In the third year of Cyrus the king of the Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was called by his name Belteshazzar, and the word was reliable and it concerned a great tribulation, and he understood the word and he received understanding.

In those days, I, Daniel, I myself was in mourning for three whole weeks. I had not eaten any choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and I did not use any ointment until the end of three whole weeks. And then on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I myself was on the bank of the great river; that is, the Tigris. And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and there was a man, and he was dressed in linen, and his waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz. Now his body was like turquoise, and his face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like torches of fire, and his arms and his legs were like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words was like the sound of a multitude. And I saw, I, Daniel alone, the vision; and the people who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great trembling fell upon them and they fled in order to hide themselves. And I myself, Daniel, alone saw this great vision, and as a result no strength was left in me and my complexion grew deathly pale, and I did not retain any strength. And I heard the sound of his words, and when I heard the sound of his words I myself began falling into a trance on my face, with my face to the ground.

And look, a hand touched me and it roused me to my knees and the palms of my hands. And he said to me, "Daniel, a man beloved, pay attention to the words that I am speaking to you and stand upright where you are, for I have now been sent to you." And while he was speaking with me this word, I stood up trembling. And he said to me, "You must not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I myself have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood before me for twenty-one days. And look, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist me, and I left him there beside the king of the Persians. And I have come to instruct you about what will happen to your people in the future, for there is a further vision here for the future.

And while he was speaking with me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and I was speechless. Then look, there was one in the form of a human; he touched my lips and I opened my mouth and I spoke and I said to the one standing before me, "My lord, because of the vision my anxieties fell upon me and I have not retained my strength. So how am I, a servant of my lord to speak with you, my lord, and I just now have no strength in me?"

And he again touched me, the one in the form of a human, and he strengthened me. And he said, "You must not fear, O beloved man. Peace be to you; be strong and be courageous!" And when he spoke with me, I was strengthened and I said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me." Then he asked, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I return to fight against the prince of Persia and I myself am going, and look, the prince of Javan will come. However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth, and there is not one who contends with me against these beings except Michael, your prince."

"And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood as a support and as a protection for him.

And now I will reveal the truth to you. Look! Still three kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will get abundance and great wealth, even more than all of them, and when he becomes strong through his wealth, then he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Javan. And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great dominion, and he will do as he pleases. But as he rises in power, his kingdom will be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, and not according to his dominion by which he ruled, for his kingdom will be uprooted and be given to others besides them.

"Then the king of the south will grow strong and also one of his officials, and he will grow stronger than him and he will rule a dominion greater than his dominion. And at the end of some years they will make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make a peace treaty, but she will not retain her position of power, and his offspring will not endure, and she will be given up, she and her attendants and her child supporting her, in those times. And a branch from her roots will rise up in his place, and he will come against the army and he will enter the stronghold of the king of the north and he will take action against them and he will prevail. And also their gods with their idols and with the precious vessels, silver and gold he will take to Egypt into captivity, and for years he will leave the king of the north alone. And then he will come into the kingdom of the king of the south, but he will return to his land.

"But his sons will wage war and they will gather a multitude of great forces and he will advance with great force, and he will overflow like a flood and he will pass through and he will return, and they will wage war up to his fortress. And the king of the south will become furious, and he will go and he will battle against him, against the king of the north; and he will muster a great multitude, and the multitude will be given into his hand. When the multitude is carried off, his heart will be exalted and he will overthrow tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. And the king of the north will again raise a multitude, greater than the former, and at the end of some years he will surely come with a great army and with great supplies.

"And in these times many will rise up against the king of the south, and the violent ones of your people will lift themselves to fulfill the vision, but they will fall. And the king of the north will come, and he will throw up siege ramps and capture a city of fortifications and the military forces of the south and his choice troops will not stand, for there is no strength left to resist. And the one coming to him will act according to his pleasure, and there is no one who will stand before him, and he will stand in the beautiful land and complete destruction will be in his power. And he will set his face to come with the authority of his whole kingdom and will form an agreement; and he will act, and the daughter of women he will give to him to destroy it, but the ploy will not succeed and she will not support him. And he will turn his face to the coastlands, and he will capture many, but a commander will end his insults to him so that instead his insults will turn back upon him. And he will turn back his face toward the strongholds of his land, but he will stumble and he will fall and will not be found.

