Daniel 9-12

Complete Jewish Bible

9 In the first year of Daryavesh the son of Achashverosh, a Mede by birth who was made king over the kingdom of the Kasdim — ² in the first year of his reign, I, Dani’el, was reading the Scriptures and thinking about the number of years which Adonai had told Yirmeyah the prophet would be the period of Yerushalayim’s desolation, seventy years. ³ I turned to Adonai, God, to seek an answer, pleading with him in prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to Adonai my God and made this confession:

“Please, Adonai, great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot! ⁵ We have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled and turned away from your mitzvot and rulings. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors and to all the people of the land.

⁷ “To you, Adonai, belongs righteousness; but to us today belongs shame — to us, the men of Y’hudah, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and all Isra’el, including those nearby and those far away, throughout all the countries where you have driven them; because they broke faith with you. ⁸ Yes, Adonai, shame falls on us, our kings, our leaders and our ancestors; because we sinned against you. ⁹ It is for Adonai our God to show compassion and forgiveness, because we rebelled against him. ¹⁰ We didn’t listen to the voice of Adonai our God, so that we could live by his laws, which he presented to us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yes, all Isra’el flouted your Torah and turned away, unwilling to listen to your voice. Therefore the curse and oath written in the Torah of Moshe the servant of God was poured out on us, because we sinned against him. ¹² He carried out the threats he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us disaster so great that under all of heaven, nothing has been done like what has been done to Yerushalayim. ¹³ As written in the Torah of Moshe, this whole disaster came upon us. Yet we did not appease Adonai our God by renouncing our wrongdoing and discerning your truth. ¹⁴ So Adonai watched for the right moment to bring this disaster upon us, for Adonai our God was just in everything he did, yet we didn’t listen when he spoke.

¹⁵ “Now, Adonai our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, thereby winning renown for yourself, as is the case today — we sinned, we acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Adonai, in keeping with all your justice, please allow your anger and fury to be turned away from your city Yerushalayim, your holy mountain; because it is due to our sins and the wrongdoings of our ancestors that Yerushalayim and your people have become objects of scorn among everyone around us. ¹⁷ Therefore, our God, listen to the prayer and pleadings of your servant; and cause your face to shine on your desolated sanctuary, for your own sake. ¹⁸ My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes and see how desolated we are, as well as the city which bears your name. For we plead with you not because of our own righteousness, but because of your compassion. ¹⁹ Adonai, hear! Adonai, forgive! Adonai, pay attention, and don’t delay action — for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people bear your name!”

²⁰ While I was speaking, praying, confessing my own sin and the sin of my people Isra’el, and pleading before Adonai my God for the holy mountain of my God — ²¹ yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gavri’el, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, swooped down on me in full flight at about the time of the evening sacrifice, ²² and explained things to me. He said, “I have come now, Dani’el, to enable you to understand this vision clearly. ²³ At the beginning of your prayers, an answer was given; and I have come to say what it is; because you are greatly loved. Therefore look into this answer, and understand the vision.

²⁴ “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place. ²⁵ Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times. ²⁶ Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over. ²⁷ He will make a strong covenant with leaders for one week [of years]. For half of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offering. On the wing of detestable things the desolator will come and continue until the already decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”

10 In the third year of Koresh king of Persia, a word was revealed to Dani’el, also called Belt’shatzar. The word was certain: a great war. He understood the word, having gained understanding in the vision.

² At that time I, Dani’el, had been mourning for three whole weeks. ³ I hadn’t eaten any food that satisfied me — neither meat nor wine had entered my mouth, and I didn’t anoint myself once, until three full weeks had passed.

⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, ⁵ when I looked up, and there before me was a man dressed in linen wearing a belt made of fine Ufaz gold. ⁶ His body was like beryl, his face looked like lightning and his eyes like fiery torches; his arms and feet were the color of burnished bronze; and when he spoke, it sounded like the roar of a crowd. ⁷ Only I, Dani’el, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see the vision; however, a great trembling fell over them; so that they rushed to hide themselves. ⁸ Thus I was left alone; and when I saw this great vision, there was no strength left in me — my face, normally pleasant-looking, became disfigured; and I had no strength.

