33. “The people’s teachers will help many understand, but for a time they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder.
34. When they fall, they will receive a little help, but many will join them with deceitful plans.
35. Some of the teachers too will fall in order that they might be refined, purified, and cleansed—until an end time, because it is still not yet the set time.
36. “The king will do whatever he wants. He will exalt himself, making himself greater than any god. He will say unbelievable things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the doom is completed, because what is decreed must take place.
37. He will give no thought to the gods of his fathers, nor to the god cherished by women. He will give no thought to any god, because he will make himself greater than all of them.
38. In their place, he will worship a god of walled fortresses. With gold and silver, rare stones and precious things, he will worship a god his fathers did not acknowledge.
39. He will deal with walled fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will heap rewards on those who support him, making them rule over many and dividing up the land for a price.
40. At the end time, the southern king will attack him. The northern king will storm against him with chariots and horses and many ships. He will invade countries, sweeping over them like a flood.
41. He will invade the beautiful country, and tens of thousands will die. But Edom, Moab, and the best of the Ammonites will escape from his hand.
42. He will extend his power into other countries. Even Egypt won’t escape.
43. He will take control of Egypt’s hidden treasures of gold, silver, and all its precious things. Libyans and Cushites will follow at his feet.
44. But reports from the east and north will alarm him, and in a great rage he will set off to devastate and destroy many.
45. He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, and no one will help him.