In the first year of ^aDarius the son of ¹Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the realm of the ²Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years which, according to the word of the LORD to ^aJeremiah the prophet, must pass before the desolations which had been pronounced on Jerusalem would end; and it was ^bseventy years. Jer 25:11, 12; 29:10 3 So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, “O Lord, the ^agreat and awesome God, who ^bkeeps His covenant and extends lovingkindness toward those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 ^awe have sinned and committed wrong, and have behaved wickedly and have ^brebelled, ^cturning away from Your commandments and ordinances. 6 Further, we have not ^alistened to and heeded 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 “^aRighteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us ^bconfusion and open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away, in ^call the countries to which You have driven them, because of the treacherous acts of unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 O LORD, to us belong confusion and 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 ^amercy and lovingkindness and forgiveness, for we have ^brebelled against Him; 10 and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in His laws which He ^aset before us through His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, ^aall Israel has transgressed Your law, even turning aside, not obeying Your voice; so the ^bcurse has been poured out on us and the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. Lev 26:14-45; Deut 28:15-68 12 And He has ^acarried out completely His threatening words which He had spoken against us and against our ^brulers the kings, princes, and judges who ruled us, to bring on us a great tragedy; for under the whole heaven there has ^cnot been done anything so dreadful like that which He commanded and was done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the ^aLaw of Moses, all this tragedy has come on us. Yet we have ^bnot wholeheartedly begged for forgiveness and sought the favor of the LORD our God by ^cturning from our wickedness and paying attention to and placing value in Your truth. Deut 4:29; 28:15ff 14 Therefore the LORD has ^akept the tragedy ready and has brought it on us, for the LORD our God is uncompromisingly ^brighteous and openly just in all His works which He does—He keeps His word; and we have not obeyed His voice.

15 “And now, O Lord our God, who ^abrought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who ^bmade for Yourself a name, as it is today—we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous and just acts, please let Your ^aanger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your ^bholy mountain. Because of our sins and the wickedness of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an ^cobject of scorn and a contemptuous byword to all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, listen to (heed) the prayer of Your servant (¹Daniel) and his supplications, and for Your own sake ^alet Your face shine on Your ^bdesolate sanctuary. 18 O my God, ^aincline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and ^blook at our desolations and the city which is ^ccalled by Your name; for we are not ^dpresenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! ^aDo not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

20 While I was still ^aspeaking and praying, and ^bconfessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer and ¹extremely exhausted, the man ^aGabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me about the time of the ^bevening sacrifice. Dan 8:16 22 He instructed me and he talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and wisdom and ^aunderstanding. 23 At the ^abeginning of your supplications, the command to give you an answer was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are ^bhighly regarded and greatly beloved. Therefore consider the message and begin to ^cunderstand the meaning of the vision.

24 “Seventy ^aweeks of years, or 490 years ¹have been decreed for your people and for your holy city (Jerusalem) , to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to ^bmake atonement (reconciliation) for wickedness, to bring in ^ceverlasting righteousness (right-standing with God) , to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 So you are to know and understand that from the issuance of the ^acommand to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the ^bMessiah (the Anointed One) , the ^cPrince, there will be seven weeks of years and sixty-two weeks of years; it will be built again, with a city plaza and moat, even in times of trouble. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks of years the Anointed One will be ^acut off and denied His Messianic kingdom and have nothing and no one to defend Him, and the people of the other prince who is to come will ^bdestroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will come with a ^cflood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. Is 53:7-9; Nah 1:8; Matt 24:6-14 27 And he will enter into a binding and irrevocable covenant with the many for one week (seven years) , but in the middle of the week he will stop the sacrifice and grain offering for the remaining three and one-half years; and on the wing of ^aabominations will come one who makes desolate, even until the ^bcomplete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who causes the horror.”