Daniel’s Prayer for His People

9 In the first year of ^(A)Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to ^(B)Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, ^(C)seventy years. ³ So I gave my ^[a]attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, and said, “Oh, Lord, the ^(D)great and awesome God, who ^(E)keeps His covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ^5 (F)we have sinned, we have done wrong, and ^[b]acted wickedly and ^(G)rebelled, even ^(H)turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ Moreover, we have not ^(I)listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

⁷ “^(J)Righteousness belongs to You, Lord, but to us ^[c](K)open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in ^(L)all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. ^8 [d]Open shame belongs to us, Lord, to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong ^(M)compassion and forgiveness, ^[e]because we have ^(N)rebelled against Him; ¹⁰ and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His ^[f]teachings which He ^(O)set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ Indeed, ^(P)all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the ^(Q)curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. ¹² So He has ^(R)confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our ^[g](S)rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has ^(T)not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the ^(U)Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us; yet we have ^(V)not ^[h]sought the favor of the Lord our God by ^(W)turning from our wrongdoing and ^[i]giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ So the Lord has ^[j](X)kept the disaster in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is ^(Y)righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

¹⁵ “And now, Lord, our God, You who ^(Z)brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and ^(AA)made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked. ¹⁶ Lord, in accordance with all Your ^[k]righteous acts, let now Your ^(AB)anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your ^(AC)holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an ^(AD)object of taunting to all those around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for ^[l]Your sake, Lord, ^(AE)let Your face shine on Your ^(AF)desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ My God, ^(AG)incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and ^(AH)see our desolations and the city which is ^(AI)called by Your name; for we are not ^[m](AJ)presenting our pleas before You based on ^[n]any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, ^(AK)do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

²⁰ While I was still ^(AL)speaking and praying, and ^(AM)confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and ^[o]presenting my plea before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, ²¹ while I was still speaking in prayer, the man ^(AN)Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision ^[p]previously, ^[q]came to me ^[r]in my extreme weariness about the time of the ^(AO)evening offering. ²² And he instructed me and talked with me and said, “Daniel, I have come now to give you insight with ^(AP)understanding. ²³ At the ^(AQ)beginning of your pleas the ^[s]command was issued, and I have come to tell you, because you are ^[t](AR)highly esteemed; so pay attention to the message and gain ^(AS)understanding of the vision.

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah

²⁴ “Seventy ^[u](AT)weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to ^[v]finish the wrongdoing, to ^[w]make an end of sin, to ^(AU)make atonement for guilt, to bring in ^(AV)everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and ^[x]prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a ^[y](AW)decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until ^[z](AX)Messiah the ^(AY)Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with ^[aa]streets and moat, even in times of distress. ²⁶ Then after the sixty-two weeks, the ^[ab]Messiah will be ^(AZ)cut off and have ^[ac]nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will ^(BA)destroy the city and the sanctuary. And ^[ad]its end will come with a ^(BB)flood; even to the end ^[ae]there will be war; desolations are determined. ²⁷ And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of ^[af](BC)abominations will come the one who ^[ag]makes desolate, until a ^(BD)complete destruction, one that is ^[ah]decreed, gushes forth on the one who ^[ai]makes desolate.”