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An end to the arrogant king
36 “The king will do whatever he wants. He will exalt himself, making himself greater than any god. He will say unbelievable things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the doom is completed, because what is decreed must take place. 37 He will give no thought to the gods of his fathers, nor to the god cherished by women. He will give no thought to any god, because he will make himself greater than all of them. 38 In their place, he will worship a god of walled fortresses. With gold and silver, rare stones and precious things, he will worship a god his fathers did not acknowledge. 39 He will deal with walled fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will heap rewards on those who support him, making them rule over many and dividing up the land for a price. 40 At the end time, the southern king will attack him. The northern king will storm against him with chariots and horses and many ships. He will invade countries, sweeping over them like a flood. 41 He will invade the beautiful country, and tens of thousands will die. But Edom, Moab, and the best of the Ammonites will escape from his hand. 42 He will extend his power into other countries. Even Egypt won’t escape. 43 He will take control of Egypt’s hidden treasures of gold, silver, and all its precious things. Libyans and Cushites will follow at his feet. 44 But reports from the east and north will alarm him, and in a great rage he will set off to devastate and destroy many. 45 He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
Eternal life or eternal disgrace
12 “At that time, Michael the great leader who guards your people will take his stand. It will be a difficult time—nothing like it has ever happened since nations first appeared. But at that time every one of your people who is found written in the scroll will be rescued. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty land[a] will wake up—some to eternal life, others to shame and eternal disgrace. 3 Those skilled in wisdom[b] will shine like the sky. Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and always. 4 But you, Daniel, must keep these words secret! Seal the scroll until the end time! Many will stray far, but knowledge will increase.”
Waiting for the end time
5 I, Daniel, looked and suddenly saw two other figures—one standing on each side of the stream. 6 One said to the man clothed in white linen, who was farther upstream: “When will these astonishing things be over?”
7 I heard the man clothed in white linen, who was farther upstream, swear by the one who lives forever as he raised both hands to heaven: “For one set time, two set times, and half a set time. When the breaking of the holy people’s power is over, all these things will be over.”
8 I heard it, but I didn’t understand it. “My lord,” I said, “what will happen after all this?”
9 He said, “Get going now, Daniel, because these words must remain secret and sealed up until the end time. 10 Many will purify, cleanse, and refine themselves, but the wicked will act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but those skilled in wisdom will understand. 11 There will be one thousand two hundred ninety days from the time the daily sacrifice is stopped to the setting up of the desolating monstrosity. 12 Happy is the one who waits and reaches one thousand three hundred thirty-five days. 13 Now as for you, go on to the end. You will rest and will stand to receive your reward at the end of days.”
Testing the spirits
4 Dear friends, don’t believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they are from God because many false prophets have gone into the world. 2 This is how you know if a spirit comes from God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come as a human[a] is from God, 3 and every spirit that doesn’t confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is now already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and you have defeated these people because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world. So they speak from the world’s point of view and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God doesn’t listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Love and God
7 Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. 10 This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.
11 Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. 13 This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the savior of the world. 15 If any of us confess that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in us and we remain in God. 16 We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. 17 This is how love has been perfected in us, so that we can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because we are exactly the same as God is in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love because God first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters whom they have seen can hardly love God whom they have not seen! 21 This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also.
Psalm 123
A pilgrimage song.
123 I raise my eyes to you—
you who rule heaven.
2 Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand,
just as the eyes of a female servant attend to her mistress’ hand—
that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy
because we’ve had more than enough shame.
4 We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident,
more than enough shame from the proud.
2 When the righteous become numerous, the people rejoice,
but when the wicked dominate, the people moan.
3 A man who loves wisdom makes his father rejoice,
but one who spends time with prostitutes destroys riches.
4 A king gives stability to the land by justice,
but one who imposes heavy taxes tears it down.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible