9 After that, the king of the north will take his army into the land that the king of the south rules. But they will cause him to return to his own country. 10 Then his sons will prepare to fight a war. They will bring together a large army. Their soldiers will march forward like a powerful river. They will fight a battle all the way into the strong place of their enemy.
11:10Israel was in the middle, between Egypt and Syria. Perhaps Syria's army was moving south into Israel. But Egypt's army then marches north to attack them.
11 Then the king of the south will be very angry. He will march with his army to fight against the king of the north. The king from the north will also have a large army, but the king of the south will win the battle. 12 The king of the south will boast that he has destroyed this large army. He will be proud that he has killed thousands of people. But he will not continue to win battles. 13 The king of the north will again bring together a large army. It will be even bigger than the army that he had before. After a few years, he will march forward with his great army and all their many weapons.
14 At that time, many people will turn against the king of the south. Violent men from your own people in Israel will also be ready to attack him. This would make the vision become true. They will fight against him, but they will fail. 15 Then the king from the north will march south with his army. He will build up heaps of earth around the walls of a strong city. He will take the city for himself. The soldiers of the kingdom in the south will not be able to stop him. Even their best soldiers will not be strong enough to win the fight. 16 The king who attacked from the north will do whatever he wants to do. Nobody will be able to stop him. He will march into the Beautiful Land. He will have the power to destroy it.
11:15Soldiers built heaps of earth like this so that they could climb over the walls and attack the city.
11:16The Beautiful Land was Israel, the land that God had given to his people as their home.
17 The king from the north will decide to march south with all his kingdom's strong army. He will make an agreement with the king of the south. He will give one of his daughters to marry the king of the south. He will try to destroy that kingdom, but his plan will fail. His daughter will not be able to do anything to help him.
