Daniel 9–10

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

9In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus,^a from the offspring of the Medes, who became king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— ²in the first year of his kingship I, Daniel, observed in the scrolls the number of the years that it was that were to be fulfilled according to the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet for the devastation of Jerusalem—seventy years.

³Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleas for mercy,^b in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, ⁵we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors^c and to all the people of the land.

⁷“Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord,^d and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far off^e in all the lands to which you have driven them,^f because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. ⁸Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,^g because we have sinned against you. ⁹Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God,^h for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law which he placed before usⁱ by the hand of his servants the prophets.

¹¹“And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. ¹²And so he has carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us a great calamity which was not done under all of heaven as it was done in Jerusalem. ¹³Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and we have not implored^j the face of Yahweh our God so as to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness.^{k 14}So Yahweh has kept watch over the^l calamity, and now he has brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God is righteous concerning all his works^m that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice.

¹⁵“And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you have made for yourself a name until this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain,ⁿ because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors^o Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors.

¹⁷“And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine^p your face upon your desolate sanctuary for your sake, O Lord.^{q 18}Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy before you^r because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion. ¹⁹Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay for your sake,^s my God; because your city and your people are called by your name.”^t

Gabriel’s Announcement and Presentation of the Seventy Sets of Seven

²⁰Now I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before^u Yahweh my God, on behalf of the holy mountain of my God.^{v 21}And I was still speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously,^w in my weariness touched me^x at the time of the evening offering. ²²And he instructed me and he spoke with me and he said, “Daniel I have now come out^y to teach you understanding. ²³At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and now I have come to declare^z it, for you are highly esteemed, and so consider the word and understand the vision.

The Seventy Sets of Seven Detailed

²⁴“Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and for your holy city,^a to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin^b and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint the most holy place.^{c 25}And you must know and you must understand^d that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed^e one—a leader—will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;^f it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but in a time of oppression.^g

²⁶“And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one^h shall be cut off, and he shall have nothing,ⁱ and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary,^j and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined. ²⁷And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering and in its place^k a desolating abomination comes even until the determined complete destruction^l is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel’s Vision of a Dazzling Heavenly Messenger

10In the third year of Cyrus the king of the Persians, a word^a was revealed to Daniel, who was called by his name Belteshazzar, and the word^b was reliable and it concerned a great tribulation,^c and he understood the word^d and he received understanding.^e

²In those days, I, Daniel, I myself^f was in mourning for three whole weeks.^{g 3}I had not eaten any choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and I did not use any ointment^h until the end of three whole weeks.^{i 4}And then on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I myself^j was on the bank of the great river; that is, the Tigris. ⁵And I lifted up my eyes and I saw,^k and there was a man, and he was dressed in linen, and his waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz. ⁶Now his body was like turquoise,^l and his face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like torches of fire, and his arms and his legs were like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words was like the sound of a multitude. ⁷And I saw, I, Daniel alone,^m the vision; and the people who were with me did not seeⁿ the vision; nevertheless, a great trembling fell upon them and they fled in order to hide themselves. ⁸And I myself, Daniel, alone saw this great vision, and as a result no strength was left in me^o and my complexion grew deathly pale,^p and I did not retain any strength. ⁹And I heard the sound of his words, and when I heard^q the sound of his words I myself began falling into a trance on my face, with my face to the ground.^r

¹⁰And look, a hand touched me and it roused me to my knees^s and the palms^t of my hands. ¹¹And he said to me, “Daniel, a man beloved, pay attention to the words that I am speaking to you and stand upright where you are,^u for I have now been sent to you.” And while he was speaking^v with me this word,^w I stood up trembling. ¹²And he said to me, “You must not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before^x your God, your words were heard, and I myself^y have come because of your words. ¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood before me^z for twenty-one days. And look,^a Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist me, and I left him there beside the king of the Persians. ¹⁴And I have come^b to instruct you about what^c will happen to your people in the future,^d for there is a further vision here for the future.^e

¹⁵And while he was speaking with me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and I was speechless. ¹⁶Then look, there was one in the form of a human;^f he touched my lips and I opened my mouth and I spoke and I said to the one standing before me,^g “My lord, because of the vision my anxieties fell upon me and I have not retained my strength. ¹⁷So how am I, a servant of my lord^h to speak with you, my lord,ⁱ and I just now^j have no strength in me?”^k

¹⁸And he again touched^l me, the one in the form of a human,^m and he strengthened me. ¹⁹And he said, “You must not fear, O beloved man. Peace be to you;ⁿ be strong and be courageous!” And when he spoke^o with me, I was strengthened and I said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” ²⁰Then he asked, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I return to fight against the prince of Persia and I myself^p am going, and look,^q the prince of Javan^r will come. ²¹However, I will tell you what is inscribed^s in the book of truth, and there is not one who contends with me against these beings except^t Michael, your prince.”