1 And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood to confirm {machazik: firm support} and to be a strength {maoz: stronghold} for him.
2 And now I will declare the truth to you. Behold, three more kings will stand up in Persia, and the fourth will become exceedingly rich {ʿosher: abundance of wealth}; and when he becomes strong through his wealth, he shall stir up everyone {hakol: the whole people} against the kingdom of Greece.
3 And a mighty king shall arise, and he shall rule{umashal: govern decisively} with great dominion and do according to his will{kirtsono: personal autonomy}.
4 And as he stands, his realm {malkhuto: royal dominion} will be broken and divided toward the four winds {ruchot: compass points} of the heavens, but it will not go to his posterity nor continue under his rule, for his kingdom will be uprooted and granted to others beyond these.
5 And the king of the south {han-negev: southern territory} will become strong, and from among his princes one will become strong over him and will rule, his dominion {mimshal: authority to govern} being a great dominion.
6 At the end of years they shall join themselves together, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement {meisharim: alliance of peace}. But she shall not retain the power of the arm {koach hazeroa: political strength}; neither he nor his arm shall stand; yet she shall be handed over, along with those who brought her, the one who bore her, and the one who strengthened her in those times.
7 And one shall arise from a branch of her roots {šārāšêhā: origin lineage} in his place, and he shall come to the army, and he shall enter the fortress {maʿôz: stronghold} of the king of the north, and he will act against them and will prevail.
8 And also their gods with their molten images {nesikheihem: cast idols}, with the vessels of their precious things {chemdatam: valued treasures}, silver and gold, he will bring them to Egypt in captivity; and he will stand for years apart from the king of the north.
9 And he will enter the kingdom {bemalkhut: Authoritative Realm} of the king of the south, but he will return to his own land {admato: Personal Territory}.
10 And his sons shall wage war {yitgaru: engage in conflict} and assemble a multitude of forces, and he shall come and overflow and pass through; then he will return and stir himself up as far as his fortress {mauzzo: stronghold}.
11 And the king of the south will be enraged {yitmarmer: intense agitation} and will go out to fight the king of the north. He will raise a great multitude {hamon: military assembly}, but that multitude will be given into his hand.
12 And when the multitude is taken away {venissa: carried off}, his heart will be exalted, and he will cast down ten thousands {ribbot: organized units}, but he will not prevail.
13 The king of the north will return and raise a multitude greater than before, and at the end of the appointed times {aittim: designated occasions} he will come with a great army and with great riches {rekhush: material wealth}.
14 And at those times many will stand against the king of the south, and the sons of the violent {parits: lawless breaker} among your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision {chazon: prophetic revelation}, but they will stumble.
15 The king of the north will come, pour out a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city, and the forces {zero’ot: military power} of the south will not stand, and even its choicest troops {mivcharav: elite soldiers} will have no strength to stand.
16 But the one who comes against him will act according to his will, and no one shall stand before him. He will establish himself in the glorious land {erets hatsvi: desirable territory}, and complete destruction shall be in his hand {beyado: absolute authority}.
17 And he will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and equitable terms {yasharim: fair terms} will be with him; and he will carry them out. And he will give the daughter of women to him for destruction {lehashchitah: complete ruin}, but it will not stand, and it will not be for him.
18 And he will return and set his face toward the coastlands and capture many, but a prince {qatsin: military commander} will cause his reproach {kherpatov: shameful dishonor} to cease for him; without his own reproach, he will turn it back upon him.
19 Then he will turn his face{panav: direction indicator} toward the strongholds{ma'uzei: fortified places} of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and he will not be found.
20 Then in his place there shall stand one who causes a tribute collector to pass through the splendor {heder: royal magnificence} of the kingdom; but within a few days he shall be broken {yishshaver: passive downfall}, neither in anger nor in battle.
21 And a despised one {nivzeh: worthless outsider} shall stand in his place, and they will not grant him the majesty of the kingdom; but he will come in tranquility and seize the kingdom by flatteries {baḥalaklakōt: duplicitous speech}.
22 And the arms of the flood {shetef: overwhelming torrent} will be swept away before him and broken, and also the prince {negid: appointed ruler} of the covenant will perish.
