Daniel’s Prayer for His People
1 In the first year of fDarius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, gaccording to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, hseventy years.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with ifasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and jmade confession, saying, k“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who lkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 mwe have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have nnot listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 oTo you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong pmercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, qwhich he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And rthe curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us,1 by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven sthere has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have tmade a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and ufor your own sake, O Lord,2 vmake your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is wcalled by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. xDelay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your ypeople are called by your name.”
Gabriel Brings an Answer
20 zWhile I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, awhom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the bevening sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are cgreatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
The Seventy Weeks
24 “Seventy weeks3 are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.4 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an danointed one, a eprince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again5 with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its6 end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,7 and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come fone who makes desolate, until the gdecreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Do Not Hide Your Face from Me
A Prayer of one afflicted, wwhen he is faint and xpours out his complaint before the Lord.
1 yHear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
2 Do not zhide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
aanswer me speedily in the day when I call!
3 For my days pass away like bsmoke,
and my cbones burn like a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning
dmy bones cling to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl1 of the waste places;
7 I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8 All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9 For eI eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
10 because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11 My days are like an evening fshadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are genthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
15 Nations will hfear the name of the Lord,
and iall the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For jthe Lord builds up Zion;
khe appears in his glory;
17 he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people lyet to be created may praise the Lord:
19 that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20 to mhear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
21 that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
22 when peoples gather together,
and nkingdoms, to worship the Lord.
23 He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has oshortened my days.
24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you pwhose years endure
throughout all generations!”
25 qOf old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 rThey will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27 but syou are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.
