24“Seventy weeksa have been decreed for your people and your holy city until the measure of transgression is filled and that of sin complete, until iniquity is expiated, and eternal righteousness ushered in; and prophetic vision ratified,b and the Holy of Holies anointed. 25You must know and understand: From the issuance of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the [time of the] anointed leader is seven weeks; and for sixty-two weeks it will be rebuilt, square and moat, but in a time of distress. 26And after those sixty-two weeks, the anointed one will disappear and vanish.c The army of a leader who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but its end will come through a flood. Desolation is decreed until the end of war. 27During one week he will make a firm covenant with many. For half a week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the meal offering. At the c-corner [of the altar]-c will be an appalling abomination until the decreed destruction will be poured down upon the appalling thing.”
10 In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, an oracle was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. That oracle was true, a-but it was a great task to understand the prophecy; understanding came to him through the vision.-a
2At that time, I, Daniel, kept three full weeks of mourning. 3I ate no tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth. I did not anoint myself until the three weeks were over. 4It was on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, when I was on the bank of the great river—the Tigris— 5that I looked and saw a man dressed in linen, his loins girt in b-fine gold.-b 6His body was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and legs had the color of burnished bronze, and the sound of his speech was like the noise of a multitude.
7I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see the vision, yet they were seized with a great terror and fled into hiding. 8So I was left alone to see this great vision. I was drained of strength, my vigor was destroyed, and I could not summon up strength. 9I heard him speaking; and when I heard him speaking, overcome by a deep sleep, I lay prostrate on the ground. 10Then a hand touched me, and shook me onto my hands and knees. 11He said to me, “O Daniel, precious man, mark what I say to you and stand up, for I have been sent to you.” After he said this to me, I stood up, trembling. 12He then said to me, “Have no fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to get understanding, practicing abstinence before your God, your prayer was heard, and I have come because of your prayer. 13However, the prince of the Persian kingdom opposed me for twenty-one days; now Michael, a prince of the first rank, has come to my aid, after I was detained there with the kings of Persia. 14So I have come to make you understand what is to befall your people in the days to come, for there is yet a vision for those days.”
15While he was saying these things to me, I looked down and kept silent. 16Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I have been seized with pangs and cannot summon strength. 17How can this servant of my lord speak with my lord, seeing that my strength has failed and no spirit is left in me?” 18He who looked like a man touched me again, and strengthened me. 19He said, “Have no fear, precious man, all will be well with you; be strong, be strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened, and said, “Speak on, my lord, for you have strengthened me!” 20Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must go back to fight the prince of Persia. When I go off, the prince of Greece will come in. 21c-No one is helping me against them except your prince, Michael. However, I will tell you what is recorded in the book of truth.-c
11“In the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to strengthen and fortify him. 2And now I will tell you the truth: Persia will have three more kings, and the fourth will be wealthier than them all; by the power he obtains through his wealth, he will stir everyone up against the kingdom of Greece. 3Then a warrior king will appear who will have an extensive dominion and do as he pleases. 4But after his appearance, his kingdom will be broken up and scattered to the four winds of heaven, but not for any of his posterity, nor with dominion like that which he had; for his kingdom will be uprooted and belong to others beside these.
5“The king of the south will grow powerful; however, one of his officers will overpower him and rule, having an extensive dominion. 6After some years, an alliance will be made, and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to effect the agreement, but she will not maintain her strength, nor will his strength endure. She will be surrendered together with those who escorted her and the one who begot her and helped her during those times. 7A shoot from her stock will appear in his place, will come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north; he will fight and overpower them. 8He will also take their gods with their molten images and their precious vessels of silver and gold back to Egypt as booty. For some years he will leave the king of the north alone, 9who will [later] invade the realm of the king of the south, but will go back to his land.
10“His sons will wage war, collecting a multitude of great armies; he will advance and sweep through as a flood, and will again wage war as far as his stronghold. 11Then the king of the south, in a rage, will go out to do battle with him, with the king of the north. He will muster a great multitude, but the multitude will be delivered into his [foe’s] power. 12But when the multitude is carried off, he will grow arrogant; he will cause myriads to perish, but will not prevail. 13Then the king of the north will again muster a multitude even greater than the first. After a time, a matter of years, he will advance with a great army and much baggage. 14In those times, many will resist the king of the south, and the lawless sons of your people will assert themselves to confirm the vision, but they will fail. 15The king of the north will advance and throw up siege ramps and capture a fortress city, and the forces of the south will not hold out; even the elite of his army will be powerless to resist. 16His opponent will do as he pleases, for none will hold out against him; he will install himself in the beautiful land with destruction within his reach. 17He will set his mind upon invading the strongholds throughout his [foe’s] kingdom, but in order to destroy it he will effect an agreement with him and give him a daughter in marriage; he will not succeed at it and it will not come about. 18He will turn to the coastlands and capture many; but a consul will put an end to his insults, nay pay him back for his insults. 19He will head back to the strongholds of his own land, but will stumble, and fall, and vanish. 20His place will be taken by one who will dispatch an officer to exact tribute for royal glory, but he will be broken in a few days, not by wrath or by war. 21His place will be taken by a contemptible man, on whom royal majesty was not conferred; he will come in unawares and seize the kingdom through trickery. 22The forces of the flood will be overwhelmed by him and will be broken, and so too the covenant leader. 23And, from the time an alliance is made with him, he will practice deceit; and he will rise to power with a small band. 24He will invade the richest of provinces unawares, and will do what his father and forefathers never did, lavishing on thema spoil, booty, and wealth; he will have designs upon strongholds, but only for a time.
25“He will muster his strength and courage against the king of the south with a great army. The king of the south will wage war with a very great and powerful army but will not stand fast, for
