Ego autem ab anno primo Darii Medi stabam ut confortaretur et roboraretur.

Him to strengthen and uphold has been my task, ever since Darius the Mede began reigning.

And from the first year of Darius the Mede I stood up that he might be strengthened and confirmed.

Et nunc veritatem annuntiabo tibi. Ecce adhuc tres reges stabunt in Perside, et quartus ditabitur opibus nimiis super omnes: et cum invaluerit divitiis suis, concitabit omnes adversum regnum Græciæ.

And now, doom to foreshew thee, a king shall rise in Persia, the fourth from this, rich in great revenue beyond all the others; in the power such wealth gives him, he will set the whole world in motion against the realm of Greece …

And now I will shew thee the truth. Behold there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

Surget vero rex fortis, et dominabitur potestate multa, et faciet quod placuerit ei.

And a warrior king shall arise, winning such empire that there is no resisting his will.

But there shall rise up a strong king, and shall rule with great power: and he shall do what he pleaseth.

Et cum steterit, conteretur regnum ejus, et dividetur in quatuor ventos cæli: sed non in posteros ejus, neque secundum potentiam illius, qua dominatus est: lacerabitur enim regnum ejus etiam in externos, exceptis his.

Divided that empire shall be, as soon as it is established, between the four quarters of heaven; not sons of his they shall be that rule it, nor peers of his; besides these, foreign lords shall part his dominions between them.

And when he shall come to his height, his kingdom shall be broken, and it shall be divided towards the four winds of the heaven: but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be rent in pieces, even for strangers, beside these.

Et confortabitur rex austri: et de principibus ejus prævalebit super eum, et dominabitur ditione: multa enim dominatio ejus.

The southern kingdom a strong ruler shall have, but of his vassals one shall be mightier than he, and in dominion excel him; wide, wide his domain;

And the king of the south shall be strengthened, and one of his princes shall prevail over him, and he shall rule with great power: for his dominion shall be great.

Et post finem annorum fœderabuntur: filiaque regis austri veniet ad regem aquilonis facere amicitiam, et non obtinebit fortitudinem brachii, nec stabit semen ejus: et tradetur ipsa, et qui adduxerunt eam adolescentes ejus, et qui confortabant eam in temporibus.

until at last these two make terms between them, and, to seal their amity, daughter of Egyptian king to Syrian king must pass. Yet thrive she may not, nor dynasty of hers endure; herself in due time, with retinue of hers, faction of hers, must be a victim.

And after the end of years they shall be in league together: and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make friendship, but she shall not obtain the strength of the arm, neither shall her seed stand: and she shall be given up, and her young men that brought her, and they that strengthened her in these times.

Et stabit de germine radicum ejus plantatio: et veniet cum exercitu, et ingredietur provinciam regis aquilonis: et abutetur eis, et obtinebit.

Not unavenged; scion of her own father’s stock shall march on Syria, and do battle, and prevail;

And a plant of the bud of her roots shall stand up: and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the province of the king of the north: and he shall abuse them, and shall prevail.

Insuper et deos eorum, et sculptilia, vasa quoque pretiosa argenti et auri, captiva ducet in Ægyptum: ipse prævalebit adversus regem aquilonis.

shall carry off to Egypt the images of Syria’s gods, its treasures of silver and gold. Then, his rival mastered,

And he shall also carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven things, and their precious vessels of gold and silver: he shall prevail against the king of the north.

Et intrabit in regnum rex austri, et revertetur ad terram suam.

with that inroad he shall be content, and to his own kingdom return.

And the king of the south shall enter into the kingdom, and shall return to his own land.

Filii autem ejus provocabuntur, et congregabunt multitudinem exercituum plurimorum: et veniet properans, et inundans: et revertetur, et concitabitur, et congredietur cum robore ejus.

To Syria’s heirs the quarrel is left; and now there are great hosts a-mustering, under a new king that must ever be hurrying on, like river in flood, returning with spirit to the charge, throwing all his forces into the assault.