⁹ I heard his voice speaking; and when I heard him speaking, I fell down in a faint, with my face to the ground. ¹⁰ Then a hand touched me and raised me, tottering, to my hands and knees. ¹¹ He said to me, “Dani’el, you are a greatly loved man. Now pay attention to the words I am saying to you, and stand upright; for it is to you that I have been sent now.” After he had said this to me, I stood up, trembling. ¹² Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Dani’el; because since the first day that you determined to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard; and I have come because of what you said. ¹³ The prince of the kingdom of Persia prevented me from coming for twenty-one days; but Mikha’el, one of the chief princes, came to assist me; so that I was no longer needed there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ So I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the acharit-hayamim; for there is still another vision which will relate to those days.”

¹⁵ After he had said these things to me, I looked down at the ground and couldn’t speak. ¹⁶ Then someone who looked like a human being touched my lips, after which I could open my mouth and speak; I said to the one standing in front of me, “My lord, it is because of the vision that I am seized with such anguish; I don’t have any strength. ¹⁷ For how can this servant of my lord speak with my lord, when my strength and breath have failed me?” ¹⁸ Then, again someone who looked human touched me and revived me. ¹⁹ He said, “You man so greatly loved, don’t be afraid. Shalom to you; and be strong, yes, truly strong.” His speaking to me strengthened me, and I said, “My lord, keep speaking; because you’ve given me strength.” ²⁰ Then he said, “Do you know why I came to you? Although now I must return to fight the prince of Persia; and when I leave, the prince of Greece will come; ²¹ nevertheless, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. There is no one standing with me against them except Mikha’el your prince;

11 however, I was already standing up to support and help Daryavesh the Mede in the first year of his reign. ² What I am going to tell you now is true.

“Three kings will arise in Persia, followed by a fourth, who will be far wealthier than all of them; and when he has grown strong by means of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

³ “Then a powerful king will appear who will rule a vast kingdom and do whatever he pleases. ⁴ But once he appears, his kingdom will be broken up and divided to the four winds of heaven. It won’t be inherited by his descendants, and it won’t be ruled with the power he had, because his kingship will be uprooted and will pass to others than his own posterity.

⁵ “The king in the south will be strong, and one of his princes will gain power over him and have dominion; his domain will be a great dominion. ⁶ After a number of years they will form an alliance. The daughter of the king of the south will approach the king of the north to make an agreement, but she won’t retain her power; and he and his power won’t last either. Rather, she will be surrendered, along with her attendants, her father and the one who supported her during those times. ⁷ But another branch from the same roots as hers will appear in her father’s place. He will attack the army of the king of the north, enter his fortress and succeed in conquering them. ⁸ He will also carry off as booty to Egypt their gods, their cast metal images and their valuable gold and silver vessels. Then for some years, he will refrain from attacking the king of the north.

⁹ “Afterwards, the king of the north will invade the kingdom of the king of the south, but he will retire to his own land. ¹⁰ His sons will rouse themselves to muster a large and powerful army, which will advance like a flood passing through. In another campaign, it will march on the enemy stronghold. ¹¹ The king of the south, enraged, will set out to do battle with the king of the north, who, in turn, will muster a large army; but this army will be defeated by his enemy ¹² and carried off. The conqueror will grow proud as he slaughters tens of thousands, yet he will not prevail. ¹³ Rather, the king of the north will again muster an army, larger than the first one, at the end of this period, after a number of years; it will be a large, well-supplied army. ¹⁴ Those will be times in which many will resist the king of the south; and the more violent ones among your own people will rebel in order to fulfill their vision; but they will fail.

¹⁵ “Then the king of the north will come, set up siege-works and capture a fortified city; the forces of the south will be insufficient defense, even his elite troops will not be strong enough to resist. ¹⁶ The invader will do as he pleases; no one will be able to withstand him. So he will establish himself in the Land of Glory, and he will have the power to destroy it. ¹⁷ He will determinedly advance with the full force of his kingdom, but he will make an agreement with the king of the south and give him a daughter in marriage. His object will be to destroy him, but the agreement will not last or work out in his favor. ¹⁸ Next, he will put his attention on the coastlands and islands and capture many, but an army commander will put a stop to his outrages and cause his outrages to come back upon him. ¹⁹ After this, he will put his attention on the strongholds in his own land; but he will stumble, fall and not be seen again.

²⁰ “In his place will arise one who will send a tax collector through the Glorious Kingdom; but within a few days, he will be broken, though neither in anger nor in battle.

