Daniel 9:3-19

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ¹prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and ²made confession, saying, ³"O Lord, the ⁴great and awesome God, who ⁵keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

5 ⁶we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly ⁷and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

6 ⁸We have not listened to ⁹your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to ¹⁰our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 To you, ¹¹O 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, ¹²those who are near and ¹³those who are far away, in ¹⁴all the lands to which you have driven them, because of ¹⁵the 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 ¹⁶we have sinned against you.

9 ¹⁷To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him

10 ¹⁸and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by ¹⁹his servants the prophets.

11 ²⁰All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, ²¹refusing to obey your voice. ²²And the curse and oath ²³that are written in the Law of ²⁴Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because ²⁵we have sinned against him.

12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against ²⁶our rulers who ruled us,^[a] by ²⁷bringing upon us a great calamity. ²⁸For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.

13 ²⁹As 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, ³⁰turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.

14 ³¹Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, ³²for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and ³³we have not obeyed his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt ³⁴with a mighty hand, and ³⁵have made a name for yourself, as at this day, ³⁶we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 "O Lord, ³⁷according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, ³⁸your holy hill, ³⁹because for our sins, and for ⁴⁰the iniquities of our fathers, ⁴¹Jerusalem and your people have become ⁴²a 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]43make your face to shine upon ⁴⁴your sanctuary, which is desolate.

18 ⁴⁵O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ⁴⁶our desolations, and ⁴⁷the 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. ⁴⁸Delay not, ⁴⁹for your own sake, O my God, because ⁵⁰your city and ⁵¹your people are called by your name."

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

Footnotes

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