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2 And now I will tell you the (A)truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise [a]in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, [b]he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of [c](B)Greece. 3 And a (C)mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and (D)do as he pleases. 4 But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out (E)toward the (F)four [d]points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be (G)uprooted and given to others besides [e]them.
5 “Then the (H)king of the South will grow strong, [f]along with one of his princes [g]who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed. 6 After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the (I)king of the North to carry out [h]a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her [i]position of power, nor will he remain with his [j]power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times. 7 But one of the [k]descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the (J)fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength. 8 Also their (K)gods with their [l]metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will [m]refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. 9 Then [n]the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.
10 “His sons will [o]mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and (L)overflow and pass through, that he may [p]again wage war up to his very fortress. 11 The (M)king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight [q]with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into [r]the hand of the former. 12 When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and [s]after an (N)interval of some years he will [t]press on with a great army and much equipment.
14 “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will [u]fall down. 15 Then the king of the North will come, cast up a (O)siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even [v]their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16 But he who comes against him will (P)do as he pleases, and (Q)no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the [w](R)Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17 He will (S)set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, [x]bringing with him [y]a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be [z]on his side. 18 Then he will turn his face to the (T)coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will (U)repay him for his scorn. 19 So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will (V)stumble and fall and be (W)found no more.
20 “Then in his place one will arise who will (X)send an [aa]oppressor through the [ab]Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle. 21 In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and (Y)seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 The overflowing (Z)forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. 24 [ac]In a time of tranquility he will enter the (AA)richest parts of the [ad]realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his [ae]ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 He will stir up his strength and [af]courage against the (AB)king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him. 26 Those who eat his choice food will [ag]destroy him, and his army will [ah](AC)overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27 As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on (AD)evil, and they will (AE)speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the (AF)end is still to come at the appointed time. 28 Then he will return to his land with much [ai]plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.
29 “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but [aj]this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30 For ships of [ak](AG)Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will arise, (AH)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the (AI)abomination [al]of desolation. 32 By (AJ)smooth words he will [am]turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display (AK)strength and take action. 33 [an](AL)Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will (AM)fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. 34 Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will (AN)join with them in (AO)hypocrisy. 35 Some of [ao]those who have insight will fall, in order to (AP)refine, (AQ)purge and make them [ap](AR)pure until the (AS)end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.
7 (A)Little children, make sure no one (B)deceives you; (C)the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is (D)of the devil; for the devil [a]has sinned from the beginning. (E)The Son of God (F)appeared for this purpose, (G)to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is [b](H)born of God (I)practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is [c]born of God. 10 By this the (J)children of God and the (K)children of the devil are obvious: [d]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who (L)does not love his (M)brother.
11 (N)For this is the message (O)which you have heard from the beginning, (P)that we should love one another; 12 not as (Q)Cain, who was of (R)the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because (S)his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if (T)the world hates you. 14 We know that we have (U)passed out of death into life, (V)because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who (W)hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that (X)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 We know love by this, that (Y)He laid down His life for us; and (Z)we ought to lay down our lives for the (AA)brethren. 17 But (AB)whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and (AC)closes his [e]heart [f]against him, (AD)how does the love of God abide in him? 18 (AE)Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and (AF)truth. 19 We will know by this that we are (AG)of the truth, and will [g]assure our heart before Him 20 [h]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 (AH)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have (AI)confidence [i]before God; 22 and (AJ)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we (AK)keep His commandments and do (AL)the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 This is His commandment, that we [j](AM)believe in (AN)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as (AO)He [k]commanded us. 24 The one who (AP)keeps His commandments (AQ)abides in Him, and He in him. (AR)We know by this that (AS)He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (A)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (B)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is (C)built
As a city that is (D)compact together;
4 To which the tribes (E)go up, even the tribes of [a]the Lord—
[b]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there (F)thrones were set for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (G)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (H)love you.
7 “May peace be within your (I)walls,
And prosperity within your (J)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (K)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(L)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will (M)seek your good.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.