Study Desk

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

I heard his voice speaking; and when I heard him speaking, I fell down in a faint, with my face to the ground.

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."

however, I was already standing up to support and help Daryavesh the Mede in the first year of his reign.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

"Afterwards, the king of the north will invade the kingdom of the king of the south, but he will retire to his own land.

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.

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

"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.

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.

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.

After this, he will put his attention on the strongholds in his own land; but he will stumble, fall and not be seen again.