Daniel’s Terrifying Vision of a Man

1 ^bIn the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, ^cwho was named Belteshazzar. And ^dthe word was true, and it was a great conflict.¹ And ^ehe understood the word and ^ehad understanding of the vision.

2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for ^fthree weeks. 3 I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I ^ganoint myself at all, for ^fthe full three weeks. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing ^hon the bank of the great river (ⁱthat is, the Tigris) 5 ^jI lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, ^ka man clothed in linen, ^lwith a belt of fine ^mgold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like ⁿberyl, his face ^olike the appearance of lightning, ^phis eyes like flaming torches, his arms and ^qlegs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and ^qthe sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 7 ^rAnd I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and ^sno strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed,^{2 t}and I retained no strength. 9 Then I heard the sound of his words, ^uand as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep ^uwith my face to the ground.

10 And behold, ^va hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, ^wman greatly loved, ^xunderstand the words that I speak to you, and ^ystand upright, for ^znow I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, ^a“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you ^bset your heart to understand and ^bhumbled yourself before your God, ^cyour words have been heard, ^dand I have come because of your words. 13 ^eThe prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me ^ftwenty-one days, but ^gMichael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14 ^dand came to make you understand what is to happen to your people ^hin the latter days. For ⁱthe vision is for days yet to come.”

15 When he had spoken to me according to these words, ^jI turned my face toward the ground ^kand was mute. 16 And behold, ^lone in the likeness of the children of man ^mtouched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and ⁿI retain no strength. 17 How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”

18 Again ^lone having the appearance of a man ^mtouched me and strengthened me. 19 And he said, ^o“O man greatly loved, ^pfear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” 20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the ^qprince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of ^rGreece will come. 21 But I will tell you ^swhat is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except ^tMichael, your prince.

The Kings of the South and the North

1 “And as for me, ^uin the first year of ^uDarius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

2 “And now I will show you ^vthe truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then ^wa mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and ^xdo as he wills. 4 And as soon as he has arisen, ^yhis kingdom shall be broken and divided ^ytoward the ^zfour winds of heaven, but ^anot to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.

5 “Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he ^band shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. 6 After some years ^cthey shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported³ her in those times.

7 “And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the ^dfortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. 8 He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious ^evessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. 9 Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.

10 “His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming ^fand overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his ^dfortress. 11 Then the king of the south, ^gmoved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. ^hAnd he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. 12 And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. 13 For the king of the north shall again ⁱraise a multitude, greater than the first. And ^jafter some years⁴ he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.

14 “In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but ^kthey shall fail. 15 Then the king of the north shall come and ^lthrow up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. 16 But he who comes against him shall ^mdo as he wills, and ⁿnone shall stand before him. And he shall stand in ^othe glorious land, with destruction in his hand. 17 He shall ^pset his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom,⁵ but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. 18 Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed,⁶ he ^qshall turn his insolence back upon him. 19 Then he shall turn his face back toward the ^rfortresses of his own land, but he shall ^sstumble and fall, ^tand shall not be found.

20 “Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an ^uexactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. 21 In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. ^vHe shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom ^wby flatteries. 22 Armies shall be ^xutterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. 23 And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. 24 ^yWithout warning he shall come into ^zthe richest parts⁷ of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 And he shall stir up his power and his heart against ^athe king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. 26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be ^bswept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for ^cthe end is yet to be at the time appointed. 28 And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.

29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30 For ships of ^dKittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and ^ebe enraged and ^etake action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him shall appear and ^fprofane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And ^gthey shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. 32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33 ^hAnd the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, ⁱpurified, and ^jmade white, until ^kthe time of the end, ^kfor it still awaits the appointed time.

36 “And the king shall ^ldo as he wills. ^mHe shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, ⁿand shall speak astonishing things against ^othe God of gods. ^pHe shall prosper ^qtill the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. 37 He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for ^mhe shall magnify himself above all. 38 He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor ^rwith gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and ^sshall divide the land for a price.⁸

40 ^t“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack⁹ him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him ^ulike a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and ^vshall overflow and pass through. 41 He shall come into ^wthe glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: ^xEdom and ^xMoab and the main part of the ^xAmmonites. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the ^yLibyans and the ^zCushites shall follow in his train. 44 But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. 45 And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.

The Time of the End

1 “At that time shall arise ^aMichael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And ^bthere shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, ^ceveryone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who ^dsleep in ^ethe dust of the earth shall ^eawake, ^fsome to everlasting life, and ^fsome to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 ^gAnd those who are wise ^hshall shine like the brightness of the sky above;¹⁰ and ⁱthose who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, ^jshut up the words and ^kseal the book, until ^lthe time of the end. ^mMany shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on ⁿthis bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. 6 And someone said to ^othe man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream,^{11 p}“How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” 7 And I heard ^othe man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; ^qhe raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and ^rswore by him who lives forever that it would be for a ^stime, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of ^tthe power of ^tthe holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. 8 I heard, ^ubut I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9 He said, ^v“Go your way, Daniel, ^wfor the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 ^xMany shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but ^ythe wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, ^gbut those who are wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that ^zthe regular burnt offering is taken away and ^athe abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. 12 ^bBlessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. 13 ^cBut go your way till the end. ^dAnd you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at ^ethe end of the days.”

The Proclamation of Cyrus

22 ⁿNow in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^othat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, ^pthe Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”

The Proclamation of Cyrus

1 ^aIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^bthat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so ^cthat he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^dhe has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—^ehe is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, ^feveryone whose spirit ^gGod had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them ^haided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 ⁱCyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that ^jNebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of ^kMithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to ^lSheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: ^m30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

The Exiles Return

1 ⁿNow these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles ^owhom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, ^pMordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 ^qthe sons of Parosh, 2,172. 4 The sons of Shephatiah, 372. 5 The sons of Arah, 775. 6 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. 7 The sons of Elam, 1,254. 8 The sons of Zattu, 945. 9 The sons of Zaccai, 760. 10 The sons of Bani, 642. 11 The sons of Bebai, 623. 12 The sons of Azgad, 1,222. 13 The sons of Adonikam, 666. 14 The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. 15 The sons of Adin, 454. 16 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 17 The sons of Bezai, 323. 18 The sons of Jorah, 112. 19 The sons of Hashum, 223. 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22 The men of Netophah, 56. 23 The men of Anathoth, 128. 24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25 The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. 27 The men of Michmas, 122. 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29 The sons of Nebo, 52. 30 The sons of Magbish, 156. 31 The sons of ^rthe other Elam, 1,254. 32 The sons of Harim, 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. 34 The sons of Jericho, 345. 35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

36 The priests: the ^ssons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37 The sons of Immer, 1,052. 38 The ^tsons of Pashhur, 1,247. 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

40 The Levites: the sons of ^uJeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41 The singers: the sons of ^vAsaph, 128. 42 The sons of the ^wgatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

43 ^xThe temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.