“Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision Ezekiel sees won’t come true for many years. He is prophesying about a time that is a long way off.’
It was the third year that Cyrus, the king of Persia, ruled over Babylon. At that time I was living in Babylon. There the people called me Belteshazzar. A message from God came to me. It was true. It was about a great war. I had a vision that showed me what it meant.
“Now then, what I’m about to tell you is true. Three more kings will come to power in Persia. Then a fourth one will rule. He will be much richer than all the others. He will use his wealth to gain power. And he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
When they had spoken, I was getting ready to write. But I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said. Do not write it down.”