Daniel 9
1 It was the first year of Darius the Mede, son of Ahasuerus, after he had become king of the Babylonians.
In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who ruled over the kingdom of the Chaldeans,
2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures as given to the prophet Jeremiah that the time of seventy years for Jerusalem to lie desolate would soon be fulfilled.
in year one of his reign, I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of the years, concerning the word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah, the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would be completed in seventy years.
3 So I turned to the Lord God in prayer. I fasted and wore sackcloth and ashes, and I pleaded with him in prayer to act.
And I set my face to the Lord, my God, to ask and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God, and confessed, saying, “Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always keep your promises and show your trustworthy love to those who love you and keep your commandments.
And I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I confessed, and I said, “I beg you, O Lord God, great and terrible, preserving the covenant and mercy for those who love you and keep your commandments.
5 But we have sinned, we have done wrong. We have acted wickedly, we have rebelled against you. We have turned away from your commandments and your laws.
We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we acted impiously and have withdrawn, and we have turned aside from your commandments as well as your judgments.
6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings and leaders and forefathers, and to everybody in the country.
We have not obeyed your servants, the prophets, who have spoken in your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land.
7 Lord, you always do what is right, but we continue to be ashamed to this very day—we the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those nearby and those far away, those of every country where you have driven them because of their unfaithfulness to you.
To you, O Lord, is justice, but to us is confusion of face, just as it is on this day for the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, for those who are near and those who are far off, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of their iniquities by which they have sinned against you.
8 Public shame is ours Lord, and on our kings and princes and forefathers, because we have sinned against you.
O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face: to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, who have sinned.
9 Yet you, the Lord our God, are compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against you.
But to you, the Lord our God, is mercy and atonement, for we have withdrawn from you,
10 We have not obeyed what you, the Lord God, have told us. We have not followed your law that you gave us through your servants the prophets.
and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord, our God, so as to walk in his law, which he established for us by his servants, the prophets.
11 The whole of Israel has broken your law and turned away from you, not listening to what you had to say. That's why the condemnation that comes from our broken promise has been poured out on us—because of our sin, as made clear in the Law of Moses, the servant of the Lord.
And all Israel has transgressed your law and has turned away, not listening to your voice, and so the condemnation and the curse, which is written in the book of Moses, servant of God, has rained down upon us, because we have sinned against him.
12 You have carried out what you warned us about, against us and against our rulers—such a terrible punishment brought upon Jerusalem, the worst that has ever happened in the whole world.
And he has fulfilled his words, which he has spoken over us and over our leaders who judged us, that he would lead over us a great evil, such as has never before existed under all of heaven, according to what has been done in Jerusalem.
13 Just as the Law of Moses said, all this punishment has fallen on us, but we still have not asked you, the Lord our God, to be favorable to us, turning away from our sins and paying attention to your truth.
Just as it has been written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, and we did not entreat your face, O Lord our God, so that we might turn back from our iniquities and consider your truth.
14 You were ready to punish us, and you were right to do everything you have done, for we didn't listen to you.
And the Lord kept watch over the evil and has led it over us; the Lord, our God, is just in all his works, which he has accomplished, for we have not listened to his voice.
15 You, our Lord God, by your great power brought us out of Egypt, making a name for yourself that lasts even until now. But we have sinned, we have done wicked things.
And now, O Lord, our God, who has led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and has made yourself a name in accordance with this day: we have sinned, we have done wrong.
16 So Lord, because you are so good, please turn away from your anger and fury against Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because of our sins and those of our forefathers, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.
O Lord, for all your righteousness, turn away, I beg you, your anger and your fury from your city, Jerusalem, and from your holy mountain. For, because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are a reproach to all who surround us.
17 Now, our Lord, please listen to the prayer and pleading of your servant, and for your own sake look kindly on your abandoned sanctuary.
Now, therefore, heed, O God, the prayer of your servant and his requests, and reveal your face over your sanctuary, which is desolate, for your own sake.
18 Please listen carefully and open your eyes and see the terrible state we are in, and the city that bears your name. We're not making these requests to you for this because of our goodness, but because of your great mercy.
Incline your ear, O my God, and hear, open your eyes and see our desolation and the city over which your name is invoked. For it is not through our justifications that we offer requests before your face, but through the fullness of your compassion.
19 Lord, please listen! Lord, please forgive! Please pay attention and do something! For your own sake, my God, don't delay, for your city and your people are identified by your name.”
Heed, O Lord. Be pleased, O Lord. Turn and act. Do not delay, for your own sake, O my God, because your name is invoked over your city and over your people.”
20 I continued speaking, praying and confessing my sins and those of my people Israel, pleading before the Lord my God on behalf of Jerusalem, his holy mountain.
And while I was still speaking and praying and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people, Israel, and offering my prayers in the sight of my God, on behalf of the holy mountain of my God,
21 While I was still praying, Gabriel, whom I'd seen previously when I'd had the vision, came flying rapidly towards me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
as I was still speaking in prayer, behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He gave me the following explanation, saying, “Daniel, I've come to give you insight and understanding.
And he instructed me, and he spoke to me and said, “Now, Daniel, I have come forth to teach you and to help you understand.
23 As soon as you started praying, the answer was given, and I have come to explain it to you because God loves you very much. So please listen to the explanation and understand the meaning of the vision.
At the beginning of your prayers, the message came forth, yet I have come to explain it to you because you are a man who is seeking. Therefore, you must pay close attention to the message and understand the vision.
24 Seventy weeks has been allotted to your people and your holy city to deal with the rebellion, to put an end to sin, to forgive wrongdoing, to bring in everlasting goodness, to confirm the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Seventy weeks of years are concentrated on your people and on your holy city, so that transgression shall be finished, and sin shall reach an end, and iniquity shall be wiped away, and so that everlasting justice shall be brought in, and vision and prophecy shall be fulfilled, and the Saint of saints shall be anointed.
25 You need to know and understand that from the time the command is given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks will elapse. It will be built with streets and defenses, in spite of the difficult times.
Therefore, know and take heed: from the going forth of the word to build up Jerusalem again, until the Christ leader, there will be seven weeks of years, and sixty-two weeks of years; and the wide path will be built again, and the walls, in a time of anguish.
26 After sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be put to death, and will be brought to nothing. A ruler will come to power whose army will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will come like a flood. War and devastation will continue until that period of time is completed.
And after sixty-two weeks of years, the Christ leader will be slain. And the people who have denied him will not be his. And the people, when their leader arrives, will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will be devastation, and, after the end of the war, the desolation will be set up.
27 He will confirm the agreement with many people for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The idolatry that causes devastation will be supported until the end when the same fate is poured out on the one who devastates.”
But he will confirm a covenant with many for one week of years; and for half of the week of years, victim and sacrifice will nearly cease; but there will be in the temple the abomination of desolation. And the desolation will continue even to the consummation and the end.”
