Daniel 11:20–45

²⁰“He will be followed by another king, who will send an officer to oppress the people with taxes in order to increase the wealth of his kingdom. In a short time that king will be killed, but not publicly and not in battle.”

The Evil King of Syria

²¹The angel went on to explain: “The next king of Syria will be an evil man who has no right to be king, but he will come unexpectedly and seize power by trickery. ²²Anyone who opposes him, even God’s High Priest, will be swept away and wiped out. ²³By making treaties, he will deceive other nations, and he will grow stronger and stronger, even though he rules only a small nation. ²⁴He will invade a wealthy province without warning and will do things that none of his ancestors ever did. Then he will divide among his followers the goods and property he has captured in war. He will make plans to attack fortresses, but his time will soon run out.

²⁵“He will boldly raise a large army to attack the king of Egypt, who will prepare to fight back with a huge and powerful army. But the king of Egypt will be deceived and will not be successful. ²⁶His closest advisers will ruin him. Many of his soldiers will be killed, and his army will be wiped out. ²⁷Then the two kings will sit down to eat at the same table, but their motives will be evil, and they will lie to each other. They will not get what they want, because the time for it has not yet come. ²⁸The king of Syria will return home with all the loot he has captured, determined to destroy the religion of God’s people. He will do as he pleases and then return to his own land.

²⁹“Later on he will invade Egypt again, but this time things will turn out differently. ³⁰The Romans will come in ships and oppose him, and he will be frightened.

“Then he will turn back in a rage and try to destroy the religion of God’s people. He will follow the advice of those who have abandoned that religion. ^31*Some of his soldiers will desecrate the Temple. They will stop the daily sacrifices and set up The Awful Horror.^{b 32}By deceit the king will win the support of those who have already abandoned their religion, but those who follow God will fight back. ³³Wise leaders of the people will share their wisdom with many others. But for a while some of them will be killed in battle or be burnt to death, and some will be robbed and made prisoners. ³⁴While the killing is going on, God’s people will receive a little help, even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons. ³⁵Some of those wise leaders will be killed, but as a result of this the people will be purified. This will continue until the end comes, the time that God has set.

^36*“The king of Syria will do as he pleases. He will boast that he is greater than any god, superior even to the Supreme God. He will be able to do this until the time when God punishes him. God will do exactly what he has planned. ³⁷The king will ignore the god his ancestors served, and also the god that women love. In fact, he will ignore every god, because he will think he is greater than any of them. ³⁸Instead, he will honour the god who protects fortresses. He will offer gold, silver, jewels, and other rich gifts to a god his ancestors never worshipped. ³⁹To defend his fortresses, he will use people who worship a foreign god. He will give great honour to those who accept him as ruler, put them into high offices, and give them land as a reward.

⁴⁰“When the king of Syria’s final hour has almost come, the king of Egypt will attack him, and the king of Syria will fight back with all his power, using chariots, horses, and many ships. He will invade many countries, like the waters of a flood. ⁴¹He will even invade the Promised Land and kill tens of thousands, but the countries of Edom, Moab, and what is left of Ammon will escape. ⁴²When he invades all those countries, even Egypt will not be spared. ⁴³He will take away Egypt’s hidden treasures of gold and silver and its other prized possessions. He will conquer Libya and Ethiopia.^{c 44}Then news that comes from the east and the north will frighten him, and he will fight furiously, killing many people. ⁴⁵He will even set up his huge royal tents between the sea and the mountain on which the Temple stands. But he will die, with no one there to help him.”