightning, ^(K)his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. ⁷ Now I, Daniel, ^(L)alone saw the vision, while the ^(M)men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great ^(N)fear fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. ⁸ So I was ^(O)left alone and saw this great vision; yet ^(P)no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to ^[i]a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. ⁹ But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I ^(Q)fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Daniel Comforted

¹⁰ Then behold, a hand ^(R)touched me and shook me on my ^[j]hands and knees. ¹¹ And he said to me, “^(S)Daniel, ^[k]you who are treasured, ^(T)understand the words that I am about to tell you and ^(U)stand at your place, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up ^(V)trembling. ¹² Then he said to me, “^(W)Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on ^(X)humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come ^(Y)in response to your words. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing ^[l]in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, ^(Z)Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to ^(AA)explain to you what will happen to your people in the ^[m](AB)latter days, because the vision pertains to ^(AC)the days still future.”

¹⁵ When he had spoken to me according to these words, I ^[n]turned my face toward the ground and became ^(AD)speechless. ¹⁶ And behold, ^[o](AE)one who resembled a human was ^(AF)touching my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “My lord, due to the vision ^[p](AG)anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength. ¹⁷ For ^(AH)how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now ^(AI)no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me.”

¹⁸ Then this one with human appearance touched me again and ^(AJ)strengthened me. ¹⁹ And he said, “^[q]You who are treasured, ^(AK)do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take ^(AL)courage and be courageous!” Now as soon as he spoke to me, I felt strengthened and said, “May my lord speak, for you have ^(AM)strengthened me.” ²⁰ Then he said, “Do you ^[r]understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am leaving, and behold, the ^(AN)prince of ^[s]Greece is about to come. ²¹ However, I will tell you what is recorded in the writing of ^(AO)truth. Yet there is no one who ^[t]stands firmly with me against these forces except ^(AP)Michael your prince.

Conflicts to Come

11 “In the ^(AQ)first year of Darius the Mede, ^[u]I arose to be of ^[v]assistance and a protection for him. ² And now I will tell you the ^(AR)truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise ^[w]in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, ^[x]he will stir up the entire empire against the realm of ^[y](AS)Greece. ³ And a ^(AT)mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and ^(AU)do as he pleases. ⁴ But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out ^(AV)toward the ^(AW)four ^[z]points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, because his sovereignty will be ^(AX)removed and given to others besides ^[aa]them.

⁵ “Then the ^(AY)king of the South will grow strong, ^[ab]along with one of his princes ^[ac]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 ^(AZ)king of the North to reach an agreement. But she will not keep her ^[ad]position of power, nor will he remain with his ^[ae]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 ^[af]descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the ^(BA)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 ^(BB)gods with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he on his part will ^[ag]refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. ⁹ Then ^[ah]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 ^(BC)overflow and pass through, so that he may ^[ai]again wage war up to his fortress. ¹¹ And the ^(BD)king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight ^[aj]with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be handed over to ^[ak]the former. ¹² When the multitude is carried away, his heart will ^[al]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 ^[am]after an ^(BE)interval of some years he will ^[an]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 ^[ao]fall down. ¹⁵ Then the king of the North will come, pile up an ^(BF)assault ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even ^[ap]their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. ¹⁶ But he who comes against him will ^(BG)do as he pleases, and ^(BH)no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the ^[aq](BI)Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. ¹⁷ And he will ^(BJ)set his ^[ar]mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, ^[as]bringing with him ^[at]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 ^[au]on his side. ¹⁸ Then he will turn his face to the ^(BK)coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his taunting against him; moreover, he will ^(BL)repay him for his taunting. ¹⁹ So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will ^(BM)stumble and fall and not be ^(BN)found.

²⁰ “Then in his place one will arise who will ^(BO)allow an ^[av]oppressor to pass through the ^[aw]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 ^(BP)seize the kingdom by intrigue. ²² And the overflowing ^(BQ)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 [ax]In a time of tranquility he will enter the ^(BR)richest parts of the ^[ay]realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers did not, nor his ^[az]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 ^[ba]courage against the ^(BS)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 ^[bb]destroy him, and his army will ^[bc](BT)overflow, but many will fall down slain. ²⁷ As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on ^(BU)evil, and they will ^(BV)speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the ^(BW)end is still to come at the appointed time. ²⁸ Then he will return to his land with much ^[bd]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 ^[be]this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. ³⁰ For ships of ^[bf](BX)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, ^(BY)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the ^(BZ)abomination ^[bg]of desolation. ³² And by ^(CA)smooth words he will ^[bh]turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be ^(CB)strong and take action. ³³ And ^[bi](CC)those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will ^(CD)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 ^(CE)join with them in ^(CF)hypocrisy. ³⁵ And some of ^[bj]those who have insight will fall, to ^(CG)refine, ^(CH)purge, and ^[bk](CI)cleanse them until the ^(CJ)end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.