And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and he shall come with haste like a flood: and he shall return and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his forces.

Et provocatus rex austri egredietur, et pugnabit adversus regem aquilonis, et præparabit multitudinem nimiam, et dabitur multitudo in manu ejus.

See with what fury the Egyptian king takes the field against him, rallies a great host of his own, and over Syria’s host gains the mastery!

And the king of the south being provoked shall go forth, and shall fight against the king of the north, and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude, and a multitude shall be given into his hands.

Et capiet multitudinem, et exaltabitur cor ejus, et dejiciet multa millia, sed non prævalebit.

Captives a many, dead warriors a many, to gladden his heart, but all to no purpose;

And he shall take a multitude, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many thousands: but he shall not prevail.

Convertetur enim rex aquilonis, et præparabit multitudinem multo majorem quam prius: et in fine temporum annorumque veniet properans cum exercitu magno, et opibus nimiis.

back Syria comes, in greater force than ever, ranks filled, and treasures swollen, with the years.

For the king of the north shall return and shall prepare a multitude much greater than before: and in the end of times and years, he shall come in haste with a great army, and much riches.

Et in temporibus illis multi consurgent adversus regem austri: filii quoque prævaricatorum populi tui extollentur ut impleant visionem, et corruent.

All the world will be for picking a quarrel with Egypt then; hot-heads there will be among thy own people who think to fulfil the old prophecies thus, but to their cost.

And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south, and the children of prevaricators of thy people shall lift up themselves to fulfil the vision, and they shall fall.

Et venit rex aquilonis, et comportabit aggerem, et capiet urbes munitissimas: et brachia austri non sustinebunt, et consurgent electi ejus ad resistendum, et non erit fortitudo.

On marches he, yonder Syrian king, raises mound, and makes fortified cities his own; Egypt’s vigour is all spent, never a halt, though its best warriors engage him;

And the king of the north shall come, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take the best fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up to resist, and they shall not have strength.

Et faciet veniens super eum juxta placitum suum, et non erit qui stet contra faciem ejus: et stabit in terra inclyta, et consumetur in manu ejus.

irresistible he comes, to impose terms on his enemy, sets foot in a noble land and crushes it under his heel.

And he shall come upon him and do according to his pleasure, and there shall be none to stand against his face: and he shall stand in the glorious land, and it shall be consumed by his hand.

Et ponet faciem suam ut veniat ad tenendum universum regnum ejus, et recta faciet cum eo: et filiam feminarum dabit ei, ut evertat illud: et non stabit, nec illius erit.

How to gain secure possession of the whole kingdom? A bargain must be struck; gift of a royal bride shall be the land’s undoing! But no, that will not serve, never shall it be his.

And he shall set his face to come to possess all his kingdom, and he shall make upright conditions with him: and he shall give him a daughter of women, to overthrow it: and she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him.

Et convertet faciem suam ad insulas, et capiet multas: et cessare faciet principem opprobrii sui, et opprobrium ejus convertetur in eum.

To the sea-coast he turns his thoughts instead, and conquers lands a many; puts to silence the author of his own disgrace, and covers him with disgrace in his turn.

And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: and he shall cause the prince of his reproach to cease, and his reproach shall be turned upon him.

Et convertet faciem suam ad imperium terræ suæ, et impinget, et corruet, et non invenietur.

But at last, to his own province turning back, he totters to his fall, and the fame of him is heard no more.

And he shall turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he shall stumble, and fall, and shall not be found.

Et stabit in loco ejus vilissimus, et indignus decore regio: et in paucis diebus conteretur, non in furore, nec in prælio.

To a vile creature his throne must pass, of a throne unworthy; soon shall his end come, and yet no blow struck in anger, or in battle.

And there shall stand up in his place, one most vile, and unworthy of kingly honour: and in a few days he shall be destroyed, not in rage nor in battle.

