Book of Daniel Prophecies All Prophecies 21 Q&A entries in total
Daniel 2:31-35 — Nebuchadnezzar's Statue Dream (the statue as a whole)
Daniel: "Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue — an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them."
The king dreamed of a colossal statue: gold head, silver chest, bronze belly, iron legs, feet of mixed iron and clay. A heaven-sent stone shattered the feet and the entire statue crumbled.
Daniel 2:36-38 — The gold head: Babylonian Empire
Daniel: "You are that head of gold."
Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar directly that the golden head of the statue represented him and his Babylonian Empire.
Daniel 2:39a — The silver chest: Persian Empire
Daniel: "After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours."
After the golden head, a second empire would rise, but it would be inferior to Babylon.
Daniel 2:39b — The bronze belly: Greek Empire
Daniel: "Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth."
The third empire, like bronze, would rule over the entire world.
Daniel 2:40-43 — Iron legs and feet of iron-clay: the fourth empire
Daniel: "Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron... the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle... the people will be a mixture and will not remain united."
The fourth empire would be hard as iron, crushing everything; but in its later phase it would be divided, partly strong and partly weak, as iron and clay cannot bond.
Daniel 3:16-18 — The fiery furnace
Daniel: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it... But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
Three Jewish youths refused to bow to the golden image, declaring they would not submit even if God chose not to save them. After being thrown into the fiery furnace, they emerged unharmed.
Daniel 5:25-28 — Writing on the wall: fall of Babylon
Daniel: "This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Here is what these words mean: Mene — God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel — You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres — Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
During Belshazzar's feast, mysterious writing appeared on the wall. Daniel interpreted it: Babylon's days were numbered, the king was weighed and found lacking, and the kingdom would be divided between the Medes and Persians.
Daniel 6:16-22 — Daniel in the lions' den
Daniel: "So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den... At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den... 'Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?' Daniel answered, 'May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me.'"
Daniel was thrown into the lions' den for continuing to pray to God, yet emerged unharmed the next morning.
Daniel 7:3-7 — Four beasts vision: four empires
Daniel: "Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion with the wings of an eagle... a second beast, which looked like a bear... another beast, one that looked like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back... a fourth beast — terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left."
Four great beasts rose from the sea: a winged lion, a lopsided bear, a four-winged leopard, and a terrifying iron-toothed beast, each symbolizing a successive empire.
Daniel 7:13-14 — The 'Son of Man' vision
Daniel: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
In the vision, 'one like a son of man' came with the clouds and received an eternal kingdom and authority before God.
Daniel 8:3-8 — The ram and the goat: Persia and Greece
Daniel: "I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns standing beside the canal... As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns."
The two-horned ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire; the one-horned goat charging from the west represents Greece. The goat shattered the ram's horns.
Daniel 8:9-14 — The little horn: persecution by Antiochus IV
Daniel: "Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them... It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the LORD. It took away the daily sacrifice from the LORD, and his sanctuary was thrown down."
From one of the four horns grew a small horn (a minor king) who desecrated the Lord of heaven, abolished the daily temple sacrifice, and defiled the sanctuary. This would last 2,300 evenings and mornings.
Daniel 9:24 — The seventy weeks prophecy (overview)
Daniel: "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place."
The angel Gabriel told Daniel that seventy 'sevens' (490 years) were decreed for the Jewish people and Jerusalem — to end transgression, bring in everlasting righteousness, and anoint the Most Holy.
Daniel 9:25 — Seven sevens and sixty-two sevens: from rebuilding to the Messiah
Daniel: "Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble."
From the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, after seven 'sevens' (49 years) of construction and sixty-two 'sevens' (434 years), a total of 483 years, the Anointed One (Messiah) would appear.
Daniel 9:26-27 — The final seven: the Anointed One cut off and the city destroyed
Daniel: "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood... He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
After the 69th seven, the Anointed One would be killed. A ruler's people would destroy the holy city and sanctuary. In the middle of the final seven, sacrifice would cease and the 'abomination of desolation' would appear.
Daniel 11:2-4 — Four Persian kings and the mighty Greek king
Daniel: "Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others... Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power... After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven."
Four Persian kings would reign, the fourth provoking Greece with his wealth. Then a mighty Greek king would rise and rule a vast domain, but his empire would be broken into four parts.
