Daniel 11
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 11
1 “As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I came forth to support and strengthen him.
Early Struggles between Seleucids and Ptolemies.[a] 2 “Now I shall tell you the truth about these things. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. Then a fourth will appear who will be far richer than all of them, and when he has enhanced his power through his wealth, he will mobilize the entire empire against the kingdom of Greece.[b]
3 “Then a powerful king[c] shall arise who will govern a vast empire and do whatever he pleases. 4 But as his power continues to increase, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out to the four winds of heaven. However, it will not be inherited by his descendants, nor will it be ruled in the same fashion, for his kingdom will be uprooted and pass to others rather than to his descendants.
5 “The king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his princes shall grow even stronger and rule an empire greater than his. 6 After some years the two will enter into an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north. However, she will not be able to retain her power, and his offspring will not endure. She will be handed over, along with her attendants and her child and her husband.[d]
7 “Later on, a descendant[e] from her line will arise to take her place. He shall penetrate the defenses of the king of the north, enter his stronghold, and succeed in conquering them. 8 He will even carry away into Egypt, as spoils of war, their gods, with their molten images and precious vessels of silver and gold. For several years he will refrain from attacking the king of the north.
9 “After that, the latter will invade the kingdom of the king of the south, but then return to his own country. 10 However, his sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army that will sweep forth like a flood and advance as far as the enemy’s fortress.[f]
11 “The king of the south will then become enraged and set out to engage in battle with the king of the north. The latter will muster an immense army that will suffer a crushing defeat and be carried off.[g] 12 The heart of the king of the south shall be exalted, and he shall slaughter tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.[h] 13 For the king of the north will once again raise another army, even larger than before, and finally, after some years, he will advance with a huge force and a great abundance of supplies.
14 “During those times many will take up arms against the king of the south. However, those among your own people who are lawless will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but they will fail. 15 Then the king of the north will come and erect siege-works and capture the well-fortified city. The army of the south will not be able to withstand him, and not even the elite forces will be strong enough to resist.
16 “The invader will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him. He will establish a stronghold in the glorious land, and it shall fall completely into his power. 17 He will set his mind on conquering the entire kingdom and will make a treaty with the king of the south. Further, he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but this will not succeed or be to his advantage.[i]
18 “Next he will focus his attention on the coastlands and capture many of them, but a commander will put a stop to his outrageous conduct and turn his insolence back upon him.[j] 19 He shall then turn back to the strongholds of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, never to be seen again. 20 His successor[k] shall send forth a tax collector throughout the glorious kingdom, but within a short time this king will also be overthrown and meet his end, although not in anger or in battle.
21 Antiochus IV Epiphanes.“His place shall be taken by a despicable creature upon whom the royal insignia shall not be conferred. Rather, he will come forth without any warning and seize the kingdom through stealth and fraud. 22 A powerful army shall be completely routed and crushed by him. Both it and the prince of the covenant[l] will be destroyed.
23 “After he enters into an alliance, he will act deceitfully, and by treacherous means he will rise to power with only a few supporters. 24 Without advance warning he will invade the most prosperous provinces and do what his fathers or his grandfathers had never done, lavishing plunder, spoil, and riches among them, yet all the while devising plans against their strongholds, but only for a time.
25 “He shall arouse his strength and courage to lead a great army against the kingdom of the south. Meanwhile the king of the south will wage war with a much greater and more powerful army, but he will not succeed because of the plots devised against him. 26 Even those who shared his food will seek to destroy him. His army will be swept away, and many will be slain in battle.[m]
27 “The two kings, their hearts bent on evil though seated at the same table, will exchange lies, but they will not succeed, because the end will not take place until the appointed time. 28 Then the king of the north will return to his land with great riches, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will devise his future plans and return to his own land.
29 “At the appointed time he shall return again to the south, but this time the outcome will not be as it was before. 30 For ships of the Kittim shall come against him, and he will lose heart and withdraw. As he retreats he will vent his fury and direct his energy against the holy covenant, and he will once again show his favor to those who forsake that holy covenant.
