Daniel’s Vision by the Tigris River

10 Cyrus was the king of Persia. During Cyrus’ third year as king, Daniel learned about these things. (Daniel’s other name is Belteshazzar.) These things are true, but very hard to understand. But Daniel understood these things. They were explained to him in a vision.* ²{Daniel says,} “At that time, I, Daniel, was very sad for three weeks. ³During those three weeks, I didn’t eat any fancy food. I didn’t eat any meat. I didn’t drink any wine. I didn’t put any oil on my head. I didn’t do any of these things for three weeks. ⁴“On the 24th day of the first month of the year, I was standing beside the great Tigris River. ⁵While I was standing there, I looked up. And I saw a man standing in front of me. He was wearing linen* clothes. He wore a belt made of pure gold* around his waist. ⁶His body was like a smooth, shiny stone. His face was bright like lightning! His eyes were like flames of fire. His arms and feet were shiny like polished brass! His voice was loud like a crowd of people! ⁷“I, Daniel, was the only person that saw the vision.* The men with me didn’t see the vision, but they were still afraid. They were so afraid that they ran away and hid. ⁸So I was left alone. I was watching this vision—and it made me afraid. I lost my strength. My face turned white like a dead person’s face, and I was helpless. ⁹Then I heard the man in the vision talking. As I listened to his voice, I fell into a deep sleep. My face was flat on the ground. ¹⁰“Then a hand touched me. When that happened I got on my hands and knees. I was so afraid that I was shaking. ¹¹The man in the vision* said to me, ‘Daniel, God loves you very much. Think very carefully about the words I will speak to you. Stand up, I have been sent to you.’ And when he said this, I stood up. I was still shaking because I was afraid. ¹²Then the man in the vision started talking again. He said, ‘Daniel, don’t be afraid. From the very first day you decided to have wisdom and to be humble in front of God. He has been listening to your prayers. I came to you because you have been praying. ¹³But the prince (angel) of Persia has been fighting against me and bothering me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the most important princes (angels), came to help me because I was stuck there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴Now I have come to you Daniel, to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future. The vision is about a time in the future.’ ¹⁵“While the man was talking to me, I bowed low with my face toward the ground. I could not speak. ¹⁶Then the one that looked like a man touched my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, ‘Sir, I am upset and afraid because of what I saw in the vision.* I feel helpless. ¹⁷Sir, I am Daniel your servant. How can I talk with you? My strength is gone and it is hard for me to breathe.’ ¹⁸“The one that looked like a man touched me again. When he touched me I felt better. ¹⁹Then he said, ‘Daniel, don’t be afraid. God loves you very much. Peace be with you. Be strong now, be strong.’ “When he spoke to me, I became stronger. Then I said, ‘Sir, you have given me strength. Now you can speak.’ ²⁰“So then he said, ‘Daniel, do you know why I have come to you? Soon I must go back to fight against the prince (angel) of Persia. When I go, the prince (angel) of Greece will come. ²¹But Daniel, before I go, I must first tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one stands with me against those evil angels except Michael. Michael is the prince (angel) ruling over your people.

vision(s) Something like a dream that God used to speak to people. linen Thread or cloth made from the fibers of the flax plant. pure gold Literally, “gold from Uphaz.”

11 During the first year that Darius the Mede was king,* I stood up to support Michael* in his fight against the prince (angel) of Persia. ²“‘Now then, Daniel, I tell you the truth: three more kings will rule in Persia. Then a fourth king will come. That fourth king will be much richer than all the other kings of Persia before him. That fourth king will use his riches to get power. And he will cause everyone to be against the kingdom of Greece. ³Then a very strong and powerful king will come. He will rule with much power. He will do anything he wants. ⁴After that king has come, his kingdom will be broken up. His kingdom will be divided out toward the four parts of the world. His kingdom will not be divided among his children or grandchildren. And his kingdom will not have the power that he had. Why? Because his kingdom will be pulled up and given to other people.

