DanielChapter 9

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¹This happened in the first year of Darius son of Xerxes. Darius was a Mede by birth. He was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. ²In the first year that he was king, I, Daniel, read the holy books. I understood from them what the LORD had told Jeremiah the prophet. Jerusalem would lie in ruins for seventy years. ³So I turned to the Lord God. I looked to him in prayer, and I begged him for help. I went without food. I wore sackcloth and sat in ashes. ⁴I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed our sins. I said,
"O Lord, you are the great and awesome God.
You keep your covenant of faithful love
with those who love you and obey your commands. ⁵We have sinned and done wrong.
We have done evil and turned against you.
We have turned away from your commands and your laws. ⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets.
They spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers.
They spoke to all the people of the land. ⁷Lord, you are righteous.
But today we are covered with shame.
This is true of the people of Judah and of Jerusalem.
It is true of all Israel, near and far.
You have driven us into all these countries
because we were not faithful to you. ⁸O LORD, we are covered with shame.
Our kings, our leaders, and our fathers are ashamed
because we have sinned against you. ⁹The Lord our God is full of mercy and forgiveness,
even though we have turned against him. ¹⁰We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
We have not lived by his laws.
He gave us those laws through his servants the prophets. ¹¹All Israel has broken your law and turned away.
They refused to obey your voice.
So the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses have been poured out on us.
Moses was God's servant.
This has happened because we have sinned against you. ¹²You have done what you said you would do
to us and to our rulers.
You brought a great disaster on us.
Nothing under all of heaven has ever been done
like what was done to Jerusalem. ¹³All this disaster has come on us,
just as it is written in the Law of Moses.
Yet we have not asked the LORD our God to be kind to us.
We have not turned away from our sins.
We have not paid attention to your truth. ¹⁴So the LORD kept this disaster ready
and brought it on us.
For the LORD our God is righteous in all he does.
Yet we have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵O Lord our God, you brought your people out of Egypt
with your mighty hand.
You made your name famous, and it still is today.
We have sinned. We have done evil. ¹⁶O Lord, you always do what is right.
So please turn your anger and fury away from Jerusalem.
It is your city, your holy mountain.
Because of our sins and the sins of our fathers,
Jerusalem and your people are mocked
by everyone around us. ¹⁷So now, our God, hear the prayers of your servant.
Hear me as I beg you for help.
For your own sake, O Lord,
let your face shine on your holy place, which lies in ruins. ¹⁸Turn your ear to us, my God, and hear.
Open your eyes and see our ruins.
See the city that is called by your name.
We don't ask you for help because we have done right.
We ask because your mercy is so great. ¹⁹Lord, listen! Lord, forgive!
Lord, hear us and act!
For your own sake, my God, don't wait,
because your city and your people are called by your name." ²⁰I was still speaking and praying. I was confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel. I was bringing my request to the LORD my God for his holy mountain. ²¹While I was still praying, Gabriel came to me. He was the man I had seen in the vision before. He came flying quickly to me. It was about the time of the evening sacrifice. ²²He taught me and talked with me. He said, "Daniel, I have come now to help you see and understand. ²³As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given. I have come to tell it to you, because you are greatly loved. So think about the message, and understand the vision. ²⁴Seventy weeks have been ordered for your people and your holy city. This time is set to stop their rebellion and put an end to sin. It is set to make atonement for wrongdoing and to bring in righteousness that lasts forever. It is set to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.a ²⁵Know this and understand it. An order will go out to rebuild Jerusalem and make it like new. From that time until the Messiah, the Prince, comes, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and a moat. But it will be a time of trouble. ²⁶After the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off. He will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the holy place. The end will come like a flood. War will go on until the end. Ruin has been ordered. ²⁷He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple will come the disgusting thing that brings ruin. It will stay until the ordered destruction is poured out on him."