Daniel 9–10

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9In the first year ^aof Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—²in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through ^bJeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

^3cThen I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O ^dLord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, ^5ewe have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. ^6fNeither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. ⁷O Lord, ^grighteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

⁸“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ^9hTo the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. ¹⁰We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. ¹¹Yes, ⁱall Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the ^jLaw of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. ¹²And He has ^kconfirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; ^lfor under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

^13m“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; ⁿyet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. ¹⁴Therefore the Lord has ^okept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for ^pthe Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵And now, O Lord our God, ^qwho brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself ^ra name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

¹⁶“O Lord, ^saccording to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, ^tYour holy mountain; because for our sins, ^uand for the iniquities of our fathers, ^vJerusalem and Your people ^ware a reproach to all those around us. ¹⁷Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, ^xand ^yfor the Lord’s sake ¹cause Your face to shine on ²Your sanctuary, ^zwhich is desolate. ^18aO my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes ^band see our desolations, and the city ^cwhich is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. ¹⁹O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

The Seventy-Weeks Prophecy

²⁰Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, ²¹yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man ^dGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, ³being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. ²²And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. ²³At the beginning of your supplications the ⁴command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly ^ebeloved; therefore ^fconsider the matter, and understand the vision:

²⁴“Seventy ⁵weeks are determined

For your people and for your holy city,

To finish the transgression,

⁶To make an end of sins,

^gTo make reconciliation for iniquity,

^hTo bring in everlasting righteousness,

To seal up vision and prophecy,

ⁱAnd to anoint ⁷the Most Holy.

²⁵“Know therefore and understand,

That from the going forth of the command

To restore and build Jerusalem

Until ^jMessiah ^kthe Prince,

There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;

The ⁸street shall be built again, and the ⁹wall,

Even in troublesome times.

²⁶“And after the sixty-two weeks

^lMessiah shall ¹be cut off, ^mbut not for Himself;

And ⁿthe people of the prince who is to come

^oShall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

The end of it shall be with a flood,

And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

²⁷Then he shall confirm ^pa ²covenant with ^qmany for one week;

But in the middle of the week

He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,

^rEven until the consummation, which is determined,

Is poured out on the ³desolate.”

Vision of the Glorious Man

10In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose ^aname was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, ¹but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision. ²In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. ³I ate no ²pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

⁴Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the ³Tigris, ⁵I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in ^blinen, whose waist was ^cgirded with gold of Uphaz! ⁶His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, ^dand the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

⁷And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. ⁸Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my ⁴vigor was turned to ⁵frailty in me, and I retained no strength. ⁹Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Prophecies Concerning Persia and Greece

^10eSuddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. ¹¹And he said to me, “O Daniel, ^fman greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.

¹²Then he said to me, ^g“Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, ^hyour words were heard; and I have come because of your words. ¹³ⁱBut the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, ^jMichael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people ^kin the latter days, ^lfor the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

¹⁵When he had spoken such words to me, ^mI ⁶turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. ¹⁶And suddenly, ⁿone having the likeness of the ⁷sons of men ^otouched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision ^pmy sorrows have ⁸overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength. ¹⁷For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me.”

¹⁸Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. ^19qAnd he said, “O man greatly beloved, ^rfear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”

So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

²⁰Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight ^swith the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. ²¹But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, ^texcept Michael your prince.