Daniel 9:1-19

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] 48}make 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. ”

Daniel 9:1-19 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. 9:1 ch. 11:1
• 2. 9:1 See ch. 5:31
• 3. 9:1 [ch. 8:20]
• 4. 9:1 ch. 5:30
• 5. 9:2 [Ezra 1:1; Jer. 25:12]
• 6. 9:3 ver. 17, 18, 23; [Neh. 1:4]
• 7. 9:4 ver. 20; [Ezra 10:1; Neh. 1:6]
• 8. 9:4 Neh. 1:5; 9:32
• 9. 9:4 Neh. 1:5; 9:32
• 10. 9:4 Deut. 7:9
• 11. 9:5 ver. 15
• 12. 9:5 Lam. 3:42
• 13. 9:6 2 Chr. 36:15, 16
• 14. 9:6 Ezra 9:11; Zech. 1:6
• 15. 9:6 Ezra 9:7; Neh. 9:34
• 16. 9:7 [ver. 14; Lam. 1:18]
• 17. 9:7 [Esth. 9:20]
• 18. 9:7 [Esth. 9:20]
• 19. 9:7 See Jer. 8:3
• 20. 9:7 Lev. 26:40
• 21. 9:8 [See ver. 5 above]
• 22. 9:9 Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15
• 23. 9:10 [See ver. 6 above]
• 24. 9:10 [See ver. 6 above]
• 25. 9:11 See Isa. 1:4-6
• 26. 9:11 [Jer. 40:3; 44:23]
• 27. 9:11 Jer. 44:22
• 28. 9:11 See Lev. 26:14-45; Deut. 28:15-68
• 29. 9:11 1 Chr. 6:49; 2 Chr. 24:9; Neh. 10:29
• 30. 9:11 [See ver. 5 above]
• 31. 9:12 [Ps. 82:2, 3]
• 32. 9:12 Jer. 39:16
• 33. 9:12 Ezek. 5:9; [Lam. 1:12]
• 34. 9:13 [See ver. 11 above]
• 35. 9:13 Hos. 7:10
• 36. 9:14 [Jer. 1:12]
• 37. 9:14 Neh. 9:33; See ver. 7
• 38. 9:14 ver. 10
• 39. 9:15 Ex. 32:11; [Ex. 6:1; Neh. 1:10]
• 40. 9:15 Ex. 14:18; Neh. 9:10
• 41. 9:15 See ver. 5
• 42. 9:16 Ps. 31:1; 71:2
• 43. 9:16 ver. 20; ch. 11:45; Jer. 31:23; Zech. 8:3
• 44. 9:16 Lam. 1:5
• 45. 9:16 [Ex. 20:5]
• 46. 9:16 Lam. 2:15, 16
• 47. 9:16 Ps. 44:13; 79:4; Ezek. 36:4; Mic. 6:16
• 48. 9:17 Num. 6:25
• 49. 9:17 Lam. 5:18
• 50. 9:18 2 Kgs. 19:16; Isa. 37:17
• 51. 9:18 ver. 26; See ver. 27
• 52. 9:18 Jer. 25:29
• 53. 9:19 Ps. 40:17; 70:5
• 54. 9:19 Ps. 25:11; 79:9
• 55. 9:19 [See ver. 18 above]
• 56. 9:19 Jer. 14:9

Footnotes

• [a] 9:12 Or 'our judges who judged us'
• [b] 9:17 Hebrew 'for the Lord’s sake'