Study Desk

"In the ^(C1)first year of Darius the Mede, ^(F1)I arose to be of ^(F2)assistance and a protection for him.

"And now I will tell you the ^(C1)truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise ^(F1)in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, ^(F2)he will stir up the entire empire against the realm of ^(F3)(C2)Greece.

"And a ^(C1)mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and ^(C2)do as he pleases.

"But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out ^(C1)toward the ^(C2)four ^(F1)points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, because his sovereignty will be ^(C3)removed and given to others besides ^(F2)them.

"Then the ^(C1)king of the South will grow strong, ^(F1)along with one of his princes ^(F2)who will gain ascendancy over him and rule; his domain will be a great realm indeed.

"And after some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the ^(C1)king of the North to reach an agreement. But she will not keep her ^(F1)position of power, nor will he remain with his ^(F2)power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who fathered her as well as he who supported her in those times.

"But one of the ^(F1)descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the ^(C1)fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and prevail.

"And he will also take into captivity to Egypt their ^(C1)gods with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he on his part will ^(F1)refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years.

"Then ^(F1)the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

"And his sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and ^(C1)overflow and pass through, so that he may ^(F1)again wage war up to his fortress.

"And the ^(C1)king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight ^(F1)with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be handed over to ^(F2)the former.

"When the multitude is carried away, his heart will ^(F1)be haughty, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail.

"For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and ^(F1)after an ^(C1)interval of some years he will ^(F2)press on with a great army and much equipment.

"Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also raise themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will ^(F1)fall down.

"Then the king of the North will come, pile up an ^(C1)assault ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even ^(F1)their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand.

"But he who comes against him will ^(C1)do as he pleases, and ^(C2)no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the ^(F1)(C3)Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.

"And he will ^(C1)set his ^(F1)mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, ^(F2)bringing with him ^(F3)a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be ^(F4)on his side.

"Then he will turn his face to the ^(C1)coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his taunting against him; moreover, he will ^(C2)repay him for his taunting.

"So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will ^(C1)stumble and fall and not be ^(C2)found.

"Then in his place one will arise who will ^(C1)allow an ^(F1)oppressor to pass through the ^(F2)Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle.

"And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the majesty of kingship has not been conferred; but he will come in a time of tranquility and ^(C1)seize the kingdom by intrigue.

"And the overflowing ^(C1)forces will be flooded away from him and smashed, and also the prince of the covenant.

"After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.

"^(F1)In a time of tranquility he will enter the ^(C1)richest parts of the ^(F2)realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers did not, nor his ^(F3)ancestors; he will distribute plunder, spoils, and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time.

"And he will stir up his strength and ^(F1)courage against the ^(C1)king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, because schemes will be devised against him.

"Those who eat his choice food will ^(F1)destroy him, and his army will ^(F2)(C1)overflow, but many will fall down slain.

"As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on ^(C1)evil, and they will ^(C2)speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the ^(C3)end is still to come at the appointed time.

"Then he will return to his land with much ^(F1)plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

"At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but ^(F1)this last time it will not turn out the way it did before.

"For ships of ^(F1)(C1)Kittim will come against him; therefore he will withdraw in fear and will return and curse the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and pay attention to those who abandon the holy covenant.

"Forces from him will arise, ^(C1)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the ^(C2)abomination ^(F1)of desolation.

"And by ^(C1)smooth words he will ^(F1)turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be ^(C2)strong and take action.

"And ^(F1)(C1)those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will ^(C2)fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.

"Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will ^(C1)join with them in ^(C2)hypocrisy.

"And some of ^(F1)those who have insight will fall, to ^(C1)refine, ^(C2)purge, and ^(F2)(C3)cleanse them until the ^(C4)end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

"Then the king will ^(C1)do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and ^(C2)boast against every god and will ^(C3)speak ^(F1)dreadful things against the ^(C4)God of gods; and he will be successful until the ^(C5)indignation is finished, because that which is ^(C6)determined will be done.

"And he will show no regard for the ^(F1)gods of his fathers or for the ^(F2)desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all.

"But ^(F1)instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures.

"And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to ^(F1)those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

"And at the ^(C1)end time the ^(C2)king of the South will wage war with him, and the ^(C3)king of the North will ^(C4)storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, ^(C5)overflow them, and pass through.

"He will also enter the ^(F1)(C1)Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, ^(C2)Moab, and the foremost of the sons of ^(C3)Ammon.

"Then he will reach out with his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.

"But he will ^(F1)gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and ^(C1)Libyans and ^(C2)Ethiopians will follow at his ^(F2)heels.

"But rumors from the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and ^(F1)annihilate many.

"And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful ^(C1)Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.