1 “As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
2 “Now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings will stand up in Persia; and the fourth will be far richer than all of them. When he has grown strong through his riches, he will stir up all against the realm of Greece.
3 A mighty king will stand up, who will rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4 When he stands up, his kingdom will be broken, and will be divided towards the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom will be plucked up, even for others besides these.
5 “The king of the south will be strong. One of his princes will become stronger than him, and have dominion. His dominion will be a great dominion.
6 At the end of years they will join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement; but she will not retain the strength of her arm. He will also not stand, nor will his arm; but she will be given up, with those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.
7 “But out of a shoot from her roots one will stand up in his place, who will come to the army, and will enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and will deal against them, and will prevail.