Book Order Plan

¹In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was made king over the Chaldean kingdom —

²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy.

³So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

⁴I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: Ah, Lord — the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands  —

⁵we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances.

⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

⁷Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel — those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you.

⁸LORD, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

⁹Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him

¹⁰and have not obeyed the LORD our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

¹¹All Israel has broken your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him.

¹²He has carried out his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done under all of heaven.

¹³Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.

¹⁴So the LORD kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.

¹⁵Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made your name renowned as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

¹⁶Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

¹⁷Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine on your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake.

¹⁸Listen closely, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion.

¹⁹Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your name.

²⁰While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning the holy mountain of my God —

²¹while I was praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the first vision, reached me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering.

²²He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.

²³At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. So consider the message and understand the vision:

²⁴Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city — to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

²⁵Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times.

²⁶After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.

²⁷He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”

¹In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The message was true and was about a great conflict. He understood the message and had understanding of the vision.

²In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.

³I didn’t eat any rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over.

⁴On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,

⁵I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist.

⁶His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

⁷Only I, Daniel, saw the vision. The men who were with me did not see it, but a great terror fell on them, and they ran and hid.

⁸I was left alone, looking at this great vision. No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.

⁹I heard the words he said, and when I heard them I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

¹⁰Suddenly, a hand touched me and set me shaking on my hands and knees.

¹¹He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God. Understand the words that I’m saying to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you.” After he said this to me, I stood trembling.

¹²“Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.

¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.

¹⁴Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision refers to those days.”

¹⁵While he was saying these words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.

¹⁶Suddenly one with human likeness touched my lips. I opened my mouth and said to the one standing in front of me, “My lord, because of the vision, anguish overwhelms me and I am powerless.

¹⁷How can someone like me, your servant, speak with someone like you, my lord? Now I have no strength, and there is no breath in me.”

¹⁸Then the one with a human appearance touched me again and strengthened me.

¹⁹He said, “Don’t be afraid, you who are treasured by God. Peace to you; be very strong!” As he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

²⁰He said, “Do you know why I’ve come to you? I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I leave, the prince of Greece will come.

²¹However, I will tell you what is recorded in the book of truth. (No one has the courage to support me against those princes except Michael, your prince.

¹In the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to strengthen and protect him.)

²Now I will tell you the truth. “Three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will be far richer than the others. By the power he gains through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

³Then a warrior king will arise; he will rule a vast realm and do whatever he wants.

⁴But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and divided to the four winds of heaven, but not to his descendants; it will not be the same kingdom that he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and will go to others besides them.

⁵“The king of the South will grow powerful, but one of his commanders will grow more powerful and will rule a kingdom greater than his.

⁶After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. She will not retain power, and his strength will not endure. She will be given up, together with her entourage, her father, and the one who supported her during those times.

⁷In the place of the king of the South, one from her family will rise up, come against the army, and enter the fortress of the king of the North. He will take action against them and triumph.

⁸He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious articles of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,

⁹who will enter the kingdom of the king of the South and then return to his own land.

¹⁰“His sons will mobilize for war and assemble a large number of armed forces. They will advance, sweeping through like a flood, and will again wage war as far as his fortress.

¹¹Infuriated, the king of the South will march out to fight with the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but they will be handed over to his enemy.

¹²When the army is carried off, he will become arrogant and cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not triumph.

¹³The king of the North will again raise a multitude larger than the first. After some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies.

¹⁴“In those times many will rise up against the king of the South. Violent ones among your own people will assert themselves to fulfill a vision, but they will fail.

¹⁵Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a well-fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their select troops will not be able to resist.

¹⁶The king of the North who comes against him will do whatever he wants, and no one can oppose him. He will establish himself in the beautiful land with total destruction in his hand.

¹⁷He will resolve to come with the force of his whole kingdom and will reach an agreement with him. He will give him a daughter in marriage to destroy it, but she will not stand with him or support him.

¹⁸Then he will turn his attention to the coasts and islands and capture many. But a commander will put an end to his taunting; instead, he will turn his taunts against him.

¹⁹He will turn his attention back to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble, fall, and be no more.

²⁰“In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger or in battle.

²¹“In his place a despised person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come during a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

²²A flood of forces will be swept away before him; they will be broken, as well as the covenant prince.

²³After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully. He will rise to power with a small nation.

²⁴During a time of peace, he will come into the richest parts of the province and do what his fathers and predecessors never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will make plans against fortified cities, but only for a time.

²⁵“With a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will prepare for battle with an extremely large and powerful army, but he will not succeed, because plots will be made against him.

²⁶Those who eat his provisions will destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.

²⁷The two kings, whose hearts are bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.

²⁸The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant; he will take action, then return to his own land.

²⁹“At the appointed time he will come again to the South, but this time will not be like the first.

³⁰Ships of Kittim will come against him, and being intimidated, he will withdraw. Then he will rage against the holy covenant and take action. On his return, he will favor those who abandon the holy covenant.

³¹His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the regular sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.

³²With flattery he will corrupt those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.

³³Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to many, yet they will fall by the sword and flame, and be captured and plundered for a time.

³⁴When they fall, they will be helped by some, but many others will join them insincerely.

³⁵Some of those who have insight will fall so that they may be refined, purified, and cleansed until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

³⁶“Then the king will do whatever he wants. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will say outrageous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, because what has been decreed will be accomplished.

³⁷He will not show regard for the gods of his fathers, the god desired by women, or for any other god, because he will magnify himself above all.

³⁸Instead, he will honor a god of fortresses — a god his fathers did not know — with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.

³⁹He will deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing land as a reward.

⁴⁰“At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will invade countries and sweep through them like a flood.

⁴¹He will also invade the beautiful land, and many will fall. But these will escape from his power: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of the Ammonites.

⁴²He will extend his power against the countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape.

⁴³He will get control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt. The Libyans and Cushites will also be in submission.

⁴⁴But reports from the east and the north will terrify him, and he will go out with great fury to annihilate and completely destroy many.

⁴⁵He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, but he will meet his end with no one to help him.

¹At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.

²Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.

³Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

⁴“But you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.”

⁵Then I, Daniel, looked, and two others were standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the other.

⁶One of them said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the water of the river, “How long until the end of these wondrous things?”

⁷Then I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the water of the river. He raised both his hands toward heaven and swore by him who lives eternally that it would be for a time, times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people is shattered, all these things will be completed.

⁸I heard but did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”

⁹He said, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end.

¹⁰Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.

¹¹From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

¹²Happy is the one who waits for and reaches 1,335 days.

¹³But as for you, go on your way to the end; you will rest, and then you will stand to receive your allotted inheritance at the end of the days.”