²“Now then, Daniel, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will rule in Persia, and then a fourth king will come. He will be much richer than all the kings of Persia before him and will use his riches to get power. He will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. ³Then a mighty king will come, who will rule with great power and will do anything he wants. ⁴After that king has come, his kingdom will be broken up and divided out toward the four parts of the world. His kingdom will not go to his descendants, and it will not have the power that he had, because his kingdom will be pulled up and given to other people.

⁵“The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger. He will begin to rule his own kingdom with great power. ⁶Then after a few years, a new friendship will develop. The daughter of the king of the South will marry the king of the North in order to bring peace. But she will not keep her power, and his family will not last. She, her husband, her child, and those who brought her to that country will be killed.

⁷“But a person from her family will become king of the South and will attack the armies of the king of the North. He will go into that king’s strong, walled city and will fight and win. ⁸He will take their gods, their metal idols, and their valuable things made of silver and gold back to Egypt. Then he will not bother the king of the North for a few years. ⁹Next, the king of the North will attack the king of the South, but he will be beaten back to his own country.

¹⁰“The sons of the king of the North will prepare for war. They will get a large army together that will move through the land very quickly, like a powerful flood. Later, that army will come back and fight all the way to the strong, walled city of the king of the South. ¹¹Then the king of the South will become very angry and will march out to fight against the king of the North. The king of the North will have a large army, but he will lose the battle, ¹²and the soldiers will be carried away. The king of the South will then be very proud and will kill thousands of soldiers from the northern army, but he will not continue to be successful. ¹³The king of the North will gather another army, larger than the first one. After several years he will attack with a large army and many weapons.

¹⁴“In those times many people will be against the king of the South. Some of your own people who love to fight will turn against the king of the South, thinking it is time for God’s promises to come true. But they will fail. ¹⁵Then the king of the North will come. He will build ramps to the tops of the city walls and will capture a strong, walled city. The southern army will not have the power to fight back; even their best soldiers will not be strong enough to stop the northern army. ¹⁶So the king of the North will do whatever he wants; no one will be able to stand against him. He will gain power and control in the beautiful land of Israel and will have the power to destroy it. ¹⁷The king of the North will decide to use all his power to fight against the king of the South, but he will make a peace agreement with the king of the South. The king of the North will give one of his daughters as a wife to the king of the South so that he can defeat him. But those plans will not succeed or help him. ¹⁸Then the king of the North will turn his attention to cities along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and will capture them. But a commander will put an end to the pride of the king of the North, turning his pride back on him. ¹⁹After that happens the king of the North will go back to the strong, walled cities of his own country, but he will lose his power. That will be the end of him.

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