IN THE FIRST YEAR OF DARIUS
THE SON OF AHASUERUS,
OF THE SEED OF THE MEDES,
WHICH WAS MADE KING
OVER THE REALMS OF THE CHALDEANS;
In the first year of his reign
I Daniel understood by books
the number of the years,
whereof the word of the LORD
came to Jeremiah the prophet,
that he would accomplish
seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
And I set my face unto the Lord God,
to seek by prayer and supplications,
with fasting, and sackcloth,
and ashes:
And I prayed unto the LORD my God,
and made my confession,
and said,
O Lord,
the great and dreadful God,
keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him,
and to them that keep his commandments;
We have sinned,
and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly,
and have rebelled,
even by departing from thy precepts
and from thy judgments:
Neither have we hearkened
unto thy servants the prophets,
which spake in thy name
to our kings,
our princes,
and our fathers,
and to all the people of the land.
O Lord,
righteousness belongeth unto thee,
but unto us confusion of faces,
as at this day;
to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and unto all Israel,
that are near,
and that are far off,
through all the countries
whither thou hast driven them,
because of their trespass
that they have trespassed against thee.
O Lord,
to us belongeth confusion of face,
to our kings,
to our princes,
and to our fathers,
because we have sinned against thee.
To the Lord our God belong mercies
and forgivenesses,
though we have rebelled against him;
Neither have we obeyed
the voice of the LORD our God,
to walk in his laws,
which he set before us
by his servants the prophets.
Yea,
all Israel have transgressed thy law,
even by departing,
that they might not obey thy voice;
therefore the curse is poured upon us,
and the oath that is written
in the law of Moses the servant of God,
because we have sinned against him.
And he hath confirmed his words,
which he spake against us,
and against our judges that judged us,
by bringing upon us a great evil:
for under the whole heaven
hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses,
all this evil is come upon us:
yet made we not our prayer
before the LORD our God,
that we might turn from our iniquities,
and understand thy truth.
Therefore hath the LORD
watched upon the evil,
and brought it upon us:
for the LORD our God
is righteous
in all his works
which he doeth:
for we obeyed not his voice.
And now,
O Lord our God,
that hast brought thy people forth
out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand,
and hast gotten thee renown,
as at this day;
we have sinned,
we have done wickedly.
O Lord,
according to all thy righteousness,
I beseech thee,
let thine anger
and thy fury
be turned away from thy city Jerusalem,
thy holy mountain:
because for our sins,
and for the iniquities of our fathers,
Jerusalem and thy people
are become a reproach
to all that are about us.
Now therefore,
O our God,
hear the prayer of thy servant,
and his supplications,
and cause thy face to shine
upon thy sanctuary that is desolate,
for the Lord’s sake.
O my God,
incline thine ear,
and hear;
open thine eyes,
and behold our desolations,
and the city which is called by thy name:
for we do not present our supplications
before thee
for our righteousnesses,
but for thy great mercies.
O Lord,
hear;
O Lord,
forgive;
O Lord,
hearken
and do;
defer not,
for thine own sake,
O my God:
for thy city
and thy people
are called by thy name.
And whiles I was 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;
Yea,
whiles I was speaking in prayer,
even the man Gabriel,
whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,
being caused to fly swiftly,
touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
And he informed me,
and talked with me,
and said,
O Daniel,
I am now come forth to give thee skill
and understanding.
At the beginning of thy supplications
the commandment came forth,
and I am come to shew thee;
for thou art greatly beloved:
therefore understand the matter,
and consider the vision.
Seventy weeks
are determined upon thy people
and upon thy holy city,
to finish the transgression,
and to make an end of sins,
and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most Holy.
Know therefore
and understand,
that from the going forth
of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem
unto the Messiah the Prince
shall be seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks:
the street shall be built again,
and the wall,
even in troublous times.
And after threescore and two weeks
shall Messiah be cut off,
but not for himself:
and the people of the prince that shall come
shall destroy the city
and the sanctuary;
and the end thereof
shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war
desolations are determined.
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 oblation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations
he shall make it desolate,
even until the consummation,
and that determined
shall be poured
upon the desolate.
Daniel 9:1-27