Et stabit in loco ejus despectus, et non tribuetur ei honor regius: et veniet clam, et obtinebit regnum in fraudulentia.

And after him a man little thought of; royal investiture he has none, yet see how stealthy his approach, what shifts he uses to win a throne!

And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud.

Et brachia pugnantis expugnabuntur a facie ejus, et conterentur: insuper et dux fœderis.

Down go strong armies, crushed before him, down goes covenanted chief;

And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken; yea also the prince of the covenant.

Et post amicitias, cum eo faciet dolum: et ascendet, et superabit in modico populo.

treaty first, and then treachery; of armed following he needs but little.

And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people.

Et abundantes, et uberes urbes ingredietur: et faciet quæ non fecerunt patres ejus, et patres patrum ejus: rapinas, et prædam, et divitias eorum dissipabit, et contra firmissimas cogitationes inibit: et hoc usque ad tempus.

So he makes his way into rich cities that suspect no harm, outdoes father and grandsire both in havoc, so much wealth to plunder and to squander; into strong cities, too, by crafty devices, while fortune serves.

And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers’ fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time.

Et concitabitur fortitudo ejus, et cor ejus adversum regem austri in exercitu magno: et rex austri provocabitur ad bellum multis auxiliis, et fortibus nimis: et non stabunt, quia inibunt adversus eum consilia.

Power of his and policy of his he shall match at last against Egypt, with a great army at his back; alas, Egypt, what avails that great muster of warriors? Craft wins the day;

And his strength and his heart shall be stirred up against the king of the south with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him.

Et comedentes panem cum eo, conterent illum, exercitusque ejus opprimetur: et cadent interfecti plurimi.

men that feed on thy royal bounty are thy own undoing, and with great slaughter that army of thine is overborne.

And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain.

Duorum quoque regum cor erit ut malefaciant, et ad mensam unam mendacium loquentur: et non proficient, quia adhuc finis in aliud tempus.

See where the two kings plot mischief at one table, liars both! But nothing they shall achieve; not yet the appointed hour has come.

And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time.

Et revertetur in terram suam cum opibus multis: et cor ejus adversum testamentum sanctum, et faciet, et revertetur in terram suam.

Back goes the king of Syria, enriched with spoil, wreaking his spite on God’s covenant as he journeys home;

And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall succeed and shall return into his own land.

Statuto tempore revertetur, et veniet ad austrum: et non erit priori simile novissimum.

then, when the time is ripe, marches once again southwards. Yet speed he shall not as once he sped;

At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the south, but the latter time shall not be like the former.

Et venient super eum trieres, et Romani: et percutietur, et revertetur, et indignabitur contra testamentum sanctuarii, et faciet: reverteturque, et cogitabit adversum eos qui dereliquerunt testamentum sanctuarii.

here are Roman galleys overtaking him, and he must return discomfited.And now, as he returns, he shall vent his spleen against the holy covenant in good earnest. The forsakers of that covenant have not escaped his eye,

And the galleys and the Romans shall come upon him, and he shall be struck, and shall return, and shall have indignation against the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed: and he shall return and shall devise against them that have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.

Et brachia ex eo stabunt, et polluent sanctuarium fortitudinis, et auferent juge sacrificium: et dabunt abominationem in desolationem.

and there are willing hands a many to help him profane the inviolable sanctuary, daily sacrifice annulling, spreading defilement and desolation there.

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation.

Et impii in testamentum simulabunt fraudulenter: populus autem sciens Deum suum, obtinebit, et faciet.

Fawning knaves, and traitors to the covenant! But those others, that their God acknowledge, shall go all the more boldly to work,

And such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble: but the people that know their God shall prevail and succeed.

Et docti in populo docebunt plurimos: et ruent in gladio, et in flamma, et in captivitate, et in rapina dierum.

counsellors a few that give right counsel to many. Crippled they shall be for a while, by sword and flame, by prison and plunder;

And they that are learned among the people shall teach many: and they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by spoil for many days.

