< Daniel 9 >
1 In the first yeere of Darius the sonne of Ahashuerosh, of the seede of the Medes, which was made King ouer the realme of the Caldeans,
[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 Euen in the first yeere of his reigne, I Daniel vnderstood by bookes the nomber of the yeeres, whereof the Lord had spoken vnto Ieremiah the Prophet, that he would accomplish seuentie yeeres in the desolation of Ierusalem.
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 And I turned my face vnto the Lord God, and sought by prayer and supplications with fasting and 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 vnto the Lord my God, and made my confession, saying, Oh Lord God, which art great and fearefull, and keepest couenant and mercy toward them which loue thee, and toward them that keepe thy commandements,
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 haue sinned, and haue committed iniquitie and haue done wickedly, yea, we haue rebelled, and haue departed from thy precepts, and from thy iudgements.
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 For we would not obey thy seruants the Prophets, which spake in thy Name to our Kings, to our princes, and to our 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 O Lord, righteousnes belongeth vnto thee, and vnto vs open shame, as appeareth this day vnto euery man of Iudah, and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem: yea, vnto all Israel, both neere and farre off, through all the countreys, whither thou hast driuen them, because of their offences, that they haue committed against thee.
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, vnto vs apperteineth open shame, to our Kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we haue sinned against thee.
Lord, we and our kings and our other rulers and our [other] ancestors have done very shameful things and have sinned against you.
9 Yet compassion and forgiuenesse is in the Lord our God, albeit we haue rebelled against him.
Although we have rebelled against you, you act mercifully [toward us] and you [are willing/ready] to forgive us.
10 For we haue not obeyed the voyce of the Lord our God, to walke in his lawes, which he had laide before vs by the ministerie of his seruants 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 Yea, all Israel haue transgressed thy Lawe, and are turned backe, and haue not heard thy voyce: therefore the curse is powred vpon vs, and the othe that is written in the Lawe of Moses the seruant of God, because we haue sinned against him.
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 And he hath confirmed his wordes, which he spake against vs, and against our iudges that iudged vs, by bringing vpon vs a great plague: for vnder the whole heauen hath not bene the like, as hath bene brought vpon Ierusalem.
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 All this plague is come vpon vs, as it is written in the Lawe of Moses: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turne from our iniquities and vnderstand thy trueth.
[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 hath the Lord made ready the plague, and brought it vpon vs: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we would not heare his voyce.
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 And nowe, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mightie hand, and hast gotten thee renoume, as appeareth this day, we haue sinned, we haue done 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, according to all thy righteousnes, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy wrath be turned away from thy citie Ierusalem thine holy Mountaine: for because of our sinnes, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Ierusalem and thy people are a reproche to all that are about vs.
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 Nowe therefore, O our God, heare the prayer of thy serunant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine vpon thy Sanctuarie, that lyeth waste for the Lords sake.
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 O my God, encline thine eare and heare: open thine eyes, and beholde our desolations, and the citie whereupon thy Name is called: for we doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne righteousnes, but for thy great tender mercies.
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, heare, O Lord forgiue, O Lord consider, and doe it: deferre not, for thine owne sake, O my God: for thy Name is called vpon thy citie, and vpon thy people.
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 And whiles I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sinne, and the sinne of my people Israel, and did present my supplication before the Lord my God, for the holy Mountaine of my God,
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 Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, euen the man Gabriel, whome I had seene before in the vision, came flying, and touched mee about the time of the euening oblation.
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 And he informed me, and talked with me, and sayd, O Daniel, I am now come forth to giue thee knowledge and vnderstanding.
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 thy supplications the commandement came foorth, and I am come to shewe thee, for thou art greatly beloued: therefore vnderstande the matter and consider 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 Seuentie weekes are determined vpon thy people and vpon thine holy citie, to finish the wickednes, and to seale vp the sinnes, and to reconcile the inquitie, and to bring in euerlasting righteousnesse, and to seale vp the vision and prophecie, and to anoynt the most Holy.
[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 Knowe therefore and vnderstande, that from the going foorth of the commandement to bring againe the people, and to builde Ierusalem, vnto Messiah the prince, shall be seuen weekes and threescore and two weekes, and the streete shalbe built againe, and the wall euen in a troublous time.
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 And after threescore and two weekes, shall Messiah be slaine, and shall haue nothing, and the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the citie and the Sanctuarie, and the end thereof shalbe with a flood: and vnto the end of the battell it shalbe destroyed by desolations.
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 shall confirme the couenant with many for one weeke: and in the middes of the weeke he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the ouerspreading of the abominations, he shall make it desolate, euen vntill the consummation determined shalbe powred vpon the desolate.
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.”