Dan 9 | HCSB | STEP | In the first year of Darius , the son of Ahasuerus , a Mede by birth , who was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans :

Daniel 9

Daniel’s Prayer

1 In the first year of Darius, ^a the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans: 2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70. ^b 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, ^{▼▼sackcloth: Garment made of poor quality material and worn as a sign of grief and mourning}sackcloth, and ashes. ^d

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord – the great and awe-inspiring God ^e who keeps His gracious covenant ^f with those who love Him ^g and keep His commands ^h – 5 we have sinned, ⁱ done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, ^j and turned away from Your commands and ordinances. ^k 6 We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, ^l who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

7 Lord, righteousness belongs to You, ^m but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel – those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where You have dispersed them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward You. 8 Lord, public shame ⁿ belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ^o 9 Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against Him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following His instructions that He set before us through His servants ^p the prophets.

11 All Israel has broken Your law and turned away, ^q refusing to obey You. The promised curse ^{▼▼Lit The curse and the oath} written in the law of Moses, ^s the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against Him. 12 He has carried out His words ^t that He spoke against us and against our rulers ^{▼▼Lit against rulers who ruled us
,} ^v by bringing on us so great a disaster that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done ^w under all of heaven. 13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, ^x all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not appeased ^y the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to Your truth. ^z 14 So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all He has done. But we have not obeyed Him.

15 Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand ^aa and made Your name renowned ^ab as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. 16 Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, may Your anger and wrath ^ac turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; ^ad for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

17 Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of Your servant. Show Your favor ^ae to Your desolate sanctuary ^af for the Lord’s sake. 18 Listen, ^{▼▼Lit Stretch out Your ear} my God, and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city called by Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You based on our righteous acts, but based on Your abundant compassion. 19 Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for Your own sake, do not delay, ^ah because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

The 70 Weeks of Years

20 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, ^ai and presenting my petition before ^{▼▼Yahweh/Yah: Or The Lord; the personal name of God in Hebrew; "Yah" is the shortened form of the name.}Yahweh my God concerning the holy mountain of my God – 21 while I was praying, Gabriel, ^ak the man I had seen in the first vision, ^al came to me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering. ^am 22 He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding. ^an 23 At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. ^ao So consider the message and understand the vision: ^ap

24 Seventy weeks ^{▼▼= 490 years} are decreed ^ar
about your people and your holy city –
to bring the rebellion to an end,
to put a stop to sin,
to wipe away iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, ^as
to seal up vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy place.
25 Know and understand this:
From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem ^at
until ^{▼▼Messiah: Or the Christ; the Greek word Christos means "the anointed one".}Messiah ^av the Prince ^{▼▼Or until an anointed one, a prince}
will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. ^{▼▼= 49 years and 434 years}
It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,
but in difficult times.
26 After those 62 weeks ^{▼▼= 434 years}
the Messiah will be cut off ^az
and will have nothing.
The people of the coming prince
will destroy the city ^ba and the sanctuary.
The ^{▼▼Lit Its, or His} end will come with a flood, ^bc
and until the end there will be ^{▼▼Or end of a} war;
desolations are decreed.
27 He will make a firm covenant ^{▼▼Or will enforce a covenant}
with many for one week, ^{▼▼= 7 years}
but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the abomination of desolation ^bg
will be on a wing ^bh of the temple ^{▼▼LXX; MT reads of abominations
,} ^{▼▼Or And the desolator will be on the wing of abominations, or And the desolator will come on the wings of monsters (or of horror); Hb obscure}
until the decreed destruction ^bk
is poured out on the desolator.”