Daniel 12 KJV
The End Times
Daniel Chapter 12: The End Times
The chapter's reference to names written in 'the book' marks one of the earliest Old Testament articulations of individual election and post-mortem accountability, prefiguring the 'book of life' motif later expanded in apocalyptic literature.
1nd at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
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Did You Know?
The chapter's reference to names written in 'the book' marks one of the earliest Old Testament articulations of individual election and post-mortem accountability, prefiguring the 'book of life' motif later expanded in apocalyptic literature.
The anomalous 1,335-day figure (thirty-five days beyond the 1,290) has been read by some interpreters as an encoded extension of blessing after the abomination of desolation, hinting at a final vindication period not aligned with standard sabbatical or jubilee cycles.
Daniel's command to 'shut up the words, and seal the book' until 'the time of the end' creates a deliberate literary contrast with the unsealed, immediately applicable prophecies given to earlier prophets like Isaiah, underscoring the deferred revelation unique to apocalyptic genre.
Michael's designation as 'the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people' echoes ancient Near Eastern guardian-deity traditions while assigning him an eschatological military role that later Jewish and Christian angelology would develop into archangelic hierarchy.
The promise that the wise 'shall shine as the brightness of the firmament' and 'as the stars' reworks creation imagery from Genesis 1 into an eschatological reward, implying that those who impart understanding participate in cosmic restoration rather than merely receiving personal salvation.