Daniel
He was of the tribe of Judah, of a family prominent in the service of the king; but in his childhood he was carried away from Judea to the land of Chaldea.
He was born in Upper Beth-horon. In his manhood he was chaste, so that the Jews thought him a eunuch.
He mourned greatly over the city, and in fasting abstained from every sort of dainty food. He was lean and haggard in the eyes of men, but beautiful in the grace of the Most High.
He made great supplication in behalf of Nebuchadnezzar, whose son Belshazzar besought him for aid at the time when the king became a beast of the field, lest he should perish.
For his head and foreparts were those of an ox, his legs and hinder parts those of a lion.
The meaning of this marvel was revealed to the prophet: the king became a beast because of his self-indulgence and his stubbornness.
It is the manner of tyrants, that in their youth they come under the yoke of Satan; in their latter years they become wild beasts, snatching, destroying, smiting, and slaying.
The prophet knew by divine revelation that the king was eating grass like an ox, and that it became for him the food of a human being.
Therefore it was that Nebuchadnezzar himself, recovering human reason when digestion was completed, used to weep and beseech the Lord, praying forty times each day and night.
Then the mind of a dumb animal would (again) take possession of him and he would forget that he had been a human being.
His tongue had lost the power of speech; when he understood his condition he wept, and his eyes were like raw flesh from his weeping.
There were many who went out from the city to see him; Daniel alone had no wish to see him, but during all the time of his transformation he was in prayer for him.
He declared that the king would be restored to human form, but they did not believe him.
Daniel caused the seven years (the meaning of his "seven times") to become seven months.
The mystery of the seven times was fulfilled upon the king, for in seven months he was restored, and in the (remaining) six years and five months he was doing penance to the Lord and confessing his wickedness. When his sin had been forgiven, the kingdom was given back to him.
He ate neither bread nor flesh in the time of his repentance, for Daniel had bidden him eat pulse and greens while appeasing the Lord.
The king named the prophet Baltasar because he wished to make him a joint heir with his children;
but the holy man said: "Far be it from me to forsake the heritage of my fathers and join in the inheritances of the uncircumcised."
He also did for the other Persian kings many wonderful things which were not written down.
He died there, and was buried with great honor, by himself, in the royal sepulcher.
He appointed a sign in the mountains which are above Babylon: When the mountain on the north shall smoke, the end of Babylon will come; when it shall burn as with fire, the end of all the earth will be at hand. If the mountain on the south shall flow with water, Israel will return to its land; if it shall run blood, it portends a slaughter brought by Satan on all the earth.
And the holy prophet slept in peace.