31 “Armed forces of his shall obey his command to desecrate the sanctuary, abolish the daily sacrifice, and install the abomination that causes desolation.[n] 32 He will seduce by his deceit those who break the covenant, but those people who are loyal to their God will stand firm and take action.
33 “Wise leaders of the nation shall instruct many, although for a time they will fall by the sword and fire or suffer captivity and exile. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, but many will have ulterior motives in offering support. 35 Some of the wise leaders will stumble so that they may be tested, refined, and purified, until the end time, which is still appointed to come.
36 “The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and considering himself to be greater than any god. He will utter monstrous blasphemies against the God of gods, and he will prosper until the period of divine wrath is completed, for what has been determined must be fulfilled. 37 He shall have no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the god beloved by women[o] or for any other god, for he shall consider himself greater than all.
38 “Instead of these, he will honor the god of fortresses, a god unknown to his ancestors. This god he shall honor with gold and silver, precious stones and costly gifts. 39 He will assign the people of a foreign god to defend the fortresses, and he will confer great honors on those whom he favors by appointing them as rulers over many people and distributing land to them as a reward.[p]
40 The End Time.[q]“When the time comes for the end, the king of the south will prepare to attack the king of the north, but the latter will overwhelm him with chariots and cavalry and a large fleet. He will invade countries and sweep over them like a flood. 41 He will invade the beautiful land, and many countries will fall, but Edom and Moab and the leaders of the Ammonites will escape from his power.
42 “He will extend his power over many countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 He will seize control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians will be subject to him.
44 “However, reports from the east and the north shall be a cause of alarm to him, and he will set out in great fury to bring ruin and total destruction to many. 45 He will pitch the tents of the royal pavilion between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with no one to help him.
Footnotes
- Daniel 11:2 A clear passage gives the succession of kings from Cyrus to Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The historian can easily construct a detailed account. The author’s interest is mainly in the struggle, now overt, now covert, between the Lagids of Egypt, in the south, and the Seleucids of Syria, in the north, both of them being heirs to Alexander’s empire. Due to his excesses, Antiochus IV Epiphanes would come to be regarded as the Antichrist who opposes the reign of God.
- Daniel 11:2 The three successors of Cyrus II (558–530 B.C.) were, in order: Cambyses (530–522 B.C.), Darius I (521–486 B.C.), and Xerxes I (485–465 B.C.). It was under Xerxes that the battles of Salamis and Thermopylae took place during the war against Greece. The greatest political and economic pressure, however, was exerted by Artaxerxes I (465–424 B.C.), who roused himself to hurl all the might of Persia against Greece; other kings would later continue to war against the Greeks.
- Daniel 11:3 A powerful king: Alexander the Great.
- Daniel 11:6 Antiochus II (261–246 B.C.) married Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy II.
- Daniel 11:7 A descendant: Ptolemy III avenged his sister Berenice by conquering Antioch, the capital of Syria.
- Daniel 11:10 Antiochus III the Great attacked Egypt.
- Daniel 11:11 Beneath the fortress of Raphia, on the border between Egypt and Palestine, Antiochus was defeated by Ptolemy IV.
- Daniel 11:12 Ptolemy conquered Palestine and Syria.
- Daniel 11:17 Antiochus made a treaty with Ptolemy and married the latter’s daughter.
- Daniel 11:18 After conquering some coastal cities, Antiochus suffered a great defeat by the Romans at Magnesia in 179 B.C.
- Daniel 11:20 His successor: Heliodorus, sent by Seleucus IV, sacked the Jerusalem temple (see 2 Mac 3:7-13).
- Daniel 11:22 The prince of the covenant was the high priest Onias III, who was deposed by Antiochus IV and then assassinated in 170 B.C.
- Daniel 11:26 Antiochus attacked Egypt and captured Ptolemy VI.
