1. In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The oracle was true and concerns a great war. He understood the message and gained insight through a vision.
2. “In those days, I, Daniel was mourning for three whole weeks.
3. I ate no rich food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I anoint myself with oil, until the end of three weeks.
4. “Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was beside the bank of the great river, the Tigris,
5. I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a man dressed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
6. His body was like yellow jasper, his face like a flash of lightning, his eyes like fiery torches, his arms and his feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude.
7. “Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men that were with me did not see the vision. Nevertheless, such a great terror fell upon them that they fled and hid themselves.
8. So I was left alone to see this great vision. My strength drained from me and my vigor was destroyed; I could not summon any strength.
9. Yet I heard the sound of his words. When I heard him speaking, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground.