Daniel 10:1-12:13

    [1] In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel, who had been named Belteshazzar. The revelation was certain: a great war; he understood it from the vision. [2] In those days, I, Daniel, mourned three full weeks. [3] I ate no savory food, I took no meat or wine, and I did not anoint myself at all until the end of the three weeks.
    [4] On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was on the bank of the great river, the Tigris. [5] As I looked up, I saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of fine gold around his waist. [6] His body was like chrysolite, his face shown like lightning, his eyes were like fiery torches, his arms and feet looked like burnished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a multitude. [7] I alone, Daniel, saw the vision; but great fear seized the men who were with me; they fled and hid themselves, although they did not see the vision. [8] So I was left alone, seeing this great vision. No strength remained in me; I turned the color of death and was powerless. [9] When I heard the sound of his voice, I fell face forward in a faint.
    [10] But then a hand touched me, raising me to my hands and knees. [11] "Daniel, beloved," he said to me, "understand the words which I am speaking to you; stand up, for my mission now is to you." When he said this to me, I stood up trembling. [12] "Fear not, Daniel," he continued; "from the first day you made up your mind to acquire understanding and humble yourself before God, your prayer was heard. Because of it I started out, [13] but the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kings of Persia, [14] and came to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the days to come; for there is yet a vision concerning those days."
    [15] While he was speaking thus to me, I fell forward and kept silent. [16] Then something like a man's hand touched my lips; I opened my mouth and said to the one facing me, "My lord, I was seized with pangs at the vision and I was powerless. [17] How can my lord's servant speak with you, my lord? For now no strength or even breath is left in me." [18] The one who looked like a man touched me again and strengthened me, saying, [19] "Fear not, beloved, you are safe; take courage and be strong." [20] When he spoke to me, I grew strong and said, "Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me." "Do you know," he asked, "why I have come to you? Soon I must fight the prince of Persia again. When I leave, the prince of Greece will come; [21] but I shall tell you what is written in the truthful book. No one supports me against all these except Michael, your prince,

11:1 standing as a reinforcement and a bulwark for me. [2] Now I shall tell you the truth.
     "Three kings of Persia are yet to come; and a fourth shall acquire the greatest riches of all. Strengthened by his riches, he shall rouse all the kingdom of Greece. [3] But a powerful king shall appear and rule with great might, doing as he pleases. [4] No sooner shall he appear than his kingdom shall be broken and divided in four directions under heaven; but not among his descendants or in keeping with his mighty rule, for his kingdom shall be torn to pieces and belong to others than they.
    [5] "The king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his princes shall grow stronger still and govern a domain greater than his. [6] After some years they shall become allies: the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north in the interest of peace. But her bid for power shall fail: and her line shall not be recognized, and she shall be given up, together with those who brought her, her son and her husband. But later [7] a descendant of her line shall succeed to his rank, and shall come against the rampart and enter the stronghold of the king of the north, and conquer them. [8] Even their gods, with their molten images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, he shall carry away as booty into Egypt. For years he shall have nothing to do with the king of the north. [9] Then the latter shall invade the land of the king of the south, and return to his own country.
    [10]  "But his sons shall prepare and assemble a great armed host, which shall advance like a flood, then withdraw. When it returns and surges around the stronghold, [11] the king of the south, provoked, shall go out to fight against the king of the north, whose great host shall make a stand but shall be given into his hand [12] and be carried off. In the pride of his heart, he shall lay low tens of thousands, but he shall not triumph. [13] For the king of the north shall raise another army, greater than before; after some years he shall attack with this large army and great resources. [14] In those times many shall resist the king of the south, and outlaws of your people shall rise up in fulfillment of vision, but they shall fail. [15] When the king of the north comes, he shall set up siegeworks and take the fortified city by storm. The power of the south shall not withstand him, and not even his picked troops shall have the strength to resist. [16] He shall attack him and do as he pleases, with no one to withstand him. He shall stop in the glorious land, dealing destruction. [17] He shall set himself to penetrate the entire strength of his kingdom. He shall conclude an agreement with him and give him a daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but this shall not succeed in his favor. [18] He shall turn to the coastland and take many, but a leader shall put an end to his shameful conduct, so that he cannot renew it against him. [19] He shall turn to the strongholds of his own land, but shall stumble and fall, to be found no more. [20] In his stead one shall arise who will send a tax collector through the glorious kingdom, but he shall soon be destroyed, though not in conflict or in battle.
    [21]  "There shall rise in his place a despicable person, to whom the royal insignia shall not be given. By stealth and fraud he shall seize the kingdom. [22] Armed might shall be completely overwhelmed by him and crushed, and even the prince of the covenant. [23] After allying with him, he shall treacherously rise to power with a small party. [24] By stealth he shall enter prosperous provinces and do that which his fathers or grandfathers never did; he shall distribute spoil, booty, and riches among them and devise plots against their strongholds; but only for a time. [25] He shall call on his strength and cleverness to meet the king of the south with a great army; the king of the south shall prepare for battle with a very large and strong army, but he shall not succeed because of the plots devised against him. [26] Even his table companions shall seek to destroy him, his army shall be overwhelmed, and many shall fall slain. [27] The two kings, resolved on evil, shall sit at table together and exchange lies, but they shall have no success, because the appointed end is not yet.
    [28]  "He shall turn back toward his land with great riches, his mind set against the holy covenant; he shall arrange matters and return to his land. [29] At the time appointed he shall come again to the south, but this time it shall not be as before. [30] When ships of the Kittim confront him, he shall lose heart and retreat. Then he shall direct his rage and energy against the holy covenant; those who forsake it he shall once more single out. [31] Armed forces shall move at his command and defile the sanctuary stronghold, abolishing the daily sacrifice and setting up the horrible abomination. [32] By his deceit he shall make some who were disloyal to the covenant apostatize; but those who remain loyal to their God shall take strong action. [33] The nation's wise men shall instruct the many; though for a time they will become victims of the sword, of flames, exile, and plunder. [34] When they fall, few people shall help them, but many shall join them out of treachery. [35] Of the wise men, some shall fall, so that the rest may be tested, refined, and purified, until the end time which is still appointed to come.
    [36] "The king shall do as he pleases, exalting himself and making himself greater than any god; he shall utter dreadful blasphemies against the God of gods. He shall prosper only till divine wrath is ready, for what is determined must take place. [37] He shall have no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one in whom women delight; for no god shall he have regard, because he shall make himself greater than all. [38] Instead, he shall give glory to the god of strongholds; a god unknown to his fathers he shall glorify with gold, silver, precious stones, and other treasures. [39] To defend the strongholds he shall station a people of a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he shall provide with abundant honor; he shall make them rule over the many and distribute the land as a reward.
    [40]  "At the appointed time the king of the south shall come to grips with him, but the king of the north shall overwhelm him with chariots and horsemen and a great fleet, passing through the countries like a flood. [41] He shall enter the glorious land and many shall fall, except Edom, Moab, and the chief part of Ammon, which shall escape from his power. [42] He shall extend his power over the countries, and not even the land of Egypt shall escape. [43] He shall control the riches of gold and silver and all the treasures of Egypt; Libya and Ethiopia shall be in his train. [44] When news from the east and the north terrifies him, he shall set out with great fury to slay and to doom many. [45] He shall pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the sea and the glorious holy mountain, but he shall come to his end with none to help him.