⁵“‘The southern king will become strong. But then one of his commanders will defeat the southern king. The commander will begin to rule. And he will be very powerful. ⁶“‘Then after a few years, the southern king and that commander will make an agreement. The daughter of the southern king will marry the northern king. She will do this to bring peace. But she and the southern king will not be strong enough. People will turn against her and against the person that brought her to that country. And those people will turn against her child and against the person that helped her. ⁷“‘But a person from her family will come to take the southern king’s place. He will attack the armies of the northern king. He will go into that king’s strong fort. He will fight and win. ⁸He will take their idol gods. He will take their metal idols and their expensive things made from silver and gold. He will take those things away to Egypt. Then he will not bother the northern king for a few years. ⁹The northern king will attack the southern kingdom. But he will lose, and then he will go back to his own country. ¹⁰“‘The northern king’s sons will prepare for war. They will get a large army together. That army will move through the land very quickly, like a powerful flood. That army will fight all the way to the strong fort of the southern king. ¹¹Then the southern king will become very angry. He will march out to fight against the northern king. The northern king will have a large army, but he will lose the war. ¹²The northern army will be defeated, and those soldiers will be carried away. The southern king will be very proud, and he will kill thousands of soldiers from the northern army. But he will not continue to be successful. ¹³The northern king will get another army. That army will be larger than the first army. After several years he will attack. That army will be very large and it will have many weapons. That army will be ready for war. ¹⁴“‘In those times, many people will be against the southern king. Some of your own people that love to fight will rebel against the southern king. They will not win, but they will make the vision* come true when they do this. ¹⁵Then the northern king will come and build ramps against the walls and capture a strong city. The southern army will not have the power to fight back. Even the best soldiers from the southern army will not be strong enough to stop the northern army. ¹⁶“‘The northern king will do whatever he wants. No one will be able to stop him. He will gain power and control in the Beautiful land. And he will have the power to destroy it. ¹⁷The northern king will decide to use all of his power to fight against the southern king. He will make an agreement with the southern king. The king of the north will let one of his daughters marry the southern king. The northern king will do that so he can defeat the southern king, but those plans will not succeed. His plans will not help him. ¹⁸“‘Then the northern king will turn his attention to the countries along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He will defeat many of those cities, but then a commander will put an end to the pride and rebellion of that northern king. That commander will make that northern king ashamed. ¹⁹“‘After that happens, that northern king will go back to the strong forts of his own country. But he will be weak, and he will fall. He will be finished. ²⁰“‘A new ruler will come after that northern king. That ruler will send out a tax collector. That ruler will do this so he will have enough money to live in a very rich way. But, in a few years, that ruler will be destroyed. But he will not die in a battle. ²¹“‘That ruler will be followed by a very cruel and hated man. That man will not have the honor of being from a king’s family.* He will become a ruler by being tricky. He will attack the kingdom when the people feel safe. ²²He will defeat large and powerful armies. He will even defeat the Leader with the Agreement.

²³Many nations will make agreements with that cruel and hated ruler. But he will lie and trick them. He will gain much power. But only a few people will support him. ²⁴“‘When the richest countries feel safe, that cruel and hated ruler will attack them. He will attack at just the right time and will be successful where his fathers were not successful. He will take things from the countries he defeated, and he will give those things to his followers. He will plan to defeat and destroy strong cities. He will be successful, but only for a short time. ²⁵“‘That very cruel and hated ruler will have a very large army. He will use that army to show his strength and courage and attack the southern king. The southern king will get a very large and powerful army and go to war. But the people that are against him will make secret plans. And the southern king will be defeated. ²⁶People that were supposed to be good friends of the southern king will try to destroy him. His army will be defeated. Many of his soldiers will be killed in battle. ²⁷Those two kings will have their hearts set on hurting each other. They will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but it will not do either one any good. Why? Because God has set a time for their end to come. ²⁸“‘The northern king will go back to his own country with much wealth. Then he will decide to do bad things against the holy agreement.* He will do the things he planned, and then he will go back to his own country. ²⁹“‘At the right time, the northern king will attack the southern king again. But this time he will not be successful like he was before. ³⁰Ships from Cyprus will come and fight against the northern king. He will see those ships coming and be afraid. Then he will turn back and take his anger out on the holy agreement. He will turn back and help the people that quit following the holy agreement. ³¹The northern king will send his army to do terrible things to the temple in Jerusalem. They will stop the people from offering the daily sacrifice.* Then they will do something really terrible. They will set up that terrible thing that causes destruction. ³²“‘The northern king will use lies and smooth talking to trick the Jews that quit following the holy agreement. Those Jews will sin even worse. But the Jews that know God and obey him will be strong. They will fight back! ³³“‘Those wise teachers will help the other people understand what is happening. But even those wise people {will have to suffer persecution.} Some of those wise people will be killed with swords. Some of them will be burned, or taken prisoner. Some of them will have their homes and things taken away. ³⁴When those wise people are punished they will get a little help. But many people that join those wise people will be hypocrites.* ³⁵Some of the wise people will stumble {and make mistakes}. But the persecution must come. Why? So that they can be made stronger, purer, and without faults until the time of the end. Then, at the right time, that time of the end will come.’”

