Daniel 10:8-11:19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 So I was left alone to see this great vision. My strength left me, and my complexion grew deathly pale, and I retained no strength.(A) 9 When[a] I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a trance, face to the ground.(B)
10 But then a hand touched me and roused me to my hands and knees.(C) 11 He said to me, “Daniel, greatly beloved, pay attention to the words that I am going to speak to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you.” So while he was speaking this word to me, I stood up trembling.(D) 12 He said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.(E) 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia[b](F) 14 and have come to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days. For there is a further vision for those days.”(G)
15 While he was speaking these words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.(H) 16 Then one in human form touched my lips, and I opened my mouth to speak and said to the one who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision such pains have come upon me that I retain no strength.(I) 17 How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For I am exhausted;[c] no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”
18 Again one in human form touched me and strengthened me. 19 He said, “Do not fear, greatly beloved; you are safe. Be strong and courageous!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”(J) 20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince.(K) 11 1
2 “Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a warrior king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases.(M) 4 And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven but not to his posterity nor according to the dominion with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these.(N)
5 “Then the king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his officers shall grow stronger than he and shall rule a realm greater than his own realm. 6 After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to ratify the agreement. But she shall not retain her power, and his offspring shall not endure. She shall be given up, she and her attendants and her child and the one who supported her.
“In those times(O) 7 a branch from her roots shall rise up in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall take action against them and prevail.(P) 8 Even their gods, with their idols and with their precious vessels of silver and gold, he shall carry off to Egypt as spoils of war. For some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north;(Q) 9 then the latter shall invade the realm of the king of the south but will return to his own land.
10 “His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces that shall advance like a flood and pass through and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress.(R) 11 Moved with rage, the king of the south shall go out and do battle against the king of the north, who shall muster a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given over to his hand.(S) 12 When the multitude has been carried off, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall overthrow tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. 13 For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude larger than the former, and after some years[d] he shall advance with a great army and abundant supplies.(T)
14 “In those times many shall rise against the king of the south. The lawless among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. 15 Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, not even his picked troops, for there shall be no strength to resist.(U) 16 But he who comes against him shall take the actions he pleases, and no one shall withstand him. He shall take a position in the beautiful land, and all of it shall be in his power.(V) 17 He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom. He shall make peace with him and shall give him a woman in marriage, in order to destroy the kingdom,[e] but it shall not succeed or be to his advantage.(W) 18 Afterward he shall turn to the coastlands and shall capture many, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence; indeed,[f] he shall turn his insolence back upon him.(X) 19 Then he shall turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found.(Y)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.