Daniel 9
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Kasdim—
[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 by the books the number of the years about which the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even 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 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, 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 I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with 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 have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your 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 haven’t listened to 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.
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 “Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against 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 Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to 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 mercies and forgiveness, for 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 We haven’t obeyed the LORD our God’s voice, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by 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 Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice. “Therefore the curse and the oath written in the Torah of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, for we have 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 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as 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 As it is written in the Torah of Moses, all this evil has come on us. Yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, that we should turn from our iniquities and have discernment in 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 watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and 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, Lord our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as it is today, we have sinned. We have 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 Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are 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 “Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s 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 My God, turn your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake.
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 Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do. Don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by 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, 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—
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 yes, while I was speaking in prayer—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 offering.
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 talked with me, and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom 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 the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter 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 on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint 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 “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.
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 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined.
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 He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the decreed full end, wrath will be poured out on 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.”