23 And from the time of the alliance {hitchabberut: strategic union} with him, he will act with deceit {mirmah: fraudulent scheme} and he will go up and become strong with a few people.
24 He will enter in tranquility {beshalvah: peaceful approach} into the richest sections of the province, and he will do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers did: he will scatter among them plunder, spoil, and property. And against strongholds he will devise his plans {machshevotav: strategic deliberations}, but only for a time.
25 And he will stir up his strength {koach: battle strength} and his heart against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south will join battle with a very great and very strong force, but he will not stand, because plans {machashavot: plotted schemes} will be devised against him.
26 Even those who eat the portion {fat-bago: royal provisions} of his food will break him, and his army will be swept away, and many shall fall slain {chalalim: fatally struck}.
27 And both these kings {melakhim: rulers}—their hearts are bent on doing evil—and at one table they will speak lies, but it will not succeed, for the end {kets: predetermined conclusion} is yet reserved for the appointed time.
28 And he will return to his land with great wealth {birkush: material riches}, and his heart will be set against the holy covenant {berit kodesh: sacred agreement}; then he will act and return to his land.
29 At the appointed time {moed: fixed prophecy time} he will return and come into the south, but it will not be as the former {rishonah: previous event} or as the latter.
30 Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will be humbled {nikha’eh: brought low}, and he will turn back and be enraged against the covenant of holiness {berit kodesh: sacred binding agreement}; then he will act, and he will return and pay heed to those abandoning the covenant.
31 And forces from him will rise up and desecrate the sanctuary {mikdash: consecrated site}—the fortress—then they will remove the regular offering {tamid: continual sacrifice} and set up the abomination that makes desolate.
32 And those who act wickedly against the covenant he will lead astray with flattery {bachalakot: persuasive speech}, but the people who know their God {Elohim, Faithful Defender} shall stand firm and act.
33 And those who are wise{umaskilei: discerning instructors} among the people will cause many to understand, but they will stumble{venikhshelu: be made to fall by adversity} by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, for days.
34 And when they stumble {behikkashlam: when they stumble}, they will be helped by a little assistance, and many {rabbim: large number} will join themselves to them with flatteries.
35 And some of the wise {ha-maskilim: discerning ones} shall stumble, to refine {litsrof: smelt for purity} them and to purify and to make them white, until the time of the end; for it is yet for the appointed time.
36 And the king will act according to his will; and he will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and against the God of gods {el elim, Sovereign Ruler} he will speak marvelous things {niflaot: astonishing wonders}; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for what is determined will be done.
37 And he will not regard the God of his fathers {Elohei avotav: ancestral deity}, nor the desire of women {khemdat nashim: cherished delight}, nor will he regard any god; for he will exalt himself above all.
38 But to a god {le’loah, Deity of Strongholds} of fortresses he will give honor upon his pedestal {kano: idol platform}; and to a god whom his fathers did not know he will honor with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things.
39 And he will act against the fortresses {mivtsrei: fortified defenses} of strongholds with a foreign god {elohah: empowering deity}; whomever he acknowledges he will increase with honor, and he will make them rule over many, and he will divide the land for a price.
40 And at the time of the end {kets: concluding period}, the king of the South will attack him, but the king of the North will storm {yistaʿer: rush violently} against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships; and he will enter the lands and overflow and pass through.
41 He will enter the glorious land {hatsevi: land of splendor}, and many will stumble, but these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief {reshit: principal ones} of the sons of Ammon.
42 And he will stretch out his hand against the countries {artsot: foreign territories}, and the land of Egypt will not be a place of escape {lifleitah: place of refuge}.
43 And he will rule over the treasures {mikhmanei: royal storehouses} of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; the Libyans and the Cushites will be at his steps {mitsadav: marching retinue}.
44 But reports {ushmuot: ominous announcements} from the east and from the north will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to destroy and to devote {le-hacharim: sacred ban} many to destruction.
45 And he will plant the tents of his palace {apadno: luxurious residence} between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he will come to his end, and there will be no helper {ozer: one who gives aid} for him.