¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood before me^z for twenty-one days. And look,^a Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist me, and I left him there beside the king of the Persians. ¹⁴And I have come^b to instruct you about what^c will happen to your people in the future,^d for there is a further vision here for the future.^e

¹⁵And while he was speaking with me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and I was speechless. ¹⁶Then look, there was one in the form of a human;^f he touched my lips and I opened my mouth and I spoke and I said to the one standing before me,^g “My lord, because of the vision my anxieties fell upon me and I have not retained my strength. ¹⁷So how am I, a servant of my lord^h to speak with you, my lord,ⁱ and I just now^j have no strength in me?”^k

¹⁸And he again touched^l me, the one in the form of a human,^m and he strengthened me. ¹⁹And he said, “You must not fear, O beloved man. Peace be to you;ⁿ be strong and be courageous!” And when he spoke^o with me, I was strengthened and I said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” ²⁰Then 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^p am going, and look,^q the prince of Javan^r will come. ²¹However, I will tell you what is inscribed^s in the book of truth, and there is not one who contends with me against these beings except^t Michael, your prince.”

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Footnotes

zLiterally “to front of me”
aOr “finally”
bHebrew “I came”
cHebrew “that”
dLiterally “at the end of the days”
eLiterally “for the days”
fLiterally “as the likeness of a son of man”
gLiterally “to opposite me”
hLiterally “how is he able a servant of my lord this”
iLiterally “with my lord this”
jLiterally “from now”
kLiterally “not it remains in me strength”
lLiterally “he added to and touched”
mLiterally “like vision of a man”
nLiterally “Peace to/for you”
oLiterally “at his speaking”
pThis is an emphatic use of the first person personal pronoun
qOr “listen”
rThat is, Greece
sLiterally “the being inscribed”
tLiterally “but if”