Daniel 9:1-23

Daniel's Prayer for His People

1 ¹In the first year of ²Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a ³Mede, who was made king over the realm of the ⁴Chaldeans--

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to ⁵the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ⁶prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and ⁷made confession, saying, ⁸"O Lord, the ⁹great and awesome God, who ¹⁰keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

5 ¹¹we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly ¹²and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

6 ¹³We have not listened to ¹⁴your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to ¹⁵our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 To you, ¹⁶O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, ¹⁷those who are near and ¹⁸those who are far away, in ¹⁹all the lands to which you have driven them, because of ²⁰the treachery that they have committed against you.

8 To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because ²¹we have sinned against you.

9 ²²To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him

10 ²³and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by ²⁴his servants the prophets.

11 ²⁵All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, ²⁶refusing to obey your voice. ²⁷And the curse and oath ²⁸that are written in the Law of ²⁹Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because ³⁰we have sinned against him.

12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against ³¹our rulers who ruled us,^[a] by ³²bringing upon us a great calamity. ³³For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.

13 ³⁴As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, ³⁵turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.

14 ³⁶Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, ³⁷for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and ³⁸we have not obeyed his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt ³⁹with a mighty hand, and ⁴⁰have made a name for yourself, as at this day, ⁴¹we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 "O Lord, ⁴²according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, ⁴³your holy hill, ⁴⁴because for our sins, and for ⁴⁵the iniquities of our fathers, ⁴⁶Jerusalem and your people have become ⁴⁷a byword among all who are around us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,^[b]48make your face to shine upon ⁴⁹your sanctuary, which is desolate.

18 ⁵⁰O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ⁵¹our desolations, and ⁵²the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ⁵³Delay not, ⁵⁴for your own sake, O my God, because ⁵⁵your city and ⁵⁶your people are called by your name."

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20 ⁵⁷While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for ⁵⁸the holy hill of my God,

21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man ⁵⁹Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, ⁶⁰came to me in swift flight at ⁶¹the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 ⁶²He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, "O Daniel, I have now come out to give you ⁶³insight and understanding.

23 ⁶⁴At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, ⁶⁵and I have come to tell it to you, for ⁶⁶you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word ⁶⁷and understand the vision.

Daniel 9:1-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 9

This chapter contains a prayer of Daniel, and the answer to it. The time, occasion, and manner of his prayer, or circumstances of it, are observed, Da 9:1-3, the parts of it, an address unto God, under various suitable epithets and characters, Da 9:4 confession of sin, of his own, of the inhabitants of the land, kings, princes, and people, which are largely dwelt upon and exaggerated, Da 9:5-15 and petitions for mercy, Da 9:16-19, then the answer follows; the time when it was ordered and given, and the person by whom it was sent, are expressed, Da 9:20-23 who delivered to him the vision of the seventy weeks to be considered by him; in which both the work of the Messiah, and the time of his coming, are clearly pointed out, Da 9:24-27.

Cross References

• 1. Daniel 11:1
• 2. See Daniel 5:31
• 3. [Daniel 8:20]
• 4. Daniel 5:30
• 5. [Ezra 1:1; Jeremiah 25:12]
• 6. ver. 17, 18, 23; [Nehemiah 1:4]
• 7. ver. 20; [Ezra 10:1; Nehemiah 1:6]
• 8. Nehemiah 1:5; Nehemiah 9:32
• 9. Nehemiah 1:5; Nehemiah 9:32
• 10. Deuteronomy 7:9
• 11. ver. 15
• 12. Lamentations 3:42
• 13. 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16
• 14. Ezra 9:11; Zechariah 1:6
• 15. Ezra 9:7; Nehemiah 9:34
• 16. [ver. 14; Lamentations 1:18]
• 17. [Esther 9:20]
• 18. [Esther 9:20]
• 19. See Jeremiah 8:3
• 20. Leviticus 26:40
• 21. [See ver. 5 above]
• 22. Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 86:15
• 23. [See ver. 6 above]
• 24. [See ver. 6 above]
• 25. See Isaiah 1:4-6
• 26. [Jeremiah 40:3; Jeremiah 44:23]
• 27. Jeremiah 44:22
• 28. See Leviticus 26:14-45; Deuteronomy 28:15-68
• 29. 1 Chronicles 6:49; 2 Chronicles 24:9; Nehemiah 10:29
• 30. [See ver. 5 above]
• 31. [Psalms 82:2, 3]
• 32. Jeremiah 39:16
• 33. Ezekiel 5:9; [Lamentations 1:12]
• 34. [See ver. 11 above]
• 35. Hosea 7:10
• 36. [Jeremiah 1:12]
• 37. Nehemiah 9:33; See ver. 7
• 38. ver. 10
• 39. Exodus 32:11; [Exodus 6:1; Nehemiah 1:10]
• 40. Exodus 14:18; Nehemiah 9:10
• 41. See ver. 5
• 42. Psalms 31:1; Psalms 71:2
• 43. ver. 20; Daniel 11:45; Jeremiah 31:23; Zechariah 8:3
• 44. Lamentations 1:5
• 45. [Exodus 20:5]
• 46. Lamentations 2:15, 16
• 47. Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4; Ezekiel 36:4; Micah 6:16
• 48. Numbers 6:25
• 49. Lamentations 5:18
• 50. 2 Kings 19:16; Isaiah 37:17
• 51. ver. 26; See ver. 27
• 52. Jeremiah 25:29
• 53. Psalms 40:17; Psalms 70:5
• 54. Psalms 25:11; Psalms 79:9
• 55. [See ver. 18 above]
• 56. Jeremiah 14:9
• 57. Isaiah 65:24
• 58. See ver. 16
• 59. See Daniel 8:16
• 60. See Daniel 8:18
• 61. Exodus 29:39; [1 Kings 18:36; Ezra 9:4, 5]
• 62. [Daniel 8:16]
• 63. [Daniel 1:4, 17]
• 64. [ver. 20]
• 65. [Daniel 10:12, 14]
• 66. Daniel 10:11, 19
• 67. [Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or our judges who judged us
• [b]. Hebrew for the Lord's sake