Daniel 11:5-20 — Kings of North and South: Ptolemies vs. Seleucids
Daniel: "The king of the South will become strong... the king of the North will muster a large army... The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance... One from her family line will arise... He will attack the fortress of the king of the North... Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them."
The King of the South (Ptolemaic Egypt) and King of the North (Seleucid Syria) would wage war across multiple generations, with marriages, betrayals, and battles alternating as their power waxed and waned.
Daniel 11:21-35 — The contemptible person: atrocities of Antiochus IV
Daniel: "He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue... His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."
A contemptible person would seize the throne through intrigue, desecrate the Temple, abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up the 'abomination of desolation.' But the faithful would rise up in resistance.
Daniel 11:36-45 — The end-times king: conquest and downfall
Daniel: "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods... At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him... He will invade the Beautiful Land... But reports from the east and the north will alarm him... He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him."
An arrogant end-times king would exalt himself above all gods, invade many lands including the 'Beautiful Land' (Israel), but ultimately meet his doom near the holy mountain with no one to help him.
Daniel 12:1-3 — End-times tribulation and resurrection
Daniel: "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people — everyone whose name is found written in the book — will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever."
In the end times, unprecedented tribulation will occur, but the archangel Michael will protect Israel. The dead will rise — the righteous to eternal life, the wicked to everlasting shame. The wise will shine like stars forever.
Daniel 12:4, 9-10 — Seal the prophecy until the time of the end
Daniel: "But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge... The words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand."
Daniel was told to seal the prophecy until the end times. At that time, human knowledge would greatly increase, but only the wise would comprehend the prophecy's true meaning.
Prophecy Verification Evaluating predictions against reality for expired time points
Daniel 2:31-35 — Nebuchadnezzar's Statue Dream (the statue as a whole)
Daniel: "Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue — an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them."
The king dreamed of a colossal statue: gold head, silver chest, bronze belly, iron legs, feet of mixed iron and clay. A heaven-sent stone shattered the feet and the entire statue crumbled.
Traditional interpretation maps the four metals to the successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Babylon fell to Persia in 539 BCE, Persia to Alexander in 330 BCE, and Rome rose after the Hellenistic kingdoms fragmented. This sequence matches the four-layer imagery. Modern scholars generally view this as history written in prophetic form (by c. 165 BCE, all these empires had already appeared).
Daniel 2:36-38 — The gold head: Babylonian Empire
Daniel: "You are that head of gold."
Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar directly that the golden head of the statue represented him and his Babylonian Empire.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire (626-539 BCE) reached its peak under Nebuchadnezzar II and was one of the most powerful empires of the ancient Near East. The text explicitly identifies the gold head as Nebuchadnezzar, and Babylon was indeed the first great empire of that region.
Daniel 5:25-28 — Writing on the wall: fall of Babylon
Daniel: "This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Here is what these words mean: Mene — God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel — You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres — Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
During Belshazzar's feast, mysterious writing appeared on the wall. Daniel interpreted it: Babylon's days were numbered, the king was weighed and found lacking, and the kingdom would be divided between the Medes and Persians.
According to Daniel 5:30, 'that very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain.' Historically, Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BCE. The Nabonidus Chronicle records the Persian army entering Babylon without a battle. Belshazzar's historical identity has been confirmed by archaeology (his father Nabonidus was the last Babylonian king; Belshazzar served as regent).
Daniel 7:3-7 — Four beasts vision: four empires
Daniel: "Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion with the wings of an eagle... a second beast, which looked like a bear... another beast, one that looked like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back... a fourth beast — terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left."
Four great beasts rose from the sea: a winged lion, a lopsided bear, a four-winged leopard, and a terrifying iron-toothed beast, each symbolizing a successive empire.
The four beasts parallel the four metals in chapter 2: the winged lion = Babylon (winged lion reliefs adorn Babylon's gates), the bear = Persia (massive but lumbering), the four-winged leopard = Greece/Alexander (lightning-fast conquest, empire split into four after his death), the iron-toothed beast = Rome (iron weaponry, overwhelming power). Archaeological and historical records support these correspondences.
Daniel 2:39a — The silver chest: Persian Empire
Daniel: "After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours."
After the golden head, a second empire would rise, but it would be inferior to Babylon.
