Ezr 1, Isa 40:2, Dan 9:2-27, 12:9, 12-13, Act 1:7, Gal 4:4 | ESV | STEP | In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia , that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled , the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia , so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing :

1 ^aIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^bthat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so ^cthat he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^dhe has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel— ^ehe is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, ^feveryone whose spirit ^gGod had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them ^haided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 ⁱCyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that ^jNebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of ^kMithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to ^lSheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: ^m30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 40:2

2 ⁿSpeak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that ^oher warfare ^{▼▼Or hardship} is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

Daniel 9:2-27

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to ^qthe word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ^rprayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and ^smade confession, saying, ^t“O Lord, the ^ugreat and awesome God, who ^vkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 ^wwe have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly ^xand rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 ^yWe have not listened to ^zyour servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to ^aaour kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, ^abO Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, ^acthose who are near and ^adthose who are far away, in ^aeall the lands to which you have driven them, because of ^afthe treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because ^agwe have sinned against you. 9 ^ahTo the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 ^aiand have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by ^ajhis servants the prophets. 11 ^akAll Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, ^alrefusing to obey your voice. ^amAnd the curse and oath ^anthat are written in the Law of ^aoMoses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because ^apwe have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against ^aqour rulers who ruled us, ^{▼▼Or our judges who judged us} by ^asbringing upon us a great calamity. ^atFor under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 ^auAs it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, ^avturning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 ^awTherefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, ^axfor the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and ^aywe have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt ^azwith a mighty hand, and ^bahave made a name for yourself, as at this day, ^bbwe have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 “O Lord, ^bcaccording to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, ^bdyour holy hill, ^bebecause for our sins, and for ^bfthe iniquities of our fathers, ^bgJerusalem and your people have become ^bha byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, ^{▼▼Hebrew for the Lord’s sake} ^bjmake your face to shine upon ^bkyour sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 ^blO my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ^bmour desolations, and ^bnthe city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ^boDelay not, ^bpfor your own sake, O my God, because ^bqyour city and ^bryour people are called by your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20 ^bsWhile I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for ^btthe holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man ^buGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, ^bvcame to me in swift flight at ^bwthe time of the evening sacrifice. 22 ^bxHe made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you ^byinsight and understanding. 23 ^bzAt the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, ^caand I have come to tell it to you, for ^cbyou are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word ^ccand understand the vision.

The Seventy Weeks

24 ^cd“Seventy weeks ^{▼▼Or sevens; also twice in verse 25 and once in verse 26} are decreed about your people and ^cfyour holy city, to finish ^cgthe transgression, to put an end to sin, ^chand to atone for iniquity, ^cito bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and ^cjto anoint a most holy place. ^{▼▼Or thing, or one} 25 ^clKnow therefore and understand that ^cmfrom the going out of the word to restore and ^cnbuild Jerusalem to the coming of an ^coanointed one, a ^cpprince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again ^{▼▼Or there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again} with squares and moat, ^crbut in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall ^csbe cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come ^ctshall destroy the city and the sanctuary. ^cuIts ^{▼▼Or His} end shall come with a flood, ^cwand to the end there shall be war. ^cxDesolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, ^{▼▼Or seven; twice in this verse} and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. ^czAnd on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until ^dathe decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel 12:9

9 He said, ^db“Go your way, Daniel, ^dcfor the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

Daniel 12:12-13

12 ^ddBlessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. 13 ^deBut go your way till the end. ^dfAnd you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at ^dgthe end of the days.”

Acts 1:7

7 He said to them, ^dh“It is not for you to know ^ditimes or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

Galatians 4:4

4 But ^djwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, ^dkborn ^dlof woman, born ^dmunder the law,