Cumque corruerint, sublevabuntur auxilio parvulo: et applicabuntur eis plurimi fraudulenter.

then, even as they are falling, it will need but a little support, and the fickle multitude will rally to their side.

And when they shall have fallen they shall be relieved with a small help: and many shall be joined to them deceitfully.

Et de eruditis ruent, ut conflentur, et eligantur, et dealbentur usque ad tempus præfinitum: quia adhuc aliud tempus erit.

What if some of them should fall, those wise counsellors? Assayed let them be for a little, sifted, purged for a little; there shall be happier times yet.

And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white even to the appointed time, because yet there shall be another time.

Et faciet juxta voluntatem suam rex, et elevabitur, et magnificabitur adversus omnem deum: et adversus Deum deorum loquetur magnifica, et dirigetur, donec compleatur iracundia: perpetrata quippe est definitio.

As for the king, he shall have all his own way; in his pride, he will think himself a match for any god, even of that God boast himself the rival, who is above all gods, And still he shall thrive; vengeance is not yet ready to overtake him; doom shall come when doom must.

And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished. For the determination is made.

Et Deum patrum suorum non reputabit: et erit in concupiscentiis feminarum, nec quemquam deorum curabit, quia adversum universa consurget.

What are his fathers’ gods to him? Women’s dalliance is all his concern; of gods he recks little, that will set himself up over all.

And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things.

Deum autem Maozim in loco suo venerabitur: et deum, quem ignoraverunt patres ejus, colet auro, et argento, et lapide pretioso, rebusque pretiosis.

When his turn comes, it is the god of Maozim he will worship; for such a god, that never his fathers knew, the gold, and the silver, and the precious jewels;

But he shall worship the god Maozim in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price.

Et faciet ut muniat Maozim cum deo alieno, quem cognovit, et multiplicabit gloriam, et dabit eis potestatem in multis, et terram dividet gratuito.

with this new-found god to aid him, he will make Maozim his stronghold, shower honours and dignities upon its folk, make a present of lands to them.

And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall increase glory and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis.

Et in tempore præfinito præliabitur adversus eum rex austri, et quasi tempestas veniet contra illum rex aquilonis in curribus, et in equitibus, et in classe magna, et ingredietur terras, et conteret, et pertransiet.

Then comes the hour of destiny. Egypt shall declare war, and he, the Syrian king, shall sweep down upon it with horse and chariot and a great fleet.

And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through.

Et introibit in terram gloriosam, et multæ corruent: hæ autem solæ salvabuntur de manu ejus, Edom, et Moab, et principium filiorum Ammon.

Which lands will he invade and conquer, which pass by, ere he reach the noblest of them all? Ruined a many shall be, but Edom shall escape his onslaught, and Moab, and the princedom of Ammon.

And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon.

Et mittet manum suam in terras: et terra Ægypti non effugiet.

A country here he will attempt, a country there, and be sure Egypt shall not go unscathed;

And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

Et dominabitur thesaurorum auri, et argenti, et in omnibus pretiosis Ægypti: per Libyam quoque, et Æthiopiam transibit.

gold and silver of Egypt, and all its precious treasures shall come into his power. Then, as through Libya and Ethiopia he makes his way,

And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Libya, and Ethiopia.

Et fama turbabit eum ab oriente et ab aquilone: et veniet in multitudine magna ut conterat et interficiat plurimos.

tidings shall come from east and north, to bring him back with all his host, ready for havoc, ready for carnage.

And tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many.

Et figet tabernaculum suum Apadno inter maria, super montem inclytum et sanctum: et veniet usque ad summitatem ejus, et nemo auxiliabitur ei.

See where he sets up his royal pavilion betwixt sea and sea on yonder noble hill, yonder sacred hill; reaches its very summit, and none brings aid!

And he shall fix his tabernacle Apadno between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him.