Old Testament · Prophets

Daniel chapter 9

In the first year that son of Ahasuerus ruled -- he was a Mede by birth who had been made king over the --in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was studying the and realized from what had told the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem would lie in ruins for .So I turned to the , pouring myself out in prayer and desperate pleas, , wearing , and sitting in .I prayed to Yahweh my God, laying everything bare: “Oh Lord -- you are the , who keeps his and with everyone who loves him and walks in his ways --we have . We have done wrong, acted with , and , turning away from your commands and your justice.We refused to listen to your servants the who spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.You are , Lord. But we -- we are covered in today, all of us: the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in every land where you scattered us because of how deeply we you.Yahweh, we are covered in shame -- our kings, our leaders, our ancestors -- because we have failed you.But you, Lord our God -- you are overflowing with and , even though we have rebelled against you.We did not listen to the voice of Yahweh our God or follow the he gave us through his servants the prophets.All Israel broke your instructions and turned away, refusing to listen to you. So the and the sworn judgment written in the , God’s servant, have been poured out on us -- because we failed you.He carried out the words he spoke against us and against the rulers who led us, bringing on us a disaster so enormous that nothing like it has ever happened anywhere under heaven -- and it happened to Jerusalem.Everything written in the instructions of Moses has come crashing down on us, and still we have not sought the favor of Yahweh our God by turning away from our failures and paying attention to his .So Yahweh kept this disaster ready and brought it down on us, because Yahweh our God is just in everything he does -- and we refused to listen to him.And now, Lord our God, you who with a and made your name known as it is today -- we have failed you, we have acted with corruption.Lord, given all the ways you have been just, please, let your anger and your fury turn away from Jerusalem, your city, . Because of our failures and the failures of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of scorn to everyone around us.So now, our God, hear the prayer of your servant, hear my desperate pleas. For your own sake, Lord, on , now in ruins.Turn your ear toward us, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our devastation, and the city that bears your name. We are not bringing our pleas before you because we are good enough -- we are bringing them because of your .Lord, hear us! Lord, forgive us! Lord, pay attention and act -- don’t wait! For your own sake, my God -- because your city and your people .While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my own failures and the failures of my people Israel, and laying my desperate plea before Yahweh my God for his own mountain,while I was still praying, -- the man I had seen in the earlier vision -- came to me in swift flight, reaching me at about the time of the .He helped me understand, saying to me, “Daniel, I have come right now to give you and understanding.When you first started praying, a word went out, and I have come to tell you, because you are . So pay close attention to the message and understand the vision: are for your people and to finish the , to put an end to , to , to bring in a , to seal up the prophetic vision, and to .So know this and understand it: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until , the , arrives, there will be . It will be rebuilt with streets and defenses, even in troubled times.After the sixty-two sets of seven, and . The people of a ruler who is coming will destroy the city and . Its end will come like a flood, and war and devastation are decreed right through to the end.He will with many for one set of seven. In the middle of that set of seven, he will put a stop to . And on the wing of will come one who devastates, until the decreed destruction is poured out on the .