²¹ “There will arise in his place a despicable man not entitled to inherit the majesty of the kingdom, but he will come without warning and gain the kingdom by intrigue. ²² Large armies will be broken and swept away before him, as well as the prince of the covenant. ²³ Alliances will be made with him, but he will undermine them by deceit. Then, although he will have but a small following, he will emerge and become strong. ²⁴ Without warning, he will assail the most powerful men in each province and do things his predecessors never did, either recently or in the distant past; he will reward them with plunder, spoil and wealth while devising plots against their strongholds, but only for a time.

²⁵ “He will summon his power and courage against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south will fight back with a very large and powerful army; but he will not succeed, because of plots devised against him. ²⁶ Yes, those who shared his food will destroy him; his army will be swept away; and many will fall in the slaughter. ²⁷ These two kings, bent on mischief, will sit at the same table, speaking lies to each other; but none of this will succeed; because the appointed end will not have come yet. ²⁸ Then the king of the north will return to his own land with great wealth; with his heart set against the holy covenant, he will take action and then return home.

²⁹ “At the time designated, he will come back to the south. But this time, things will turn out differently than before; ³⁰ because ships from Kittim will come against him, so that his courage will fail him. Then, in retreat, he will take furious action against the holy covenant, again showing favor to those who abandon the holy covenant. ³¹ Armed forces will come at his order and profane the sanctuary and fortress. They will abolish the daily burnt offering and set up the abomination that causes desolation. ³² Those who act wickedly against the covenant he will corrupt with his blandishments, but the people who know their God will stand firm and prevail. ³³ Those among the people who have discernment will cause the rest of the people to understand what is happening; nevertheless, for a while they will fall victim to sword, fire, exile and pillage. ³⁴ When they stumble, they will receive a little help, although many who join them will be insincere. ³⁵ Even some of those with discernment will stumble, so that some of them will be refined, purified and cleansed for an end yet to come at the designated time.

³⁶ “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt himself and consider himself greater than any god, and he will utter monstrous blasphemies against the God of gods. He will prosper only until the period of wrath is over, for what has been determined must take place. ³⁷ He will show no respect for the gods his ancestors worshipped, or for the god women worship — he won’t show respect for any god, because he will consider himself greater than all of them. ³⁸ But instead, he will honor the god of strongholds; with gold, silver, precious stones and other costly things he will honor a god unknown to his ancestors. ³⁹ He will deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will confer honor on those he acknowledges, causing them to rule over many and distributing land as a reward.

⁴⁰ “When the time for the end comes, the king of the south will push at him; while the king of the north will attack him like a whirlwind, with chariots, cavalry and a large navy. He will invade countries, overrun them and move on. ⁴¹ He will also enter the Land of Glory, and many [countries] will come to grief, but these will be saved from his power — Edom, Mo’av and the people of ‘Amon. ⁴² He will reach out his hand to seize other countries too. The land of Egypt will not escape — ⁴³ he will control the treasures of gold and silver, as well as everything else in Egypt of value. Put and Ethiopia will be subject to him. ⁴⁴ However, news from the east and north will frighten him, so that he moves out in great fury to ruin and completely do away with many. ⁴⁵ Finally, when he pitches the tents of his palace between the seas and the mountain of the holy Glory, he will come to his end, with no one to help him.

12 “When that time comes, Mikha’el, the great prince who champions your people, will stand up; and there will be a time of distress unparalleled between the time they became a nation and that moment. At that time, your people will be delivered, everyone whose name is found written in the book. ² Many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and abhorrence. ³ But those who can discern will shine like the brightness of heaven’s dome, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

⁴ “But you, Dani’el, keep these words secret, and seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will rush here and there as knowledge increases.”

⁵ Then I, Dani’el, looked; and I saw in front of me two others, one on this bank of the river and the other on its other bank. ⁶ One of them asked the man dressed in linen who was above the water of the river, “How long will these wonders last?” ⁷ The man dressed in linen who was above the water of the river raised his right and left hands toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times and a half, and that it will be when the the power of the holy people is no longer being shattered that all these things will end.

⁸ I heard this, but I couldn’t understand what it meant; so I asked, “Lord, what will be the outcome of all this?” ⁹ But he said, “Go your way, Dani’el; for these words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many will purify, cleanse and refine themselves; but the wicked will keep on acting wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand. But those with discernment will understand. ¹¹ From the time the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² How blessed will be anyone who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. ¹³ But you, go your way until the end comes. Then you will rest and rise for your reward, at the end of days.”