Daniel 9–10

Daniel’s Prayer

9In the first year of Darius^s son of Xerxes^at (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian^b kingdom—²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy^u years. ³So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,^v and in sackcloth and ashes.^w

⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:^x

“Lord, the great and awesome God,^y who keeps his covenant of love^z with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁵we have sinned^a and done wrong.^b We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away^c from your commands and laws.^{d 6}We have not listened^e to your servants the prophets,^f who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors,^g and to all the people of the land.

⁷“Lord, you are righteous,^h but this day we are covered with shameⁱ—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered^j us because of our unfaithfulness^k to you.^{l 8}We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.^{m 9}The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,ⁿ even though we have rebelled against him;^{o 10}we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.^{p 11}All Israel has transgressed^q your law^r and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses^s and sworn judgments^t written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned^u against you. ¹²You have fulfilled^v the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster.^w Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like^x what has been done to Jerusalem.^{y 13}Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord^z our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.^{a 14}The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster^b on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does;^c yet we have not obeyed him.^d

¹⁵“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand^e and who made for yourself a name^f that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. ¹⁶Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts,^g turn away^h your anger and your wrathⁱ from Jerusalem,^j your city, your holy hill.^k Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn^l to all those around us.

¹⁷“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor^m on your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸Give ear,ⁿ our God, and hear;^o open your eyes and see^p the desolation of the city that bears your Name.^q We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.^{r 19}Lord, listen! Lord, forgive!^s Lord, hear and act! For your sake,^t my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

The Seventy “Sevens”

²⁰While I was speaking and praying, confessing^u my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill^v—²¹while I was still in prayer, Gabriel,^w the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.^{x 22}He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.^{y 23}As soon as you began to pray,^z a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.^a Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:^b

²⁴“Seventy ‘sevens’^c are decreed for your people and your holy city^c to finish^d transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone^d for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness,^e to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.^e

²⁵“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild^f Jerusalem until the Anointed One,^fg the ruler,^h comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.^{i 26}After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death^j and will have nothing.^g The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:^k War will continue until the end, and desolations^l have been decreed.^{m 27}He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’^h In the middle of the ‘seven’ⁱ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple^j he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreedⁿ is poured out on him.^k”^l

Daniel’s Vision of a Man

10In the third year of Cyrus^o king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar).^p Its message was true^q and it concerned a great war.^a The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

²At that time I, Daniel, mourned^r for three weeks. ³I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips;^s and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

⁴On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank^t of the great river, the Tigris,^{u 5}I looked up^v and there before me was a man dressed in linen,^w with a belt of fine gold^x from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶His body was like topaz,^y his face like lightning,^z his eyes like flaming torches,^a his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze,^b and his voice^c like the sound of a multitude.

⁷I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it,^d but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. ⁸So I was left alone,^e gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left,^f my face turned deathly pale^g and I was helpless.^{h 9}Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.ⁱ

¹⁰A hand touched me^j and set me trembling on my hands and knees.^{k 11}He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed,^l consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up,^m for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

¹²Then he continued, “Do not be afraid,ⁿ Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble^o yourself before your God, your words^p were heard, and I have come in response to them.^{q 13}But the prince^r of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael,^s one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴Now I have come to explain^t to you what will happen to your people in the future,^u for the vision concerns a time yet to come.^v”

¹⁵While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.^{w 16}Then one who looked like a man^b touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak.^x I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish^y because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. ¹⁷How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”^z

¹⁸Again the one who looked like a man touched^a me and gave me strength.^{b 19}“Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,”^c he said. “Peace!^d Be strong now; be strong.”^e

When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”^f

²⁰So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece^g will come; ²¹but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth.^h (No one supports me against them except Michael,ⁱ your prince.