"Then a heroic king will appear. He will rule over a huge empire and do whatever he wants.

"The king of Syria will do as he pleases. He will boast that he is greater than any god, superior even to the Supreme God. He will be able to do this until the time when God punishes him. God will do exactly what he has planned.

I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant.

I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could save him.

He will even invade the Promised Land and kill tens of thousands, but the countries of Edom, Moab, and what is left of Ammon will escape.

He will even set up his huge royal tents between the sea and the mountain on which the Temple stands. But he will die, with no one there to help him."

Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended toward the south and the east and toward the Promised Land.

They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything." God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land.

The LORD says, "Israel, I wanted to accept you as my child and give you a delightful land, the most beautiful land in all the world. I wanted you to call me father and never again turn away from me.