The Book of the Prophet Daniel 9 Daniel's Prayer: The Seventy Weeks: The Messiah

 The Book of the Prophet Daniel 9

Daniel's Prayer: The Seventy Weeks: The Messiah

1 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of the nation of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans,

2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books that the number of years, of which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, in which the desolations of Jerusalem were to end, was seventy years,

3 So I set my face to the Lord God, seeking him with prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

4 Then I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments,

5 We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly and rebelled; we have turned away from Your commandments and Your judgments;

6 We did not listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, as well as to all the people of the land.

7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us shame of face, as is seen this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel; to those near and to those far away, in all the lands where you have driven them, because of their transgression, with which they have transgressed against you.

8 O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him,

10 and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he gave us by the hand of his servants the prophets.

11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed your law, turning aside so as not to obey your voice; therefore the curse, the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he has confirmed his word, which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, bringing upon us a great evil; for never under the whole heaven has there been anything like what has happened in Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and apply ourselves to your truth.

14 Therefore the Lord watched over the evil and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works that he has done, for we have not obeyed his voice.

15 Indeed, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made a name for yourself, as is seen this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause your face to shine upon your desolate sanctuary.

18 Incline your ear, O my God; Hear, O Lord: Open your eyes, and see our desolation, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our supplications before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act without delay; for your own sake, O my God; for your city and your people are called by your name.

20 While I was still speaking and 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,

21 While I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 And he instructed me and spoke with me, and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding.” 

23 At the beginning of your supplications, the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, pay close attention to the word and understand the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

25 Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.

26 After the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. The people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will come with a flood. And until the end there will be war: desolations are determined.

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and for the overspreading of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate, even until the consummation, and that which is determined, shall be poured upon the desolate.