In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon and established the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE). The Persian Empire's territory far exceeded Babylon's. The phrase 'inferior to yours' is generally interpreted by commentators as referring to lesser cultural splendor or centralization of rule.
Daniel 8:3-8 — The ram and the goat: Persia and Greece
Daniel: "I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns standing beside the canal... As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns."
The two-horned ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire; the one-horned goat charging from the west represents Greece. The goat shattered the ram's horns.
Daniel 8:20-21 explicitly names them: 'The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn is the first king' (Alexander the Great). From 334-330 BCE, Alexander's army swept east at lightning speed ('without touching the ground'), destroying the Persian Empire. The text also prophesies the large horn breaking and four horns replacing it (8:8), corresponding to Alexander's empire splitting into four successor kingdoms after his death.
Daniel 2:39b — The bronze belly: Greek Empire
Daniel: "Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth."
The third empire, like bronze, would rule over the entire world.
From 334-323 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the entire Persian Empire from his base in Macedon, establishing a Hellenistic empire spanning Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greek armies were famous for bronze armor, and 'ruling the whole earth' matches Alexander's unprecedented territorial extent.
Daniel 11:2-4 — Four Persian kings and the mighty Greek king
Daniel: "Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others... Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power... After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven."
Four Persian kings would reign, the fourth provoking Greece with his wealth. Then a mighty Greek king would rise and rule a vast domain, but his empire would be broken into four parts.
After the late Persian kings, Xerxes I (the 'fourth king') mobilized vast wealth for his massive invasion of Greece in 480 BCE, but was defeated at the Battle of Salamis. Alexander the Great (the 'mighty king') then conquered the Persian Empire from 334-323 BCE. Alexander died young in 323 BCE and his empire was divided among four successor generals (Diadochi): Ptolemy (Egypt), Seleucus (Syria), Cassander (Macedon), and Lysimachus (Thrace).
Daniel 11:5-20 — Kings of North and South: Ptolemies vs. Seleucids
Daniel: "The king of the South will become strong... the king of the North will muster a large army... The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance... One from her family line will arise... He will attack the fortress of the king of the North... Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them."
The King of the South (Ptolemaic Egypt) and King of the North (Seleucid Syria) would wage war across multiple generations, with marriages, betrayals, and battles alternating as their power waxed and waned.
Daniel 11:5-20 matches the Ptolemaic-Seleucid wars of the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE with remarkable precision: Ptolemy II's daughter Berenice married Seleucid king Antiochus II ('daughter of the king of the South went to the king of the North'), Antiochus III was defeated by Ptolemy IV at Raphia (217 BCE) but later defeated Egypt at Panium (200 BCE). These correspondences are so exact that most scholars conclude this section is vaticinium ex eventu (written c. 165 BCE).
Daniel 8:9-14 — The little horn: persecution by Antiochus IV
Daniel: "Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them... It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the LORD. It took away the daily sacrifice from the LORD, and his sanctuary was thrown down."
From one of the four horns grew a small horn (a minor king) who desecrated the Lord of heaven, abolished the daily temple sacrifice, and defiled the sanctuary. This would last 2,300 evenings and mornings.
Scholars widely identify the 'little horn' as Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175-164 BCE). In 167 BCE he banned Jewish religious practices and set up a Zeus altar in the Jerusalem Temple (the 'abomination of desolation'), triggering the Maccabean Revolt. In December 164 BCE the Jews recaptured and rededicated the Temple — the origin of Hanukkah. The roughly 3-year period from desecration to rededication broadly matches the '2,300 evenings and mornings.'
Daniel 11:21-35 — The contemptible person: atrocities of Antiochus IV
Daniel: "He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue... His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."
A contemptible person would seize the throne through intrigue, desecrate the Temple, abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up the 'abomination of desolation.' But the faithful would rise up in resistance.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175-164 BCE) fits the description precisely: he usurped the throne through political intrigue (the rightful heir Demetrius was held hostage), plundered the Jerusalem Temple in 167 BCE, banned Jewish religious practices, sacrificed a pig on the altar and erected a Zeus statue ('the abomination of desolation'). The Maccabean Revolt represents the 'faithful rising up in resistance.' The Maccabees recaptured the Temple in 164 BCE.
Daniel 2:40-43 — Iron legs and feet of iron-clay: the fourth empire
Daniel: "Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron... the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle... the people will be a mixture and will not remain united."
