The man at the Tigris River
1God gave a vision to Daniel in the 3rd year after Cyrus had become king of Persia. Daniel's other name was Belteshazzar. The things that Daniel saw were difficult to understand. The message was about a very bad war and it was true. Daniel understood what he had seen in the vision.
2I, Daniel, then cried and mourned for 3 weeks. 3I did not eat good food. I did not eat meat or drink wine and in those 3 weeks I did not put olive oil onto my body.
4I was standing on the side of the big Tigris River. It was on the 24th day of the first month. 5I looked and I saw a man standing there. His clothes were made of linen and his belt was made of gold. 6His body was like a gemstone, his face was like lightning and his eyes were like flames of fire. His arms and legs were like bronze that shone a lot. When he talked, his voice was like the voices of a lot of people talking together.
7Only I, Daniel, saw this man. The people who were with me saw nothing, but they were afraid and they hid themselves. 8I was alone and I saw the man. I was afraid. My face became very pale and I became very weak. 9When the man started talking to me, I fainted and I fell down to the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
10But then he touched me with his hand and he made me stand on my hands and knees. I trembled. 11The man said to me: ‘Daniel, God loves you. He has sent me to come to you and you must listen to what I tell you. Stand up.’
12When the man said this to me, I stood up, but I still trembled. He said to me: ‘Daniel, do not be afraid. You wanted to understand what you had seen and you were like someone who was mourning. On that first day when you prayed, your God heard it and He sent me to come to you. 13The angel of the Persians tried to stop me for 21 days, but then Michael, a leader of the angels, came and helped me and I could get away from the Persian kings. 14I have come to you to tell you what will happen to your people and to show you this vision.’
15While the man said this to me, I looked down to the ground in front of me. I could not say anything. 16He looked like a man and he touched my lips, and then I could talk again. I said to the man who was standing in front of me: ‘Sir, I became afraid when I saw you. I was very weak. 17I am like a slave to you, sir. I can not talk to you. I am too weak, and I can not breathe easily.’
18The person who looked like a man touched me again and I became stronger. 19He said to me: ‘Do not be afraid. God loves you and He is with you. He will make you strong.’
I became strong when the man talked to me and I said: ‘Sir, now you can talk because you have made me strong.’
The 4 kings
20-21The man asked me: ‘Do you know why I have come to you? I must now go back to make war_against the angel of the Persians. After I have defeated him, the angel of Greece will come and attack me. There is no one who is helping me to go to war_against him. It is only Michael, the angel of the people of Israel, who is helping me. Now I will tell you what is written in the book of Truth.’
