Daniel Chapter 10

Daniel’s Vision of a Messenger

¹ The third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a message came to Daniel (Belteshazzar) about great warfare. He understood the vision about future events.  

² At that time, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three weeks. ³ I didn’t eat any tasty food or meat, drink any wine, or use any lotions that whole time. ⁴ The twenty-fourth of the first month, I was on the bank of the Tigris River. ⁵ I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like beryl, his face flashed like lightning, his eyes flamed like torches, his arms and feet shined like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like an enormous crowd. ⁷ I was the only one that saw the vision, but such an overwhelming sense of dread came over the men that were with me that they ran and hid. ⁸ So I was alone. My strength was gone, and my healthy appearance grew deathly pale. ⁹ When I heard him start to speak, I passed out facedown on the ground.                

Dan 10:1-9

¹⁰ A hand took hold of me and helped me up shaking onto my hands and knees. ¹¹ He said, “Daniel, man highly esteemed, understand what I’m about to tell you. Stand up; I’ve been sent to you.”

I stood up shaking.

¹² “Don’t be afraid. You’ve been heard from the first day you determined to understand this and humble yourself before your God. I’ve come in answer to what you’ve said. ¹³ The prince of Persia resisted me for two days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I’d been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I’ve come to let you understand what will happen to your people later. The vision deals with the future.”                                      

Dan 10:10-14

¹⁵ When he said that, I looked down at the ground speechless. ¹⁶ Someone resembling a man touched my lips, and I said to the one standing in front of me,

“Sir, I’m in anguish over the vision. ¹⁷ How can a servant like me talk to someone like you? I feel drained. I can hardly breathe.”

¹⁸ He touched me to encourage me, ¹⁹ “Man highly esteemed, you needn’t be afraid. Be at peace, take courage!”            

Dan 10:15-18

As soon as he spoke, my strength came back, and I said, “Go ahead and speak; you’ve strengthened me.”

²⁰ He said, “Do you understand why I’ve come? I’m going back now to fight the prince of Persia. The prince of Greece is coming, ²¹ but I’ll tell you what’s inscribed in the Book of Truth. There’s nobody standing firmly with me against those forces except Michael your prince. ¹ In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to encourage and protect him.    

Dan 10:19-11:1