Daniel 12

At that time Michael will rise up. He is the great prince who stands guard over your people. There will be a time of trouble worse than any that has happened since there were nations, right up to that time. But at that time your people will be rescued, every one of them whose name is found written in the book.

1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

NoteMichael appears earlier in Daniel (chapters 10 and 12) as a heavenly figure assigned to Israel; "prince" here means a commander or guardian, not a royal heir. "The book" is the image of a king's register, a list of citizens or of the living kept at court. To be written in it is to be counted among those who belong.

2Many of the people who sleep in the dust of the ground will wake up. Some will wake to life that lasts forever, and some to shame and disgrace that lasts forever.

2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Note"Sleep in the dust of the earth" is ordinary Hebrew idiom for being dead and buried; the dust is the grave. The word behind "many" can mean either a large number out of a larger whole, or the whole multitude itself, and Hebrew readers could take it either way. "Contempt" translates a rare word meaning something people turn away from in revulsion.

3Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky shines. Those who turn many people to doing what is right will shine like the stars, forever and ever.

3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

NoteThe "firmament" of the King James is the sky pictured as a solid vault or dome stretched over the earth, the way the ancient world imagined it. "Turn many to righteousness" uses courtroom language: to put people in the right, or to lead them to live rightly.

4But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book shut until the time of the end. Many people will go here and there, and knowledge will increase.

4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

NoteDocuments in this period were written on scrolls, rolled up, tied, and stamped with clay or wax bearing the owner's seal, so that tampering would show. Sealing a text meant closing it against use until an authorized time. The phrase rendered "go here and there" is disputed: the verb can mean to roam physically, or to range over a text searching it, so the line may mean people will travel widely or that they will search the words for meaning.

5Then I, Daniel, looked, and I saw two others standing there. One was on this bank of the river, and the other was on the opposite bank.

5Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.

NoteThe river is the Tigris, named in chapter 10, where this vision began.

6One of them spoke to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river. He asked, "How long will it be until these wonders are finished?"

6And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

NoteLinen was the fabric of priestly dress, worn for service in the temple; a figure clothed in linen is being marked as belonging to the holy sphere. This is the same figure who appeared to Daniel in chapter 10.

7The man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward the sky. I heard him make a promise, swearing by the one who lives forever. He said, "It will be for a time, times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been completely broken, all these things will be finished."

7And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

NoteAn oath was normally sworn with one hand raised; raising both doubles the gesture, making the oath as solemn as it can be. Swearing "by him that liveth for ever" invokes God as the witness who guarantees it. "A time, times, and half a time" is deliberately vague counting, one unit, then a plural, then a half, most naturally read as three and a half of something, usually taken as years. "The holy people" means the people set apart for God, that is, Israel.

8I heard what he said, but I did not understand it. So I asked, "My lord, how will all this turn out in the end?"

8And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

Note"My lord" is a respectful address to a superior, the same word one would use to a human master; Daniel is speaking to the figure in linen, not directly to God.

9He answered, "Go on your way, Daniel, because these words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.

9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

10Many people will be made clean, made spotless, and refined like metal in a fire. But the wicked will keep on doing wicked things. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

10Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

11From the time the daily sacrifice is taken away and the hateful thing that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

NoteThe "daily sacrifice" was the offering burned in the Jerusalem temple every morning and evening without fail; stopping it meant the temple's regular worship had been shut down. The "abomination that maketh desolate" translates a phrase for something detestable set up in the sanctuary that drives worshipers away and leaves the place empty, Daniel uses it three times (chapters 9, 11, and here).

12Happy is the one who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

12Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

NoteThe two figures differ by forty-five days; the text gives no explanation for the gap, and it calls the one who holds out to the longer number blessed.

13But as for you, go on your way until the end comes. You will rest, and then you will rise to receive the share set aside for you at the end of the days."

13But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Note"Stand in thy lot" uses the language of land distribution: when Israel entered Canaan the territory was divided by casting lots, and each family received its allotted share. To stand in your lot is to take up the portion assigned to you. "You will rest" is a common way of saying you will die.