Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close TLB

Daniel 11
Living Bible

11 “I was the one sent to strengthen and help Darius the Mede in the first year of his reign. 2 But now I will show you what the future holds. Three more Persian kings will reign, to be succeeded by a fourth,[a] far richer than the others. Using his wealth for political advantage, he will plan total war against Greece.

3 “Then a mighty king will rise in Greece, a king who will rule a vast kingdom and accomplish everything he sets out to do.[b] 4 But at the zenith of his power, his kingdom will break apart and be divided into four weaker nations, not even ruled by his sons. For his empire will be torn apart and given to others. 5 One of them, the king of Egypt,[c] will increase in power, but this king’s own officials will rebel against him and take away his kingdom and make it still more powerful.

6 “Several years later an alliance will be formed between the king of Syria[d] and the king of Egypt. The daughter of the king of Egypt will be given in marriage to the king of Syria as a gesture of peace, but she will lose her influence over him, and not only will her hopes be blighted, but those of her father, the king of Egypt, and of her ambassador and child. 7 But when her brother[e] takes over as king of Egypt, he will raise an army against the king of Syria and march against him and defeat him. 8 When he returns again to Egypt, he will carry back their idols with him, along with priceless gold and silver dishes; and for many years afterward he will leave the Syrian king alone.

9 “Meanwhile, the king of Syria[f] will invade Egypt briefly but will soon return again to his own land. 10-11 However, the sons of this Syrian king will assemble a mighty army that will overflow across Israel into Egypt, to a fortress there. Then the king of Egypt,[g] in great anger, will rally against the vast forces of Syria and defeat them. 12 Filled with pride after this great victory, he will have many thousands of his enemies killed, but his success will be short-lived.

13 “A few years later the Syrian king[h] will return with a fully equipped army far greater than the one he lost, 14 and other nations will join him in a crusade against Egypt. Insurgents among your own people, the Jews, will join them, thus fulfilling prophecy,[i] but they will not succeed. 15 Then the Syrian king and his allies will come and lay siege to a fortified city of Egypt and capture it, and the proud armies of Egypt will go down to defeat.

16 “The Syrian king will march onward unopposed; none will be able to stop him. And he will also enter ‘The Glorious Land’ of Israel and pillage it. 17 This will be his plot for conquering all Egypt: he, too, will form an alliance with the Egyptian king, giving him a daughter in marriage, so that she can work for him from within. But the plan will fail.

18 “After this he will turn his attention to the coastal cities and conquer many. But a general will stop him and cause him to retreat in shame. 19 He will turn homeward again but will have trouble on the way and disappear.

20 “His successor[j] will be remembered as the king who sent a tax collector into Israel, but after a very brief reign, he will die mysteriously, though neither in battle nor in riot.

21 “Next to come to power will be an evil man not directly in line for royal succession.[k] But during a crisis he will take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue. 22 Then all opposition will be swept away before him, including a leader of the priests.[l] 23 His promises will be worthless. From the first his method will be deceit; with a mere handful of followers, he will become strong. 24 He will enter the richest areas of the land without warning and do something never done before: he will take the property and wealth of the rich and scatter it out among the people. With great success he will besiege and capture powerful strongholds throughout his dominions, but this will last for only a short while. 25 Then he will stir up his courage and raise a great army against Egypt; and Egypt, too, will raise a mighty army, but to no avail, for plots against him will succeed.

26 “Those of his own household will bring his downfall; his army will desert, and many will be killed.

27 “Both these kings[m] will be plotting against each other at the conference table, attempting to deceive each other. But it will make no difference, for neither can succeed until God’s appointed time has come.

28 “The Syrian king will then return home with great riches, first marching through Israel and destroying it. 29 Then at the predestined time he will once again turn his armies southward, as he had threatened, but now it will be a very different story from those first two occasions. 30-31 For Roman warships[n] will scare him off, and he will withdraw and return home. Angered by having to retreat, the Syrian king will again pillage Jerusalem and pollute the sanctuary, putting a stop to the daily sacrifices, and worshiping idols inside the Temple. He will leave godless Jews in power when he leaves—men who have abandoned their fathers’ faith. 32 He will flatter those who hate the things of God[o] and win them over to his side. But the people who know their God shall be strong and do great things.

33 “Those with spiritual understanding will have a wide ministry of teaching in those days. But they will be in constant danger, many of them dying by fire and sword, or being jailed and robbed. 34 Eventually these pressures will subside, and some ungodly men will come, pretending to offer a helping hand, only to take advantage of them.

35 “And some who are most gifted in the things of God will stumble in those days and fall, but this will only refine and cleanse them and make them pure until the final end of all their trials, at God’s appointed time.

36 “The king will do exactly as he pleases, claiming to be greater than every god there is, even blaspheming the God of gods, and prospering—until his time is up. For God’s plans are unshakable. 37 He will have no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the god beloved of women,[p] nor any other god, for he will boast that he is greater than them all. 38 Instead of these, he will worship the Fortress god[q]—a god his fathers never knew—and lavish on him costly gifts! 39 Claiming this god’s help, he will have great success against the strongest fortresses. He will honor those who submit to him, appointing them to positions of authority and dividing the land to them as their reward.

40 “Then at the time of the end,[r] the king of the south will attack him again, and the northern king will react with the strength and fury of a whirlwind; his vast army and navy will rush out to bury him with their might. 41 He will invade various lands on the way, including Israel, the Pleasant Land, and overthrow the governments of many nations. Moab, Edom, and most of Ammon will escape, 42 but Egypt and many other lands will be occupied. 43 He will capture all the treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians shall be his servants.

44 “But then news from the east and north will alarm him, and he will return in great anger to destroy as he goes. 45 He will halt between Jerusalem and the sea and there pitch his royal tents, but while he is there his time will suddenly run out, and there will be no one to help him.