The fourth empire would be hard as iron, crushing everything; but in its later phase it would be divided, partly strong and partly weak, as iron and clay cannot bond.
Traditional interpretation maps the iron legs to the Roman Empire (27 BCE - 476 CE), whose military might 'crushed everything' matches Rome's iron legions. The empire split into Eastern and Western halves in 395 CE (partly strong, partly weak). The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE while the Eastern continued until 1453 CE. The iron-clay imagery fits the late empire's unstable mix of Roman and barbarian populations.
Daniel 7:13-14 — The 'Son of Man' vision
Daniel: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
In the vision, 'one like a son of man' came with the clouds and received an eternal kingdom and authority before God.
Daniel 9:24 — The seventy weeks prophecy (overview)
Daniel: "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place."
The angel Gabriel told Daniel that seventy 'sevens' (490 years) were decreed for the Jewish people and Jerusalem — to end transgression, bring in everlasting righteousness, and anoint the Most Holy.
The 'seventy sevens' (490 years) is the most debated prophecy in Daniel. Jewish tradition sees it as prophecy about Temple history (from exile to the Second Temple's destruction). Christian tradition interprets 'anoint the Most Holy' as the coming of Jesus Christ. Multiple exegetical schemes exist for the starting and ending points of the 490 years, with no scholarly consensus. Whether 'finishing transgression and bringing in everlasting righteousness' has been ultimately fulfilled remains disputed.
Daniel 9:25 — Seven sevens and sixty-two sevens: from rebuilding to the Messiah
Daniel: "Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble."
From the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, after seven 'sevens' (49 years) of construction and sixty-two 'sevens' (434 years), a total of 483 years, the Anointed One (Messiah) would appear.
Christian exegesis takes 445 BCE (Nehemiah's commission from Persian king Artaxerxes I to rebuild Jerusalem's walls) as the starting point. 483 years (69×7) later falls around 32-33 CE, close to the traditional dates for Jesus' baptism or crucifixion. However, Jewish interpretation and some scholars use 587 or 538 BCE as starting points, yielding dates in the Second Temple period. The choice of starting point determines the endpoint, and each scheme has its own textual and historical support.
Daniel 9:26-27 — The final seven: the Anointed One cut off and the city destroyed
Daniel: "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood... He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
After the 69th seven, the Anointed One would be killed. A ruler's people would destroy the holy city and sanctuary. In the middle of the final seven, sacrifice would cease and the 'abomination of desolation' would appear.
Christian tradition interprets 'the Anointed One cut off' as Jesus' crucifixion (c. 30-33 CE), and 'destroy the city and sanctuary' as the destruction of Jerusalem's Second Temple by Roman general Titus in 70 CE. Both events historically occurred. However, interpretation of 'the final seven' diverges sharply: historicists map it to the Jewish War of 66-73 CE, while futurists believe it remains unfulfilled. The 'abomination of desolation' phrase was quoted by Jesus in Matthew 24:15, pointing to a future event.
Daniel 11:36-45 — The end-times king: conquest and downfall
Daniel: "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods... At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him... He will invade the Beautiful Land... But reports from the east and the north will alarm him... He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him."
An arrogant end-times king would exalt himself above all gods, invade many lands including the 'Beautiful Land' (Israel), but ultimately meet his doom near the holy mountain with no one to help him.
Parts of 11:36-39 match Antiochus IV (he styled himself 'Epiphanes,' meaning 'God Manifest'), but 11:40-45 does not correspond to his actual death (he died during an eastern campaign, not in Palestine). Scholars view this as the point where the author transitions from retrospective history to genuine prediction — a prediction that went unfulfilled. This 'boundary' is a key piece of evidence for dating the book to c. 165 BCE.
Daniel 12:1-3 — End-times tribulation and resurrection
Daniel: "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people — everyone whose name is found written in the book — will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever."
In the end times, unprecedented tribulation will occur, but the archangel Michael will protect Israel. The dead will rise — the righteous to eternal life, the wicked to everlasting shame. The wise will shine like stars forever.
Daniel 12:4, 9-10 — Seal the prophecy until the time of the end
Daniel: "But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge... The words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand."
Daniel was told to seal the prophecy until the end times. At that time, human knowledge would greatly increase, but only the wise would comprehend the prophecy's true meaning.