- Daniel 11:31 Abomination that causes desolation: see Dan 9:27; 12:11; this is the characterization of the altar to the pagan god Zeus Olympios set up in 168 B.C. by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, which prefigured a similar abomination that Jesus predicted would be erected (see Mt 24:15; Lk 21:10).
- Daniel 11:37 The god beloved by women is the god Tammuz (see Dan 8:14).
- Daniel 11:39 The reference is to Jupiter Capitolinus, whom Antiochus had come to know in Rome, where he had been taken after his defeat at Magnesia. He built a temple in honor of the god in Antioch.
- Daniel 11:40 The martyrs and sages who resisted will be glorified even in their bodies. This is one of the great passages that, toward the end of the Old Testament, announce the resurrection of the flesh (see Isa 26:19; 2 Mac 7:9-14, 23-26; 12:43-45); the Book of Wisdom had highlighted mainly the immortality of the soul (Wis 2:23-24; 3:1-9).
但以理书 11
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
波斯攻擊希臘的預言
11 “瑪代人大利烏王第一年，我曾經起來幫助米迦勒，使他堅強。 2 現在我要把真理告訴你。看哪！在波斯還有三個王要興起；第四個王必非常富有，遠超過所有的王；他因富足成為強盛以後，就必煽動眾民攻擊希臘國。 3 後來必有一個英勇的王興起，他必執掌大權，任意而行。 4 他興起的時候，他的國就破裂，向天的四方（“四方”原文作“四風”）分開，卻不歸給他的後代，國勢也不及他掌權的時候；因為他的國必被拔出，歸給他後代以外的人。
南方王與北方王時戰時和
5 “南方的王必強盛，他的將領中必有一個比他更強盛的，這人必掌權，他的權勢很大。 6 過了多年，南方王的女兒必到北方王那裡去修好，他們必互相結盟。但這女子的勢力必存留不住；王和他的勢力也站立不住；她連同那些帶她來的、那生她的，和那幫助她的，都被交出處死。 7 但這女子的本家（“本家”原文作“根”）必另有一個兒子（“兒子”原文作“枝子”）興起，繼承父位；他必來攻擊北方王的軍隊，進入北方王的堡壘，攻打他們，而且得勝。 8 他又把他們的神像、鑄成的偶像，連同金銀的寶器，都一起擄掠到了埃及去。此後數年之久，他不再去攻擊北方王。 9 後來北方王必侵入南方王的國土，然後撤退歸回本國。
10 “北方王的眾子必備戰，招集大軍；這大軍前進，如洪水氾濫，橫掃南方王的國土；之後他又再去爭戰，直到南方王的堡壘。 11 南方王必發大怒，出來和北方王交戰；北方王必擺列大軍，但這大軍必交在南方王的手裡。 12 這大軍被掃除以後，南方王就心高氣傲；他雖然使千萬人倒斃，他的勝利卻不能持久。 13 北方王必再招聚大軍，比先前的更多；時機成熟的時候（“時機成熟的時候”直譯是“過了一些時候，一些年”），他就率領裝備好了的大軍而來。
14 “那時，必有許多人起來攻擊南方王，並且你同胞中的強暴人必挺身而起，要使那異象應驗，但他們必失敗。 15 北方王必來，堆土築壘攻取堅固城。南方的軍力必抵擋不住，甚至精銳的部隊也無力抵抗。 16 那來攻擊南方王的，必任意而行；沒有人能在他面前站立得住；他必站在那榮美之地，手握毀壞之權。 17 他決意傾全國的力量而來，但他先和南方王修好，把自己的女兒給南方王為妻，好毀滅南國；可是他的計劃沒有成功，他自己也得不到甚麼好處。 18 後來他必轉向沿海的島嶼，奪取了許多海島。但有一個將領要制止他的驕橫，並且使他的驕橫歸回他身上。 19 於是他轉向自己國中的堡壘，終於絆跌仆倒，不再存在了。
20 “那時，必有一個人興起來代替他；這人要派一個橫征暴斂的人，為了王國的榮華，走遍全地；可是不多幾日，這人就必被毀滅，不是因為忿怒，也不是因為戰爭。 21 必另有一個卑鄙的人興起來代替他；雖然人未曾把王國的尊榮給這人，這人卻乘人不備的時候來到，用奉承的話奪得了王國。 22 必有無數的軍兵在他面前像洪水沖沒，並且潰敗；立約的君也必這樣。 23 他結盟以後，就必行詭詐；他雖然只有少數的國民，卻漸漸強盛起來。 24 他必乘人不備的時候，侵入省內最富庶的地區，行他列祖和他列祖的祖先所未曾行過的；他把擄掠之物和財物分給自己的部屬；又必設下計謀攻打堡壘，只是這都是暫時的。 25 他必竭盡己力，鼓起勇氣，率領大軍攻擊南方王；南方王也必帶領極強大的軍隊奮起還擊，卻抵擋不住，因為有人設下計謀陷害南方王。 26 那些吃王膳的必毀滅他；他的軍隊必被沖沒，受重傷而倒斃的很多。 27 至於那兩個王，他們都存心不良；他們同桌吃飯，也彼此說謊；他們的陰謀卻不成功，因為要到了指定的時候，結局才會來到。
北方王廢棄聖約
28 “北方王必帶著大批財物返回自己的國土去；他的心既然反對聖約，必任意而行，然後返回自己的國土去。
29 “到了指定的時候，他必回來，再侵入南方的王國，不過這次的情況卻不像前一次。 30 因為基提的戰船必來攻擊他，他就喪膽而回；他又惱恨聖約，任意而行；他必回來，聽取那些背棄聖約的人的建議。 31 他的軍隊必起來，褻瀆聖殿，就是那堡壘，廢除常獻祭，又在殿裡設立了那使地荒涼的可憎的像。 32 那些作惡違背聖約的人，他必用奉承的話敗壞他們；但認識 神的人民，必剛強行事。 33 民中的智慧人必使許多人明白是非；但他們必有很多日子倒在刀劍之下，或被火燒，或被擄去，或被搶掠。 34 他們仆倒的時候，必得到一些援助，必有許多人用奉承的話要和他們聯盟。 35 智慧人中有些仆倒的，為要鍛煉他們，潔淨他們，使他們成為雪白，直到末了，因為要到了指定的時候，結局才會來到。
36 “那王必任意而行，自高自大，超過所有的神，又說一些怪誕的話攻擊萬神之 神。他必行事順利，直到 神的忿怒完畢；因為所定的事必會實現。 37 他必不尊重他列祖所拜的神，也不尊重婦女所愛慕的神，無論甚麼神他都不尊重，因為他必自大，高過一切。 38 他倒要敬拜堡壘的神，用金銀寶石和各樣珍寶去敬拜他列祖所不認識的神。 39 他必得著外族神的幫助，攻破堅固的堡壘；凡承認他的，他必使他們大得尊榮，又使他們管轄許多人，並且把土地分給他們作賞賜。
40 “到了末期，南方王要和他交戰；北方王必帶著戰車、騎兵和大批戰船，像暴風一般來到他那裡；他必侵入列國，如洪水氾濫，橫掃而過。 41 他也必侵入那榮美之地；必有許多國傾覆；但那些以東人、摩押人和亞捫人的首領，必被拯救脫離他的手。 42 他必伸手攻擊列國，埃及地也不能逃脫。 43 他必掌管埃及的金銀寶藏和一切珍寶；呂彼亞人和古實人都必追隨他。 44 但從東方和北方必有消息傳來，使他驚惶，他就在烈怒之下出兵，要把許多人殺盡滅絕。 45 他必在海和榮美的聖山之間支搭如宮殿一般的帳幕；然而他們的結局來到，必沒有人能幫助他。”
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