 [12:1] "At that time there shall arise
        Michael, the great prince,
        guardian of your people;
    It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
        since nations began until that time.
    At that time your people shall escape,
        everyone who is found written in the book.
    [2] Many of those who sleep
        in the dust of the earth shall awake;
    some shall live forever,
        others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
    [3] But the wise shall shine brightly
        like the splendor of the firmament,
    And those who lead the many to justice
        shall be like the stars forever.
    [4]  "As for you, Daniel, keep secret the message and seal the book until the end time; many shall fall away and evil shall increase."
    [5] I, Daniel, looked and saw two others, one standing on either bank of the river. [6] One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was upstream, "How long shall it be to the end of these appalling things?" [7] The man clothed in linen, who was upstream, lifted his right and left hands to heaven; and I heard him swear by him who lives forever that it should be for a year, two years, a half-year; and that, when the power of the destroyer of the holy people was brought to an end, all these things should end. [8] I heard, but I did not understand; so I asked, "My lord, what follows this?" [9] "Go, Daniel," he said, "because the words are to be kept secret and sealed until the end time. [10] Many shall be refined, purified, and tested, but the wicked shall prove wicked; none of them shall have understanding, but the wise shall have it. [11] From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the horrible abomination is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. [12] Blessed is the man who has patience and perseveres until the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. [13] Go, take your rest, you shall rise for your reward at the end of days."

Jude 1:1-25   

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ: [2] may mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
    [3] Beloved, although I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel a need to write to encourage you to contend for the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones. [4] For there have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
    [5] I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that (the) Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe. [6] The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day. [7] Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
    [8] Similarly, these dreamers nevertheless also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings. [9] Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" [10] But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals. [11] Woe to them! They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam's error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. [12] These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted. [13] They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
    [14] Enoch, of the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said, "Behold, the Lord has come with his countless holy ones [15] to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the harsh words godless sinners have uttered against him." [16] These people are complainers, disgruntled ones who live by their desires; their mouths utter bombast as they fawn over people to gain advantage.
    [17] But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, [18] for they told you, "In (the) last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires." [19] These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit. [20] But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. [21] Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. [22] On those who waver, have mercy; [23] save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh. 
    [24] To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory, [25] to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.

Rev. 12:1-17