Daniel’s Prayer

1In the first year of Darius,a the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans: 2In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70.b 3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, •sackcloth, and ashes.c

4I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord — the great and awe-inspiring Godd who keeps His gracious covenante with those who love Himf and keep His commandsg — 5we have sinned,h done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled,i and turned away from Your commands and ordinances.j 6We have not listened to Your servants the prophets,k who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

7Lord, righteousness belongs to You,l but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel — those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where You have dispersed them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward You. 8LORD, public shamem belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.n 9Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against Him 10and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by following His instructions that He set before us through His servantso the prophets.

11All Israel has broken Your law and turned away,p refusing to obey You. The promised curseq written in the law of Moses,r the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against Him. 12He has carried out His wordss that He spoke against us and against our rulerst, u by bringing on us so great a disaster that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been donev under all of heaven. 13Just as it is written in the law of Moses,w all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not appeasedx the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to Your truth.y 14So the LORD kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all He has done. But we have not obeyed Him.

15Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty handz and made Your name renownedaa as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. 16Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, may Your anger and wrathab turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain;ac for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

17Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of Your servant. Show Your favorad to Your desolate sanctuaryae for the Lord’s sake. 18Listen,af my God, and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city called by Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You based on our righteous acts, but based on Your abundant compassion. 19Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for Your own sake, do not delay,ag because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

The 70 Weeks of Years

20While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,ah and presenting my petition before •Yahweh my God concerning the holy mountain of my God — 21while I was praying, Gabriel,ai the man I had seen in the first vision,aj came to me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering.ak 22He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.al 23At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God.am So consider the message and understand the vision:an

24Seventy weeksao are decreedap

about your people and your holy city —

to bring the rebellion to an end,

to put a stop to sin,

to wipe away iniquity,

to bring in everlasting righteousness,aq

to seal up vision and prophecy,

and to anoint the most holy place.

25Know and understand this:

From the issuing of the decree

to restore and rebuild Jerusalemar

until •Messiahas the Princeat

will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.au

It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,

but in difficult times.

26After those 62 weeksav

the Messiah will be cut offaw

and will have nothing.

The people of the coming prince

will destroy the cityax and the sanctuary.

Theay end will come with a flood,az

and until the end there will beba war;

desolations are decreed.

27He will make a firm covenantbb

with many for one week,bc

but in the middle of the week

he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.

And the abomination of desolationbd

will be on a wingbe of the templebf, bg

until the decreed destructionbh

is poured out on the desolator.”