Daniel 12

¹ “At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.

² Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

³ Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.

⁴ But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many will run back and forth, and knowledge will be increased.”

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

⁶ One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be to the end of these wonders?”

⁷ I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it will be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have finished breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things will be finished.

⁸ I heard, but I didn’t understand. Then I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”

⁹ He said, “Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

¹⁰ Many will purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined, but the wicked will do wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

¹¹ “From the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there will be one thousand two hundred ninety days.

¹² Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days.

¹³ “But go your way until the end; for you will rest, and will stand in your inheritance at the end of the days.”

Around Daniel 12

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Daniel as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

A young man is carried off to a foreign court, and the question the book asks is whether he will stay faithful. The first half of Daniel (chapters 1 to 6) tells of Daniel and his friends as exiles serving at foreign courts. In the blazing furnace they tell the king, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us”, and add, “But if not,” they still will not bow. At the lions’ den the king himself says to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.” In each story they stay faithful under pressure, and God proves to be above every king.

The second half (7 to 12) records visions of empires rising and falling, of one like a son of man receiving an everlasting kingdom, and of the dead being raised.

Background

The book is set in the sixth century before Christ, and the traditional view is that Daniel wrote it then. Many scholars think it reached its final form in the second century, during the persecution under Antiochus IV. Part of it is written in Aramaic. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional passages.

How Christians read it

Jesus’ title for himself, the Son of Man, draws on chapter 7. Christians agree that the visions declare God’s rule over history. They differ widely on the details: which empires are meant, how to count the seventy weeks of chapter 9, and how much refers to the time of Antiochus, to the first coming of Christ or to the end.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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