19. “After that happens, the northern king will go back to the strong forts of his own country. But he will be weak and will fall. He will be finished.
20. “After the northern king, there will be a new ruler who sends out tax collectors so that he can live like a king. But after a few years, he will be destroyed, although he will not die in battle.
21. “That ruler will be followed by a very cruel and hated man, who will not have the honor of being from a king’s family. He will become a ruler by being tricky. He will attack the kingdom when the people feel safe.
22. He will defeat large and powerful armies. He will even defeat the leader with the agreement.
23. Many nations will make agreements with that cruel and hated ruler, but he will lie and trick them. He will gain much power, but only a few people will support him.
24. “When the richest countries feel safe, that cruel and hated ruler will attack them. He will attack at just the right time and will be successful where his ancestors were not successful. He will take things from the countries he defeated, and he will give them to his followers. He will plan to defeat and destroy strong cities. He will be successful—but only for a short time.
25. “That very cruel and hated ruler will have a very large army. He will use that army to show his strength and courage and attack the southern king. The southern king will get a very large and powerful army and go to war. But the people who are against him will make secret plans, and the southern king will be defeated.
26. People who were supposed to be good friends of the southern king will try to destroy him. His army will be defeated. Many of his soldiers will be killed in battle.
27. Those two kings will want to make trouble. They will sit around the table planning their lies, but it will not do either one of them any good because God has set a time for their end to come.
28. “The northern king will go back to his own country with much wealth. Then he will decide to do bad things against the holy agreement. He will do the things he planned, and then he will go back to his own country.
29. “At the right time, the northern king will attack the southern king again. But this time he will not be successful as he was before.
30. Ships from Cyprus will come and fight against the northern king. He will see those ships coming and be afraid. Then he will turn back and take out his anger on the holy agreement. He will turn back and help those who stopped following the holy agreement.
31. The northern king will send his army to do terrible things to the Temple in Jerusalem. They will stop the people from offering the daily sacrifice. Then they will do something really terrible. They will set up that terrible thing that causes destruction.
32. “The northern king will use lies and smooth talking to trick those who quit following the holy agreement, so they will sin even worse. But those who know God and obey him will be strong. They will fight back.