The King Who Praises Himself

³⁶“‘The northern king will do whatever he wants. He will brag about himself. He will praise himself and think that he is even better than a god. He will say things that no one has ever heard of. He will say those things against the God of gods. He will be successful until all the bad things have happened. What God has planned to happen will happen. ³⁷“‘That northern king will not care about the gods his fathers worshiped. He will not care about the idol gods women worship. He will not care about any god. Instead, he will praise himself, and make himself more important than any god. ³⁸The northern king will not worship any god, but he will worship power. Power and strength will be his god. His fathers didn’t love power like he does. He honors the god of power with gold and silver, expensive jewels, and gifts.

³⁹“‘That northern king will attack strong fortresses* with the help of this foreign god. He will give much honor to those foreign rulers that join him. He will put many people under those rulers. He will make those rulers pay him for the land they rule over. ⁴⁰“‘At the time of the end, the southern king will fight a battle against the northern king. The northern king will attack him. He will attack with chariots and soldiers on horses and many large ships. The northern king will rush through the land like a flood. ⁴¹The northern king will attack the Beautiful Land. Many countries will be defeated by the northern king. But Edom, Moab, and the leaders of Ammon will be saved from him. ⁴²The northern king will show his power in many countries. Egypt will also learn how powerful he is. ⁴³He will get treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt. The Libyan and Nubian people will obey him. ⁴⁴But that northern king will hear news from the east and the north that will make him afraid and angry. He will go to completely destroy many nations. ⁴⁵He will set up his king's tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain.* But finally, that bad king will die. There will not be anyone to help him when his end comes.’”

first year that Darius … king This is probably 521 B.C. Michael See Dan. 10:13. vision Something like a dream that God used to speak to people. That man … king‘s family Or, “That person will not have the good qualities a king should have.” holy agreement This probably means the Jewish people. sacrifice(s) A gift to God. Usually, it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar. hypocrites Bad people that act like they are good. fortress(es) A building or city with tall, strong walls for protection. holy mountain The mountain Jerusalem is built on.

12 “{The man in the vision said,} ‘Daniel, at that time, the great prince (angel) Michael will stand up. Michael is in charge of your people, the Jews. There will be a time of much trouble, the worst time since nations have been on earth. But Daniel, at that time, every one of your people whose name is found written in the book {of life} will be saved. ²Many of the people that are dead and buried* will wake up. Some of them will wake up to have life forever. But some will wake up to have shame and disgrace forever. ³The wise people will shine as bright as the sky. The wise people that taught others to live right will shine like stars forever and ever.* ⁴“‘But you, Daniel, keep this message a secret. You must close the book. You must keep this secret until the time of the end. Many people will go here and there looking for true knowledge. And the true knowledge will increase.’ ⁵“Then I, Daniel, looked and I saw two other people. One person was standing on my side of the river. And the other person was standing on the other side of the river. ⁶The man who was dressed in linen* was standing over the water in the river. One of the two people said to him, ‘How long will it be before these amazing things come true?’ ⁷“The man dressed in linen* and standing over the water lifted his right and left hands toward heaven. And I heard him make a promise using the name of God who lives forever. He said, ‘It will be for three and one-half years.* The power of the holy people will be broken, and then all these things will finally come true.’ ⁸“I heard the answer, but I really didn’t understand. So I asked, ‘Sir, what will happen after all these things come true?’ ⁹“He answered, ‘Go on about your life Daniel. The message is hidden. It will be a secret until the time of the end. ¹⁰Many people will be made pure—they will make themselves clean.* But evil people will continue to be evil. And those wicked people will not understand these things. But the wise people will understand these things. ¹¹“‘The daily sacrifice will be stopped. There will be 1,290 days from that time until the time that the terrible thing that destroys is set up. ¹²The person that waits for, and comes to, the end of the 1,335 days will be very happy. ¹³“‘As for you Daniel, go and live your life till the end. You will get your rest. At the end, you will rise {from death} to get your share.’”

are dead and buried Literally, “sleep in the dust.” The wise people … ever Or, “The wise and successful teachers will shine like the sun rays in the sky. Those who made others innocent will shine like the stars forever.” In Hebrew, this is like Isaiah 52:13 and Isaiah 53:11. linen Thread or cloth made from the fibers of the flax plant. three and one-half years Literally, “a time, times, and half a time.” clean Or, “acceptable.” Pure or able to be used in worshiping God. See Lev. 11–15 for the Old Testament rules about clean and unclean things.