The Last Days of Antiochus Epiphanes

6 King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard that Elymais in Persia was a city famed for its wealth in silver and gold.^{(A) 2} Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields, breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks.^{(B) 3} So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could not because his plan had become known to the citizens,^{(C) 4} and they withstood him in battle. So he fled and in great disappointment left there to return to Babylon.

⁵ Then someone came to him in Persia and reported that the armies that had gone into the land of Judah had been routed;^{(D) 6} that Lysias had gone first with a strong force but had turned and fled before the Jews;^[a] that the Jews^[b] had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils that they had taken from the armies they had cut down;^{(E) 7} that they had torn down the abomination that he had erected on the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Beth-zur, his town.^(F)

⁸ When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken. He took to his bed and became sick from disappointment because things had not turned out for him as he had planned.^{(G) 9} He lay there for many days because deep disappointment continually gripped him, and he realized that he was dying.^{(H) 10} So he called all his Friends and said to them, “Sleep has departed from my eyes, and I am downhearted with worry.^{(I) 11} I said to myself, ‘To what distress I have come! And into what a great flood I now am plunged! For I was kind and beloved in my power.’ ¹² But now I remember the wrong I did in Jerusalem. I seized all its vessels of silver and gold, and I sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judah without good reason.^{(J) 13} I know that it is because of this that these misfortunes have come upon me; here I am, perishing of bitter disappointment in a strange land.”

¹⁴ Then he called for Philip, one of his Friends, and made him ruler over all his kingdom.^{(K) 15} He gave him the crown and his robe and the signet so that he might guide his son Antiochus and bring him up to be king.^{(L) 16} Thus King Antiochus died there in the one hundred forty-ninth year.^(M)

The Last Campaign of Antiochus Epiphanes

9 About that time, as it happened, Antiochus had retreated in disorder from the region of Persia.^{(A) 2} He had entered the city called Persepolis and attempted to rob the temples and control the city. Therefore the people rushed to the rescue with arms, and Antiochus and his army were defeated,^[a] with the result that Antiochus was put to flight by the inhabitants and beat a shameful retreat.^{(B) 3} While he was in Ecbatana, news came to him of what had happened to Nicanor and the forces of Timothy.^{(C) 4} Transported with rage, he conceived the idea of turning upon the Jews the injury done by those who had put him to flight, so he ordered his charioteer to drive without stopping until he completed the journey. But the judgment of heaven rode with him! For in his arrogance he said, “When I get there I will make Jerusalem a cemetery of Jews.”^(D)

⁵ But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him with an incurable and invisible blow. As soon as he stopped speaking, he was seized with a pain in his bowels for which there was no relief and with sharp internal tortures^(E)— ⁶ and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions. ⁷ Yet he did not in any way stop his insolence but was even more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against the Jews and giving orders to drive even faster. And so it came about that he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body.^{(F) 8} Thus he, who only a little while before had thought in his superhuman arrogance that he could command the waves of the sea and had imagined that he could weigh the high mountains in a balance, was brought down to earth and carried in a litter, making the power of God manifest to all.^{(G) 9} And so the ungodly man’s body swarmed with worms, and while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away, and because of the stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay.^{(H) 10} Because of his intolerable stench no one was able to carry the man who a little while before had thought that he could touch the stars of heaven.^(I)

²⁸ So the murderer and blasphemer, having endured the more intense suffering such as he had inflicted on others, came to the end of his life by a most pitiable fate, among the mountains in a strange land.^(A)

The Rider on the White Horse

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war.^{(A) 12} His eyes are like^[a] a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.^{(B) 13} He is clothed in a robe dipped in^[b] blood, and his name is called The Word of God.^{(C) 14} And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule^[c] them with a scepter of iron; he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.^{(D) 16} On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”^(E)

The Beast and Its Armies Defeated

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,^{(F) 18} to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders—flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.”^{(G) 19} Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army.^{(H) 20} And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who had received the brand of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

The Thousand Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years^{(I) 3} and threw him into the pit and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.^(J)

⁴ Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus^[d] and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its brand on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.^{(K) 5} (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.^(L)

Satan’s Doom

⁷ When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea.^{(M) 9} They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven^[e] and consumed them.^{(N) 10} And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Dead Are Judged

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his^[f] presence, and no place was found for them.^{(O) 12} And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.^{(P) 13} And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done.^{(Q) 14} Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire,^{(R) 15} and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.^{(S) 2} And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.^{(T) 3} And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

¹³ But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.^(A)