Daniel

Daniel is the twenty-seventh book of the Bible and the last of the major prophets. It tells the story of Daniel, a young Judean noble carried into Babylonian exile in 605 BC, and contains some of the Bible's most famous narratives and most disputed prophetic visions. The book is traditionally attributed to Daniel himself, who is also the central character. The book is unusual in being written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic.

The first six chapters are narratives about Daniel and his friends in foreign courts. Daniel and three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (better known by their Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), refuse to eat the king's rich food. The three friends are thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship a golden statue and survive. Daniel interprets dreams for Nebuchadnezzar that the Babylonian wise men cannot. Belshazzar sees a hand writing on the wall during a feast; Daniel interprets it as the end of Babylon, and the kingdom falls that night. Under the Persians, Daniel is thrown into a den of lions for praying and is delivered.

The last six chapters are prophetic visions Daniel receives. He sees beasts representing successive empires, a ram and a goat, an angel describing future kings, and a final vision of resurrection and judgment. These chapters are difficult and have been interpreted in many ways across Christian and Jewish traditions. The book ends with Daniel told to seal the book until the end of time.