5
"Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he
1and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority.
6
After some years
2they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.
7
"And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the
3fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail.
8
He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious
4vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north.
9
Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.
10
"His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming
5and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his
6fortress.
11
Then the king of the south,
7moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north.
8And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand.
12
And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.
13
For the king of the north shall again
9raise a multitude, greater than the first. And
10after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.
14
"In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but
11they shall fail.
15
Then the king of the north shall come and
12throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand.
16
But he who comes against him shall
13do as he wills, and
14none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in
15the glorious land, with destruction in his hand.
17
He shall
16set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his advantage.
18
Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed, he
17shall turn his insolence back upon him.
19
Then he shall turn his face back toward the
18fortresses of his own land, but he shall
19stumble and fall,
20and shall not be found.
20
"Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an
21exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle.
21
In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given.
22He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom
23by flatteries.
22
Armies shall be
24utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant.
23
And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people.
24
25Without warning he shall come into
26the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time.
25
And he shall stir up his power and his heart against
27the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him.
26
Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be
28swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
27
And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for
29the end is yet to be at the time appointed.
28
And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.
29
"At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.
30
For ships of
30Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and
31be enraged and
32take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.