"Then in his place will arise one sending an official throughout the glory of his kingdom, and in a few days he will be broken, but not in anger and not in battle. And in his place a despicable person will arise on whom they have not conferred the majesty of the kingdom, and he will come in without warning and he will seize the kingdom by deceit. And before him mighty military forces will be utterly swept away, and they will be broken, and also the leader of the covenant. And after an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully, and he will rise and he will become powerful with few people backing him. In a time of ease and in the rich parts of the province, he will come and he will do what his predecessors did not do; he will distribute plunder and spoil and possessions to them, and he will devise his plans against fortifications, but only for a time. And he will stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south and with a much greater and stronger army; but he will not succeed, for they will devise plans against him. And those who eat of his royal rations will break him and his army will be overwhelmed, and many will fall, slain. And two of the kings will bend their hearts to evil. And at the same table they will speak lies, but what is discussed will not succeed, for still an end is coming at the appointed time. Then he will return to his land with many possessions, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and he will return to his land.

"At the appointed time he will return and he will come into the south, but it will not be as it was before. And the ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart, and he will turn back, and he will be enraged against the holy covenant, and he will take action, and he will turn back, and he will pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. And military forces from him will occupy and will profane the sanctuary stronghold, and they will abolish the regular burnt offering, and they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

"And those who violate the covenant he will seduce with flattery, but the persons who know their God will stand firm and will take action. And those who have insight will instruct the many, but they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for some time. And when they fall they will receive little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. And even some of those who have insight will fall in order for them to be refined by it, and to be purified and cleansed until the time of the end, for the appointed time is still to come.

"Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and will consider himself above any god, and he will speak horrendous things against the God of gods, yet he will succeed until the period of anger is finished, for what is determined will be done. He will not pay respect to the gods of his ancestors, or to the darling of women, and not to any god will he pay respect, for he will consider himself great over all gods. But instead he will honor the god of fortresses, a god whom his ancestors did not know. He will honor him with gold, and with silver, and with precious stones and with costly gifts. And he will deal with the fortified strongholds with the help of a foreign god; and he will increase wealth for whoever will acknowledge him, and he will cause them to rule over the many, and he will distribute land for a price.

"And at the time of the end the king of the south will attack him, and the king of the north will storm against him with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships, and he will advance against the countries and he will sweep through like a flood. And he will come into the beautiful land and many will fall victim, but these will escape from his power: Edom and Moab and the best part of the Ammonites. And he will stretch out his hand against countries and the land of Egypt will not escape. And he will rule over the treasures of gold and the silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Cushites will follow in his footsteps. But reports will terrify him from the east and from the north, and he will go out with great fury to destroy and to exterminate many. And then he will pitch the tents of his palace between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, and he will come to his end, and there is no one helping him."

"Now at that time, Michael, the great prince, will arise, the protector over the sons of your people, and it will be a time of distress that has not been since your people have been a nation until that time. And at that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written in the scroll. And many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life and some to disgrace and everlasting contempt. But the ones having insight will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and the ones providing justice for the many will be like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the scroll until the time of the end; many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase."

Then I looked, I myself, Daniel, and look, there were two others standing: one on this bank of the stream and one on the other. Then he said to the man who was clothed in linen who was above the water of the stream, "How long until the end of the wonders?" And I heard the man who was clothed in linen who was above the water of the stream, and he raised his right hand and his left hand to heaven and he swore by the one who lives forever that an appointed time, appointed times, and half an appointed time would pass when the shattering of the power of the holy people would be completed; then all these things will be accomplished.

Now I myself heard, but I did not understand, and I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?" And he said, "Go, Daniel, for the words are secret and are sealed up until the time of the end. Many will be purified and will be cleansed and will be refined, but the wicked will act wickedly and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. And from the time the regular burnt offering is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set up there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Happy is the one who is persevering, and attains to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go on to the end and rest, and you will arise for your allotted inheritance at the end of the days."

Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they have put him!" Then Peter and the other disciple went out and were going to the tomb. And the two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first. And bending over to look, he saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, though he did not go in. Then Simon Peter also came following him, and he went into the tomb and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, and the facecloth that was on his head—not lying with the strips of linen cloth, but folded up separately in one place. So then the other disciple who had come to the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. (For they did not yet know the scripture that it was necessary for him to rise from the dead.)

Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. Then, while she was weeping, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, seated one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put him!" When she had said these things, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" She thought that it was the gardener, and said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned around and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni" (which means "Teacher"). Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.’" Mary Magdalene came and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and he had said these things to her.

Now when it was evening on that day—the first day of the week—and the doors had been shut where the disciples were because of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace to you." And when he had said this, he showed his hands and his side to them. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe!"

And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Although the doors had been shut, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, "Peace to you." Then he said to Thomas, "Place your finger here and see my hands, and place your hand and put it into my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing!" Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Now Jesus also performed many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not recorded in this book, but these things are recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.