The Daily Audio Bible

² I will now tell you the truth. Persia will have three more kings, but the fourth will be richer than all of them. Once he has become strong through his great riches, he will disturb everyone, including the Greek kingdom. ³ Then a warrior-king will come forward, ruling over a vast empire and doing whatever he wants. ⁴ But even as he takes control, his kingdom will be broken, divided to the four winds of heaven. It won’t pass to his descendants. No one will rule like he did because his kingdom will be uprooted. It will belong to others, not to these.

South and north

⁵ “Then the southern king will gain power, but one of his princes will overpower him, ruling in his place. His empire will be vast. ⁶ After some years, they will make an agreement together. The southern king’s daughter will go to the northern king to finalize the agreement, but she won’t retain her great power. Neither will his power remain in place. In those times she will be handed over, along with her escort, the one who fathered her, and the one who strengthened her.^[a]

⁷ “A branch from her roots will rise up in his place. Attacking the army, he will enter the walled fortress of the northern king. He will fight with them, and he will conquer. ⁸ He will even carry off their gods to Egypt, along with their statues and their silver and gold equipment. For years he will avoid the northern king. ⁹ Then the northern king will attack the kingdom of the southern king, but will return to his own land. ¹⁰ His sons will get ready for war, gathering massive forces. Their attack will be like an overwhelming flood. And they will attack again, taking the battle as far as his walled fortress.

¹¹ “The southern king, in a bitter rage, will come out to battle the northern king. He will muster a huge army, but the army will be handed over to his enemy. ¹² When the army is carried off, he will become confident. He will kill tens of thousands, but he will not stand strong. ¹³ The northern king will then muster another army—this one bigger than the first. After some years have passed, he will attack with a large and well-equipped army. ¹⁴ In those times, many will oppose the southern king. Violent persons from among your people also will rise up to support the vision, but they will fail.

¹⁵ “When the northern king attacks, he will throw up a siege ramp and occupy a walled city. The southern forces will not be able to resist—not even its elite forces. No one will be strong enough to resist. ¹⁶ The one who comes to attack will do whatever he wants; no one will be able to oppose him. He will take his place in the beautiful country, and he will hand out destruction. ¹⁷ He will decide to occupy his entire kingdom by force. He will make an agreement with him and will give him a wife, intending to destroy him,^[b] but it won’t succeed and it won’t happen.^{[c] 18} He will turn his face to the coastlands, capturing many people. A commander will put an end to his disgrace,^[d] even though he won’t repay that disgrace. ¹⁹ Then he will turn his attention to the walled fortresses of his own country but will stumble, fall, and disappear.

²⁰ “In his place one will arise who will send his agent to exact a kingdom’s glory, but in a few days he will be broken, though not by anger and not by war. ²¹ A worthless person will arise in his place. Royal majesty will not have been given to him, but he will come in a time of security and seize the kingdom by deceitful means. ²² Forces will be completely swept away and broken before him. The same is true for the leader of the covenant. ²³ From the moment they make an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully. He will gain power at the expense of a small nation. ²⁴ He will come into a province’s richest places untroubled and will do what his fathers and grandfathers never could. He will hand out plunder, spoil, and wealth to them. He will make plans against fortresses, but only for a time.

²⁵ “Then with a large army he will gather his strength and courage against the southern king. The southern king, with a large and super powerful army, will prepare for war, but he won’t endure because they will make plans against him. ²⁶ Those who eat the king’s provisions will destroy him. His army will be overrun. Many will die.

²⁷ “These two kings, with their minds set on evil, will sit at one table, telling lies, but with no success because the end will come at the set time. ²⁸ He will return to his country with great wealth and set his mind against a holy covenant. He will do what he wants and then return to his country. ²⁹ At the set time he will again battle against the south, but the second time will be different from the first. ³⁰ Kittim ships will fight against him, and he will retreat in fear. He will rage against a holy covenant and will do what he wants. Then he will pay special attention to those who violate a holy covenant. ³¹ His forces will come and make the sanctuary fortress impure. They will stop the daily sacrifice and set up a desolating monstrosity. ³² By deceitful means he will corrupt those who violate a covenant, but the people who acknowledge their God will stand strong and will act.

³³ “The people’s teachers will help many understand, but for a time they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder. ³⁴ When they fall, they will receive a little help, but many will join them with deceitful plans. ³⁵ Some of the teachers too will fall in order that they might be refined, purified, and cleansed—until an end time, because it is still not yet the set time.

Practicing sin or righteousness

⁷ Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, in the same way that Jesus is righteous. ⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. God’s Son appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA^[a] remains in them. They can’t sin because they are born from God. ¹⁰ This is how God’s children and the devil’s children are apparent: everyone who doesn’t practice righteousness is not from God, including the person who doesn’t love a brother or sister. ¹¹ This is the message that you heard from the beginning: love each other. ¹² Don’t behave like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he kill him? He killed him because his own works were evil, but the works of his brother were righteous.

Loving each other

¹³ Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them. ¹⁶ This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ But if someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help—how can the love of God dwell in a person like that?

¹⁸ Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. ¹⁹ This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. ²⁰ Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence in relationship to God. ²² We receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us. ²⁴ Those who keep his commandments dwell in God and God dwells in them. This is how we know that he dwells in us, because of the Spirit he has given us.

Psalm 122

A pilgrimage song. Of David.