Shared Word Translation
Daniel 9
Daniel Understands Jeremiah’s Seventy Years
In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, from the offspring of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years concerning which the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem: seventy years.
Daniel Turns to God in Prayer
I set my face toward the Lord God to seek him with prayer and pleas, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession and said:
“Please, Lord, the great and fearsome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and judgments.
We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our officials, our ancestors, and all the people of the land.
Righteousness Belongs to You, Shame to Us
“To you, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those near and those far away, in all the lands where you drove them because of the unfaithfulness with which they acted against you. O LORD, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our officials, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him. We have not listened to the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his instructions that he set before us by the hand of his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your instruction and turned aside, refusing to listen to your voice. So the curse and the oath written in the instruction of Moses, servant of God, have been poured upon us, because we sinned against him. He established his words that he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us by bringing upon us great disaster, for under all the heavens nothing has been done like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the instruction of Moses, all this disaster came upon us, yet we did not seek the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our guilt and giving attention to your truth. So the LORD watched over the disaster and brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice.
O Lord, Hear and Forgive
“And now, Lord our God, who brought your people out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made for yourself a name as it is this day—we have sinned; we have acted wickedly.
O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, please let your anger and fury turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For because of our sins and the guilt of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.
And now, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas, and for your own sake, O Lord, cause your face to shine upon your desolate sanctuary.
Incline your ear, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that is called by your name. For we are not causing our pleas to fall before you because of our righteous acts, but because of your great compassion.
O Lord, hear!
O Lord, forgive!
O Lord, pay attention and act!
Do not delay,
for your own sake, my God,
because your city and your people
are called by your name.”
Gabriel Comes with Insight
While I was still speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and causing my plea to fall before the LORD my God concerning the holy mountain of my God— while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at first, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening offering. He made me understand and spoke with me and said, “Daniel, now I have come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas a word went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved. So consider the word and understand the vision.
Seventy Sevens
“Seventy sevens are decreed
for your people
and your holy city,
to finish transgression,
to seal up sin,
to make atonement for guilt,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal vision and prophet,
and to anoint a Most Holy thing.
Know and understand:
from the going out of the word
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until an anointed one, a ruler,
there will be seven sevens;
and for sixty-two sevens
it will be rebuilt,
with square and moat,
but in troubled times.
After the sixty-two sevens
an anointed one will be cut off
and have nothing.
The people of a ruler who is to 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 decreed.
He will make a strong covenant
with many for one seven,
and for half of the seven
he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease.
And upon the wing of detestable things
will come one who makes desolate,
until the decreed end
is poured out upon the desolator.”