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 11:2 by a fourth, perhaps Xerxes (486–465 B.C.) who launched an all-out effort against Greece.
  2. Daniel 11:3 and accomplish everything he sets out to do. Doubtless Alexander the Great.
  3. Daniel 11:5 the king of Egypt, literally, “the southern king”—Ptolemy II.
  4. Daniel 11:6 the king of Syria, literally, “the king of the north,” and so also throughout this passage. These prophecies seem to have been fulfilled many years later in the Seleucid wars between Egypt and Syria. as a gesture of peace. In 252 B.C. Ptolemy II of Egypt gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II of Syria to conclude a treaty of peace between their two lands.
  5. Daniel 11:7 when her brother, literally, “from a branch.” Berenice, murdered in Antioch by Antiochus II’s former wife, Laodice, was the sister of Ptolemy III, who now ascended the Egyptian throne and declared war against the Seleucids to avenge his sister’s murder.
  6. Daniel 11:9 the king of Syria, Seleucus II.
  7. Daniel 11:10 the king of Egypt, Ptolemy IV.
  8. Daniel 11:13 the Syrian king, possibly Antiochus III the Great, who was later defeated by the Romans at Magnesia; compare v. 18.
  9. Daniel 11:14 thus fulfilling prophecy, literally, “in order to fulfill the vision.”
  10. Daniel 11:20 His successor. Seleucus IV, successor to Antiochus III, sent Heliodorus to rob and desecrate the Temple in Jerusalem.
  11. Daniel 11:21 Next to come to power will be an evil man not directly in line for royal succession. This may refer to Antiochus IV Epiphanes who, when his brother Seleucus was assassinated, ingratiated himself with the Romans and took over.
  12. Daniel 11:22 including a leader of the priests, probably Jason, treacherously removed by the Hellenist Menelaus.
  13. Daniel 11:27 Both these kings, probably Antiochus IV and Ptolemy IV.
  14. Daniel 11:30 For Roman warships, or “From Cyprus.” pollute the sanctuary, by offering swine on the altar. This event was fulfilled in 168–167 B.C. worshiping idols inside the Temple, literally, “they shall set up the abomination that astonished.”
  15. Daniel 11:32 He will flatter those who hate the things of God. Menelaus, the High Priest, who conspired with Antiochus against the Jews who were loyal to God’s laws. But the people who know their God, perhaps the valiant Maccabees and their sympathizers. But a further fulfillment may lie in the future.
  16. Daniel 11:37 the god beloved of women, probably Tammuz-Adonis, whose worship was popular among women; compare Ezekiel 8:14.
  17. Daniel 11:38 the Fortress god, literally, “the god of Fortresses.”
  18. Daniel 11:40 at the time of the end. The prophecy takes a turn here. Antiochus IV fades from view, and the Antichrist of the last days becomes the center of attention from this point on.
Listen to Daniel 11
Close NIV

Daniel 11
New International Version

11 1 And in the first year of Darius(A) the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)

The Kings of the South and the North

2 “Now then, I tell you the truth:(B) Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.(C) 3 Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases.(D) 4 After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven.(E) It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted(F) and given to others.

5 “The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power. 6 After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power[a] will not last. In those days she will be betrayed, together with her royal escort and her father[b] and the one who supported her.

7 “One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North(G) and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. 8 He will also seize their gods,(H) their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt.(I) For some years he will leave the king of the North alone. 9 Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country. 10 His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood(J) and carry the battle as far as his fortress.

11 “Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated.(K) 12 When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant. 13 For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.

14 “In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Those who are violent among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success. 15 Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps(L) and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand. 16 The invader will do as he pleases;(M) no one will be able to stand against him.(N) He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land and will have the power to destroy it.(O) 17 He will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South. And he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans[c] will not succeed(P) or help him. 18 Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands(Q) and will take many of them, but a commander will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back on him.(R) 19 After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall,(S) to be seen no more.(T)

20 “His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor.(U) In a few years, however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle.

21 “He will be succeeded by a contemptible(V) person who has not been given the honor of royalty.(W) He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue. 22 Then an overwhelming army will be swept away(X) before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed.(Y) 23 After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully,(Z) and with only a few people he will rise to power. 24 When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers.(AA) He will plot the overthrow of fortresses—but only for a time.

25 “With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him. 26 Those who eat from the king’s provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle. 27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil,(AB) will sit at the same table and lie(AC) to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time.(AD) 28 The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.

29 “At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before. 30 Ships of the western coastlands(AE) will oppose him, and he will lose heart.(AF) Then he will turn back and vent his fury(AG) against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice.(AH) Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.(AI) 32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist(AJ) him.

33 “Those who are wise will instruct(AK) many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.(AL) 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere(AM) will join them. 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined,(AN) purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

The King Who Exalts Himself

36 “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself(AO) above every god and will say unheard-of things(AP) against the God of gods.(AQ) He will be successful until the time of wrath(AR) is completed, for what has been determined must take place.(AS) 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. 38 Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39 He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.[d]

40 “At the time of the end the king of the South(AT) will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm(AU) out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.(AV) 41 He will also invade the Beautiful Land.(AW) Many countries will fall, but Edom,(AX) Moab(AY) and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. 42 He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. 43 He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt,(AZ) with the Libyans(BA) and Cushites[e] in submission. 44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at[f] the beautiful holy mountain.(BB) Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 11:6 Or offspring
  2. Daniel 11:6 Or child (see Vulgate and Syriac)
  3. Daniel 11:17 Or but she
  4. Daniel 11:39 Or land for a reward
  5. Daniel 11:43 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  6. Daniel 11:45 Or the sea and
Next
Daniel 10
Daniel 12
Next
dropdown
Living Bible (TLB)

The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV