The Daily Audio Bible

² “And now I will tell you the truth. Truly, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than all of them; and by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. ³ A mighty king shall stand up who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. ⁴ When he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides them.

⁵ “The king of the South shall be strong, as well as one of his officials who shall be strong above him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. ⁶ In the end of some years they shall join themselves together. For the king’s daughter of the South shall come to the king of the North to make an agreement. But she shall not retain her position of power, and neither he nor his power shall stand. But she shall be given up with those who brought her and with him who fathered her and with him who strengthened her in those times.

⁷ “But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come with an army and shall enter the fortress of the king of the North and shall deal against them and shall prevail. ⁸ And he shall also carry captive into Egypt their gods, with their officials, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold. And he shall continue more years than the king of the North, ⁹ who will enter the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. ¹⁰ His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of armed forces. One shall advance like a flood and pass through, and again shall wage the war as far as his fortress.

¹¹ “The king of the South shall be moved with rage, and shall go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall raise a great multitude; but that multitude shall be given into his enemy’s hand. ¹² When he has taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it. ¹³ For the king of the North shall return and shall raise a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much equipment.

¹⁴ “In those times many shall stand up against the king of the South. Also the robbers of your people shall exalt themselves to fulfill the vision, but they shall fall. ¹⁵ Then the king of the North shall come and set up a siege mound and capture a fortified city. And the forces of the South shall not withstand him; neither shall his chosen best troops have strength to resist. ¹⁶ But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the Pleasant Land, which shall be consumed by his hand. ¹⁷ He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he shall put into effect. And he shall give him the daughter of women to corrupt it. But she shall not stand on his side or be for him. ¹⁸ After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many. But a commander shall put a stop to his reproach against him, and he shall repay him for his reproach. ¹⁹ Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but shall stumble and fall and not be found any more.

²⁰ “Then one shall stand up in his place who shall send an oppressor in the glory of his kingdom. But within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.

²¹ “In his place a vile person shall stand up, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom. But he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. ²² A flood of armies shall be swept away before him and be broken, and the prince of the covenant as well. ²³ After the league is made with him, he shall work deceitfully, and he shall come up and shall become strong with a small force of people. ²⁴ He shall enter peaceably even upon the richest places of the realm. And he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers. He shall distribute among them the plunder and spoil and riches. And he shall plan his devices against the strongholds, but only for a time.

²⁵ “He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army. But he shall not stand, for schemes shall be devised against him. ²⁶ Indeed, those who eat his choice food shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain. ²⁷ As for both of these kings, their hearts shall plan on mischief, and they shall speak lies to one another at one table. But it shall not prosper, for the end shall yet be at the appointed time. ²⁸ While turning back to his land with great wealth, his heart shall be against the holy covenant. He shall wage war and turn back to his own land.

Blasphemies of the Northern King

²⁹ “At the appointed time he shall return and come into the south, but this latter time shall not be as the former. ³⁰ For the ships of Kittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved and return and have indignation against the holy covenant and take action. He shall even return and show regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.

³¹ “His armies shall rise up and desecrate the sanctuary fortress. They shall abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination that makes desolate. ³² By flatteries he will corrupt those who act wickedly toward the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and take action.

³³ “The wise among the people shall instruct many. Yet for many days they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by destruction. ³⁴ Now when they fall, they shall be given a little help. But many shall cleave to them with flatteries. ³⁵ Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be purged, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it is still for the appointed time.

⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. ⁸ Whoever practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whoever has been born of God does not practice sin, for His seed remains in him. And he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Whoever does not live in righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning: We should love one another, ¹² not like Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s works were righteous. ¹³ Do not marvel, my brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love his brother remains in death. ¹⁵ Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

¹⁶ By this we know the love of God: that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ Whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, but closes his heart of compassion from him, how can the love of God remain in him? ¹⁸ My little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

Confidence Before God

¹⁹ By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall reassure our hearts before Him. ²⁰ For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence before God. ²² And whatever we ask, we will receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He commanded us. ²⁴ Now the one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He remains in us, through the Spirit whom He has given us.

Psalm 122

A Song of Ascents. Of David.