CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Daniel 9
Chapter 9 of 12
Chapter Overview
What happens in Daniel 9
Daniel reads in the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem's desolation will last seventy years. He prays a powerful prayer of confession and asks God for mercy. The angel Gabriel comes with the famous prophecy of seventy weeks, pointing to the coming of the Messiah.
Scripture
Daniel 9
Daniel Reads Jeremiah's Prophecy
Study note
This chapter takes place in the first year of Darius the Mede, around 539 BC. Daniel was studying the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, who had predicted that the exile in Babylon would last seventy years. Daniel realized the time was almost complete and turned to God in prayer.
1 Darius son of Ahasuerus was ruling the Babylonian kingdom. He was a Mede by birth. It was his first year. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 I, Daniel, was studying the Scriptures. I saw that the LORD had told Jeremiah something. Jerusalem would lie in ruins for seventy years. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel's Prayer of Confession
Study note
Daniel's prayer is one of the greatest prayers in the Bible. He fasted, wore rough clothing, and put ashes on his head as signs of humility and grief. Even though Daniel was a righteous man, he included himself when confessing Israel's sins. He appealed to God's mercy, not to Israel's goodness.
3 So I turned my full attention to the Lord God. I fasted, wore rough cloth, sat in ashes, and poured out my heart in prayer. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "Lord, you are an awesome and mighty God. You always keep your promises and show unfailing love to everyone who loves you and follows your commands." And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 "But we have sinned badly. We have done wrong and acted wickedly. We have turned our backs on you and walked away from your commands and your laws." We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
6 "We did not listen to your servants the prophets. They spoke your word to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers. They spoke to all the common people too." Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 "Lord, you are right and, but we are covered in shame today — the people of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all of Israel, both nearby and scattered far away. We are ashamed because we sinned against you." O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
8 "LORD, we are fully ashamed. Our kings, leaders, and fathers all sinned against you." O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9 "But the Lord our God is full of mercy and forgiveness, even though we have turned against him over and over." To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
10 "We flat-out refused to obey the LORD our God or live by the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets." Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 "All of Israel broke your law and turned away, refusing to do what you said. Therefore the curses and punishments spelled out in the Law of Moses have been dumped on us — because we sinned against you." Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
12 "You followed through on every warning you gave us and our rulers. You brought a disaster on Jerusalem that has no equal anywhere under heaven." And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
13 "Everything written in the Law of Moses has happened to us, just like it said it would. And yet we still have not gone to the LORD our God, turned from our sins, or paid any attention to his truth." As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
14 "The LORD kept this disaster ready and let it fall on us. The LORD our God was completely fair in everything he did — it was us who refused to listen." Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
15 "Lord our God, you rescued your people from Egypt with your mighty power and built a reputation that endures to this day. But we — we have sinned and done terrible things." And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 "Lord, you have done what is right. So please turn your anger from Jerusalem. It is your city, your holy hill. Our sins brought this on us. Our fathers' sins did too. Jerusalem and your people have become a joke to all around us." O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
17 "So now, our God, hear the prayers and pleas of your servant. For your own honor, Lord, look with kindness on your temple that sits in ruins." Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
18 "Open your eyes, my God, and see the devastation! Look at the city that carries your name. We are not asking because we deserve anything — we are throwing ourselves on your great mercy." O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
19 "Lord, hear us! Lord, forgive us! Lord, pay attention and act now! Do not wait, my God — for your own sake — because this city and these people belong to you." O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
The Prophecy of Seventy Weeks
Study note
While Daniel was still praying, the angel Gabriel came to him with one of the most important prophecies in the Bible. The seventy weeks are widely understood as seventy groups of seven years, or 490 years total. The prophecy tells when the Messiah will come, his death, and the destruction of Jerusalem. Christians see this as a prophecy about the life, death, and work of Jesus Christ.
20 I was still pouring out my heart in prayer. I was admitting my own sin and the sin of my people Israel. I was begging the LORD my God to help his holy mountain. And whiles I was speaking, and 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;
21 when Gabriel, the angel I had seen in my earlier vision, flew swiftly to my side. He arrived around the time of the evening sacrifice. Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even 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 oblation.
22 "Daniel," he said, "I have come specifically to give you clear understanding and insight." And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
23 "The moment you started praying, a message was sent. I am here to deliver it, because God deeply treasures you. So listen carefully and let the vision sink in." At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
24 "Seventy weeks are set for your people and your holy city. In that time: sin will be ended. Wrongs will be paid for. A lasting era of right living will begin. The visions will come true. The Most Holy Place will be set apart." Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 "Here is the timeline. From the order to rebuild Jerusalem until the Chosen Leader comes, seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks will pass. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and walls. But those will be very hard times." Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 "After those sixty-two weeks, the Anointed One will be killed and left with nothing. Then the forces of a coming ruler will demolish the city and the temple. The end will sweep in like a flood — war and ruin have been decided and are locked in until the very end." And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Key Themes
Themes in Daniel 9
Prayer of confessionThe seventy weeks prophecyGod's faithfulness to his promisesMessianic timelineRepentance on behalf of others
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Daniel 24-27 Matthew 24:15
Jesus specifically told his disciples to read and understand Daniel's prophecy of the 'abomination of desolation,' directly connecting Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy to future events.
Daniel 26 Mark 14:24
Daniel's prophecy that the Anointed One would be 'cut off' points to Christ's sacrificial death, which Jesus himself described at the Last Supper when he spoke of his blood poured out for many.
Apply This Today
Living Daniel 9
Daniel did not just read prophecy — he prayed about it. His prayer of confession is one of the most powerful in the Bible, as he identified with the sins of his people even though he himself was faithful. This chapter teaches us the power of intercessory prayer and shows us that studying God's word should always lead us to prayer.
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