Daniel 9
1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes, a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans —
[Now I am going to tell you about what happened] when Darius, who was from the Mede people-group and who was the son of Xerxes, ruled as the King of Babylonia.
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
During the first year that he was the king, I, Daniel, was studying/reading the [holy] books/Scriptures the message that Yahweh had given to the prophet Jeremiah. In that message Jeremiah had written that Jerusalem would [be destroyed and] remain ruined for seventy years.
3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
[After I read that], I pleaded to Yahweh my God [to help us], praying and (fasting/abstaining from eating food). [While doing that, I was wearing] rough cloth and [sitting in] ashes [to show that I was very sad about what was going to happen to us].
4 And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,
I confessed [the sins that we had committed], and [this is what I] prayed: Lord, you are great and awesome! You have faithfully done what you said that you would do for us. You faithfully love those who love you and who do what you have commanded [that they should do].
5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
But we [Israelis] have sinned. We have done things that are wrong. We have done wicked things, and we have rebelled [against you]. We have turned away from [obeying] your commands [DOU].
6 We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, and fathers, and to all the people of the land.
Your prophets spoke for you [MTY], [giving your messages to] kings, to our other rulers, to our [other] ancestors, and to all the Israeli people, but we have refused to (pay attention to/heed) those prophets.
7 To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
Lord, you always do what is righteous/just/fair, but we have caused ourselves to be ashamed [IDM]. This is [still] true about all of the Israelis who live in Jerusalem and who live in other places in Judea. It is [also] true about all us Israelis whom you scattered, who [were taken to] other countries, some near [Israel] and some far away, because we were very unfaithful/disloyal to you.
8 O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
Lord, we and our kings and our other rulers and our [other] ancestors have done very shameful things and have sinned against you.
9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him
Although we have rebelled against you, you act mercifully [toward us] and you [are willing/ready] to forgive us.
10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.
Yahweh our God, when you gave your laws to your prophets who served you, and they told us to conduct our lives according to those laws, we did not (listen to/heed) you.
11 All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.
All [of us] Israeli people have disobeyed your laws, and we have turned away from [obeying] what you said. We have sinned against you. As a result, [you] have caused us to experience the terrible things that your servant Moses said/wrote [would happen to us] if we sinned against you.
12 You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.
You warned us and our rulers that you would punish Jerusalem severely by causing a great disaster there, a disaster that would be worse than any disaster that any other city had ever experienced, and you have done what you said that you would do.
13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.
[You] punished us just like Moses wrote [that you would do]. But, Yahweh our God, we still have not tried, by turning away from our sinning and by heeding your truth, to persuade you to act mercifully toward us.
14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.
So, because we did not obey you, you prepared to punish us, and [then] you did punish us, because you always do what is righteous/just/fair.
15 Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly.
O Lord our God, you brought your people out of Egypt by your great power [MTY], and by doing that you have caused people from that time until the present time to know that you are great [IDM] [even though] we have sinned and done wicked things.
16 O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us.
Lord, Jerusalem is your city, and [your temple was built there] on your sacred hill. Now all the people who live in nearby [countries/nations] despise Jerusalem and [us] your people because of our sins and because of the evil things that our ancestors did. But [now], because you do what is righteous/just, [we ask you to] not be angry with Jerusalem any longer.
17 So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.
O Lord our God, listen to what I am praying and pleading [for you to do]. (For your own sake/In order that people will know that you are very great), act kindly [IDM] concerning your temple, which was destroyed [by the armies of Babylonia].
18 Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.
My God, listen [to my prayer]. Look [at us] and see our troubles, and see that this city that belongs to you [MTY] has been ruined/destroyed. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done what is right/good.
19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”
Lord, listen [to us]! Lord, forgive us! Lord, this city and these people belong to you, so [we plead with you to] heed what we are saying and act [to help us] right now, (for your own sake/in order that people will know that you are very great)!
20 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—
I continued praying and confessing the sins that my people and I had committed, and pleading with Yahweh my God that he would restore [the temple on] the sacred hill [in Jerusalem].
21 while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
While I was praying, Gabriel, the angel/one whom I had seen in the vision previously, came flying rapidly to me, at the time in the evening when [the priests] offered sacrifices.
22 He instructed me and spoke with me, saying: “O Daniel, I have come now to give you insight and understanding.
He said to me, “Daniel, I have come to you to enable you to understand [DOU] clearly [the message that God gave to Jeremiah].
23 At the beginning of your petitions, an answer went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly precious. So consider the message and understand the vision:
When you began to plead [with God], he gave me a message [to pass on to you]. He loves you very much, so [he has sent me] to tell you what he said to me. So [now] (pay attention/listen carefully) in order that you may understand the meaning of what he revealed [to Jeremiah].
24 Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
[God] has determined/declared that there will be 490 years until he frees/saves your people from [the guilt of] their sins and to atone for the evil things that they have done. Then [God] will rule everyone justly, and he will do that forever. And [what you saw in] the vision and what [Jeremiah] prophesied will (come true/be fulfilled), and the sacred temple will be dedicated [to God again].
25 Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree 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 distress.
You need to know and understand this: There will be 49 years from the time that [the king] commands that Jerusalem should be rebuilt until the leader/king that God has chosen will come. Then 434 years later, Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and it will have streets and will have a (moat/deep ditch filled with water) around it [to protect the city]. But that will be a time when [God’s people] will have [a lot of] troubles/difficulties/suffering.
26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
After those 434 years, the leader/king whom God has appointed will be killed [when it seems that] he will have accomplished nothing (unjustly/without having done anything wrong). After that, the temple will be destroyed by [the army of] a powerful ruler. The city and the temple will be destroyed like a flood [MET] [destroys everything]. That will be the beginning of the war and destruction that [God] has decreed [will happen].
27 And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him.”
That ruler will make a strong agreement with many people. He will promise to do for seven years what he has said in that agreement. But when that time is half finished, he will prevent [priests from] giving any more offerings and sacrifices [to God]. A disgusting idol will be put on the highest part of the temple, and it will stay there until [God] gets rid of the one who put it there, which is what he said that he would do.”
