Dan 9 | NASB1995 | STEP | In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus , of Median descent , who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans

Daniel 9

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

1 In the first year of ^aDarius 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 ^bJeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, ^cseventy years. 3 So I ^{▼▼ Lit set my face}gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the ^egreat and awesome God, who ^fkeeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 ^gwe have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and ^hrebelled, even ⁱturning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. 6 “Moreover, we have not ^jlistened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.

7 ^k“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us ^{▼▼ Lit the shame of face
,} ^mopen 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 ⁿall the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 ^{▼▼ Lit The shame of face}“Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 “To the Lord our God belong ^pcompassion and forgiveness, ^{▼▼ Or though}for we have ^rrebelled against Him; 10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His ^{▼▼ Or laws}teachings which He ^tset before us through His servants the prophets. 11 “Indeed ^uall Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the ^vcurse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 “Thus He has ^wconfirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our ^{▼▼ Lit judges who judged us
,} ^yrulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has ^znot been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the ^aalaw of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have ^abnot ^{▼▼ Lit softened the face of}sought the favor of the Lord our God by ^adturning from our iniquity and ^{▼▼ Or having insight into}giving attention to Your truth. 14 “Therefore the Lord has ^{▼▼ Lit watched over the evil
,} ^agkept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is ^ahrighteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

15 “And now, O Lord our God, who have ^aibrought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have ^ajmade a name for Yourself, as it is this day— we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 “O Lord, in accordance with all Your ^{▼▼ Lit righteousnesses}righteous acts, let now Your ^alanger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your ^amholy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a ^anreproach to all those around us. 17 “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for ^{▼▼ Lit the sake of the Lord}Your sake, O Lord, ^aplet Your face shine on Your ^aqdesolate sanctuary. 18 “O my God, ^arincline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and ^assee our desolations and the city which is ^atcalled by Your name; for we are not ^{▼▼ Lit causing to fall
,} ^avpresenting our supplications before You on account of ^{▼▼ Lit our righteousnesses}any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, ^axdo not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20 Now while I was ^ayspeaking and praying, and ^azconfessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and ^{▼▼ Lit causing to fall}presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man ^bbGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision ^{▼▼ Lit at the beginning}previously, ^{▼▼ Lit was reaching; or touching}came to me ^{▼▼ Lit wearied with weariness}in my extreme weariness about the time of the ^bfevening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with ^bgunderstanding. 23 “At the ^bhbeginning of your supplications the ^{▼▼ Lit word went out}command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are ^{▼▼ Lit desirable; or precious
,} ^bkhighly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain ^blunderstanding of the vision.

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah

24 “Seventy ^{▼▼ Or units of seven, and so throughout the ch
,} ^bnweeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to ^{▼▼ Or restrain}finish the transgression, to ^{▼▼ Another reading is seal up sins}make an end of sin, to ^bqmake atonement for iniquity, to bring in ^breverlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and ^{▼▼ Lit prophet}prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a ^{▼▼ Lit word
,} ^budecree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until ^{▼▼ Or an anointed one
,} ^bwMessiah the ^bxPrince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with ^{▼▼ Or streets}plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the ^{▼▼ Or anointed one}Messiah will be ^cacut off and have ^{▼▼ Or no one}nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will ^ccdestroy the city and the sanctuary. And ^{▼▼ Or his}its end will come with a ^ceflood; even to the end ^{▼▼ Or war will be decreed for desolations}there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 “And he will make a firm 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 ^{▼▼ Or detestable things
,} ^chabominations will come one who ^{▼▼ Or causes horror}makes desolate, even until a ^cjcomplete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who ^{▼▼ Or causes horror}makes desolate.”