“These two kings will sit at the same table and exchange lies with their hearts filled with evil motives. But their plans will come to nothing, for the time set by God has still not yet come.
Even some of the wise leaders will stumble, yet this will lead to them being purged, purified, and made clean—until the time of the end, for the appointed time is still to come.”
They search out opportunities to pervert justice as they plan the “perfect crime.” How unsearchable is their endless evil! They try desperately to hide the deep darkness of their hearts.
“At the time of the end, the king of Egypt will lock horns with the king of Syria, but the king of Syria will come storming out against him like a whirlwind—with chariots, cavalry, and a great fleet of ships. He will pass through countries, overrun them, and sweep through them like a flood.
For the appointed day has risen, in which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has designated. And the proof given to the world that God has chosen this man is this: he resurrected him from among the dead!”
He answered, “The Father is the one who sets the fixed dates and the times of their fulfillment. You are not permitted to know the timing of all that he has prepared by his own authority.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, I, Daniel, known as Belteshazzar, received a profound word—a true revelation, but I struggled to understand it. Finally, its interpretation was disclosed to me in a vision, and I began to understand the word.
So I, Lord Yahweh, ask you: Will the vine thrive? Will not the first eagle come and tear out its roots? Will it not strip off its grapes so that all its foliage withers? Then, even weak ones could easily uproot it!
Before God all the people of the earth, high or low, are like smoke that disappears, like a vapor that quickly vanishes away. Compared to God they’re nothing but vanity, nothing at all!
Then the treacherous king of Syria will start back home with his great spoils. He will set his heart against the holy covenant, take action against it, and then return to his own land.
As the angel Gabriel came closer to where I was standing, I was so terrified that I fell facedown on the ground. Then he said to me, “Daniel, son of man, you need to understand that your vision refers to the time of the end.”