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In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was made plain to Daniel, whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. The message was true. It dealt with a big war. He understood the message, the understanding coming by revelation:
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"During those days, I, Daniel, went into mourning over Jerusalem for three weeks.
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I ate only plain and simple food, no seasoning or meat or wine. I neither bathed nor shaved until the three weeks were up.
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"On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris.
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I looked up and to my surprise saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold around his waist.
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His body was hard and glistening, as if sculpted from a precious stone, his face radiant, his eyes bright and penetrating like torches, his arms and feet glistening like polished bronze, and his voice, deep and resonant, sounded like a huge choir of voices.
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"I, Daniel, was the only one to see this. The men who were with me, although they didn't see it, were overcome with fear and ran off and hid, fearing the worst.