Daniel 9 Common English Bible

Daniel’s prayer

9 In the first year of Darius’ rule—Darius, who was Ahasuerus’ son, a Median by birth and who ruled the Chaldean kingdom— ²I, Daniel, pondered the scrolls, specifically the number of years that it would take to complete Jerusalem’s desolation according to the Lord’s word to the prophet Jeremiah. It was seventy years. ³I then turned my face to my Lord God, asking for an answer with prayer and pleading, and with fasting, mourning clothes, and ashes. ⁴As I prayed to the Lord my God, I made this confession:

Please, my Lord—you are the great and awesome God, the one who keeps the covenant, and truly faithful to all who love him and keep his commands: ⁵We have sinned and done wrong. We have brought guilt on ourselves and rebelled, ignoring your commands and your laws. ⁶We haven’t listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, our parents, and to all the land’s people. ⁷Righteousness belongs to you, my Lord! But we are ashamed this day—we, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all Israel whether near or far, in whatever country where you’ve driven them because of their unfaithfulness when they broke faith with you. ⁸Lord, we are ashamed—we, our kings, our leaders, and our parents who sinned against you. ⁹Compassion and deep forgiveness belong to my Lord, our God, because we rebelled against him. ¹⁰We didn’t listen to the voice of the Lord our God by following the teachings he gave us through his servants, the prophets. ¹¹All Israel broke your Instruction and turned away, ignoring your voice. Then the curse that was sworn long ago—the one written in the Instruction from Moses, God’s servant—swept over us because we sinned against God. ¹²God confirmed the words he spoke against us and against our rulers, bringing great trouble on us. What happened in Jerusalem hasn’t happened anywhere else in the entire world! ¹³All this trouble came upon us, exactly as it was written in the Instruction of Moses, but we didn’t try to reconcile with the Lord our God by turning from our wrongdoing or by finding wisdom in your faithfulness. ¹⁴So the Lord oversaw the great trouble and brought it on us, because the Lord our God has been right in every move he’s made, but we haven’t listened to his voice.

¹⁵“But now, my Lord, our God—you who brought your people out of Egypt with a strong hand, making a name for yourself even to this day: We have sinned and done the wrong thing.” ¹⁶My Lord, please! In line with your many righteous acts, please turn your raging anger from Jerusalem, which is your city, your own holy mountain. Because of our sins and the wrongdoing of our parents, both Jerusalem and your people have become a disgrace to all our neighbors.

¹⁷“But now, our God, listen to your servant’s prayer and pleas for help. Shine your face on your ruined sanctuary, for your own sake, my Lord. ¹⁸Open your ears, my God, and listen! Open your eyes and look at our devastation. Look at the city called by your name! We pray our prayers for help to you, not because of any righteous acts of ours but because of your great compassion. ¹⁹My Lord, listen! My Lord, forgive! My Lord, pay attention and act! Don’t delay! My God, do all this for your own sake, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Seventy weeks

²⁰While I was still speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sins of my people Israel—while I was still praying my prayer for help to the Lord my God about my God’s holy mountain— ²¹while I was still speaking this prayer, the man Gabriel approached me at the time of the evening offering. This was the same Gabriel I had seen in my earlier vision. He was weary with exhaustion.^[a]

²²He explained as he spoke with me: “Daniel, here’s why I’ve come: to give you insight and understanding. ²³When you began making your requests, a word went out, and I’ve come to tell it to you because you are greatly treasured. So now understand this word and grasp the meaning of this vision! ²⁴Seventy weeks are appointed for your people and for your holy city to complete the rebellion, to end sins, to cover over wrongdoing, to bring eternal righteousness, to seal up prophetic vision, and to anoint the most holy place.

²⁵“So you must know and gain wisdom about this: There will be seven weeks from the moment the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until a leader is anointed. And for sixty-two weeks the city will be rebuilt with a courtyard and a moat. But in difficult times, ²⁶after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be eliminated. No one will support him.^[b] The army of a future leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary. His^[c] end will come in a flood, but devastations will be decreed until the end of the war.^[d] ²⁷For one week, he will make a strong covenant with many people. For a half-week, he will stop both sacrifices and offerings. In their place^[e] will be the desolating monstrosities until the decreed destruction sweeps over the devastator.”

Footnotes

Daniel 9:21 Or approached me in swift flight at the time of the evening offering; Heb uncertain
Daniel 9:26 Or and will have nothing or and will disappear; Heb uncertain
Daniel 9:26 Or Its (the army’s)
Daniel 9:26 Heb uncertain
Daniel 9:27 Correction on the wing; Heb uncertain