Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first¹ year of Darius son of Ahasuerus,² who was of Median descent and who had been³ appointed king over the Babylonian⁴ empire— 9:2 in the first year of his reign⁵ I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books that, according to the word of the Lord⁶ disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the reproach of Jerusalem were seventy in number. 9:3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God⁷ to implore him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 9:4 I prayed to the Lord my God, confessing in this way:

“O Lord,⁸ great and wondrous God who keeps covenant fidelity⁹ with those who love him and keep his commandments, 9:5 we have sinned, behaving with iniquity and wickedness, and we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and judgments. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke as your representatives to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors,¹⁰ and to all the inhabitants of the land as well.

9:7 “Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord, but great shame belongs to us this day—to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O Lord, great shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet to the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving,¹¹ even though we have sinned against him. 9:10 We have not paid attention to the voice of the Lord our God by living in the light of his laws¹² he set before us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 “All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away by not paying attention to your voice. Therefore you have poured out on us this curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you.¹³ 9:12 He has fulfilled his words which he spoke against us and our rulers¹⁴ who were over us by bringing tremendous calamity on us—what was done with Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to appease the Lord our God by turning away from our iniquity and by gaining insight from his truth. 9:14 The Lord was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all his deeds that he has done, and we have not paid attention to his voice.

9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power¹⁵ and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day—we have sinned and behaved wickedly. 9:16 O Lord, according to all your righteousness, please turn your anger and wrath away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

9:17 “So hear favorably now, our God, the prayer and supplications of your servant, and let your face shine on your devastated sanctuary for your own sake.¹⁶ 9:18 Listen attentively,¹⁷ my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolations and the city which is identified with you.¹⁸ For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying,¹⁹ but because your compassion is abundant. 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For you are identified with your city and with your people.”

Gabriel Gives to Daniel a Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the Lord my God concerning his holy mountain²⁰— 9:21 yes, while I was still praying,²¹ the man Gabriel whom I had seen previously in a vision was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness,²² around the time of the evening offering. 9:22 He spoke with me, instructing me as follows: “Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you. 9:23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are a precious treasure. Therefore consider the message and understand the vision:²³

9:24 “Seventy weeks²⁴ have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to finish²⁵ the transgression,

to bring sin²⁶ to completion,²⁷

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in everlasting righteousness,

to seal up²⁸ the prophetic vision,²⁹

and to anoint a most holy place.³⁰

9:25 So know and understand:

from the going forth of the message³¹ to return and build

Jerusalem until the anointed one, the prince,

there are seven weeks³² and sixty-two weeks.

It will again be built, with plaza and moat,

but in distressful times.

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

the anointed one will be cut off and have nothing.³³

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy³⁴ them.

But his end will come speedily like a flood,³⁵

until the end of the war that has been decreed;

there will be desolations.

9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many

for one week.³⁶ But in the middle of that week

he will bring sacrifice and offering to a halt

on the wing³⁷ of a desolating abomination,

until the decreed end is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

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