I heard a human voice call out, coming from somewhere between the waters of the Ulai Canal. Voice: Gabriel, explain to this man what he has seen.

So the one called Gabriel moved closer to me; as he did, I became very scared. I fell to the ground, my face down. Gabriel (to Daniel): Son of man, allow me to help you understand this vision. All you have seen has to do with the time of the end.

As he was speaking, I slipped into a deep sleep—my face pressed to the ground. But Gabriel touched me and helped me stand to my feet where I was before.

Gabriel: I have been sent here to help you understand the things that will take place later in the final time of wrath; for everything you have seen refers to the appointed time of the end.

About the time of the evening sacrifice, while I was still pleading and praying and almost completely exhausted, the man Gabriel, who had appeared to me in an earlier vision, appeared again and reached out to me.

Gabriel (to me): Daniel, I have come for one purpose: to offer you insight and understanding into these matters.

In the third year of King Cyrus’ reign over the Persian Empire, Daniel, who had been named Belteshazzar by his Babylonian captors, received a word from God through another vision. The message proved reliable, and it had to do with a great war. Daniel understood the word and gained insight into the future through this vision. Here is his account. Daniel: When I received this vision, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three weeks.

Messenger (sternly): I am Gabriel, the messenger who inhabits God’s presence. I was sent here to talk with you and bring you this good news.

Six months later in Nazareth, a city in the rural province of Galilee, the heavenly messenger Gabriel made another appearance. This time the messenger was sent by God

Mary’s fiancé Joseph, from Nazareth in Galilee, had to participate in the census in the same way everyone else did. Because he was a descendant of King David, his ancestral city was Bethlehem, David’s birthplace. Mary, who was now late in her pregnancy that the messenger Gabriel had predicted,