9:1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom–
9:2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
9:3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands,
9:5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.
9:6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
9:7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame–the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you.
9:8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
9:9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;
9:10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.
9:11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.
9:12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.
9:13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.
9:14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong.
9:16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
9:17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
9:18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
9:19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
9:20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill–
9:21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
9:22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.
9:23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
9:24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
9:25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
9:26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, a Median descendant who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans,
9:2 In the first year of his reign
9:3 So I set my face toward the Lord God to seek Him in prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
9:4 And I prayed to Jehovah my God and confessed; and I said, Ah, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments,
9:5 We have sinned and have committed iniquity, and we have acted wickedly and rebelled, to the point of even turning away from Your commandments and from Your judgments.
9:6 And we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our chief men, and our fathers, as well as to all the people of the land.
9:7 To You, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, shamefacedness, as it is this day, that is, to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far off in all the lands to which You have driven them because of their trespass by which they have trespassed against You.
9:8 O Jehovah, to us belongs shamefacedness, to our kings, our chief men, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
9:9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
9:10 And we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in His instruction, which He set before us through the hand of His servants the prophets.
9:11 Indeed, all Israel has transgressed Your law, to the point of even turning away so as not to obey Your voice; thus the curse has been poured out upon us, the very oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.
9:12 And He has confirmed His words which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us great ill; for under all heaven there has not been done anything like that which has been done in Jerusalem.
9:13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this ill has come upon us, yet we have not entreated the favor of Jehovah our God by turning from our iniquities and attending to Your truth.
9:14 Therefore Jehovah has been vigilant with the ill and has brought it upon us, for Jehovah our God is righteous in all the deeds that He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.
9:15 And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made for Yourself a name, as it is this day, we have sinned, we have been wicked.
9:16 O Lord, in accordance with all the manifestations of Your righteousness, may Your anger and Your wrath be turned away, I pray, from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
9:17 And now hear, O our God, the prayer of Your servant and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that has been desolated, for the Lord’s sake.
9:18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city that is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You based upon any righteous doings that we have done, but based upon Your great compassion.
9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your own name.
9:20 And while I was still speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God,
9:21 Even while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, reached me in my utter exhaustion about the time of the evening oblation.
9:22 And he informed me and talked with me and said, Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.
9:23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went forth, and I have come to tell you, for you are preciousness itself. Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
9:24 Seventy weeks are apportioned for your people and for your holy city, to close the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make propitiation for iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
9:25 Know therefore and comprehend: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of Messiah the Prince will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with street and trench, even in distressful times.
9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing; and the people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it will be with a flood, and even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
9:27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week; and in the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and will replace the sacrifice and the oblation with abominations of the desolator, even until the complete destruction that has been determined is poured out upon the desolator.