Daniel 9:1-27
1 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 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.
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 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 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 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 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 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 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
10 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 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 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 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 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 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gottena thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 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 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 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 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.
20 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 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,b touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandmentc 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 determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finishd 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 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 builte again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 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 covenantf 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.
The Men who were Loyal to God
Daniel
Robert Bryce
Chapter 9
v1 This is what happened in the first year that Darius ruled the country. He was the son of Xerxes and he came from the country called Media. He became king of Babylon. v2 In the first year of his rule, I, Daniel, was studying the holy books. I read what the *Lord had told Jeremiah the *prophet. He told him that Jerusalem would continue to be in a terrible state for 70 years, without any inhabitants.
v3 So I started to pray very much to the *Lord God, and I stopped eating food. I put on rough clothes and I threw ashes over myself. I wanted to show how sad I felt.
Verses 1-3 Darius was the first king of the *kingdom of the *Medes and *Persians. Belshazzar was dead. The *kingdom of Babylon was finished (Daniel 5:29-30). We read about Darius in chapter 6. Daniel served the kings of Babylon. Then he served the *Medes and *Persians.
We know that Daniel prayed three times each day (Daniel 6:10). Now we read that he was studying God’s holy books. In the book of Jeremiah he read that the *Jews would return to Jerusalem after 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10). Jeremiah was a *prophet. He lived in Jerusalem when Daniel was very young. Now almost 70 years had passed since Nebuchadnezzar took the *Jews away from Jerusalem. Daniel realised this but he was sad. There was a new *kingdom and a new king. But the king had not allowed the *Jews to go back to Jerusalem. Also the *Jews did not think about God much. Perhaps they would not want to go to Jerusalem even if the king allowed them to. Most of them had been born in Babylon. Only the old people like Daniel had been to Jerusalem.
Daniel says that he stopped eating food. Some people stop eating food for a short time if they are very sad. Usually not to eat food and to pray to God belong together. When people do not eat food for a short time, they have more time for prayer.
He also wore *sackcloth (clothing from very rough material). He put cold ashes on his head or he sat in ashes. People did this when they were sorry about their bad behaviour. Daniel was a good man, but his people, the *Jews, had forgotten God. They would not say sorry to God, so Daniel did.
God had made a promise to Jeremiah. The *Jews could return to Jerusalem after 70 years. Daniel believed that God would *keep his promise. He prayed that it would happen.
v4 I prayed to the *Lord my God. And I confessed that we had done wrong things. ‘*Lord, you are the great God and we give you honour’, I prayed. ‘You *keep your promises to those who obey your commands. You always love those who love you.’
Verse 4 So Daniel prayed. He did not start by asking for things. He started by giving honour to God. He thanked God that God always *kept his promises. Daniel thanked God for loving those who loved him.
v5 ‘We have been wicked’, I prayed. ‘We have done bad and evil things. We have not obeyed your commands. v6 We did not listen to the *prophets who are your servants. They told your message to our kings, to our rulers, to our fathers and to all the people. v7 *Lord, you always do what is right. We are people from Judah, from Jerusalem and from all Israel. We have done bad things and we are ashamed. We have not been loyal to you. So some of us are near here, but you have sent some of us to countries far away. v8 *Lord, we are ashamed because we have not obeyed you. Our kings, our princes and our fathers are ashamed. v9 *Lord our God, you forgive us, although we have not been loyal to you. v10 We have not obeyed you, the *Lord our God. You sent your servants, the *prophets with your message. They gave us your laws. But we have not obeyed those laws. v11 None of the people from Israel have obeyed your laws. We have turned away from you. We have refused to obey you. We read the book that your servant Moses wrote. We read about your punishments, but we took no notice. So now, you have punished us because we did not obey you. v12 You did what you promised to do to our rulers and to us. So you punished us. You punished Jerusalem more than anywhere else under heaven. v13 You have punished us as Moses wrote in his book. And still we have not tried to please you, the *Lord our God. We still do wrong things and we do not obey your laws. v14 So you remembered that you had warned us about the effect. Everything that you, the *Lord God, do is right. And we did not obey you.’
Verses 5-14 Then Daniel said sorry to God. He was sorry that he had done wrong things. He also said sorry for his people, because they had not obeyed God. He knew that God had punished the *Jews. God had sent *prophets to warn them. They did not listen to the *prophets. They did not obey the laws that God had given to them. God had allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take the people away from Jerusalem. He had said that he would punish them. Then God did what he promised to do. God always does what is right. He always does what he promises. Now the people were in Babylon because they did not obey God. Even the kings and rulers of the people were not loyal to God.
Daniel also knew that God would forgive the people. He knew that God loved them.
v15 ‘*Lord our God’, I continued, ‘you brought your people out of the country called Egypt by your power. You caused many people to know your name. But we still did bad things and we have been evil. v16 *Lord, you have always done what is right. Please stop being angry with Jerusalem. It is your city. It is your holy place. All the people that live round us hate Jerusalem. And they hate your people. They hate us because our fathers were evil. And we have been evil too. v17 So now, our God, listen to my prayer because I am your servant. Listen to my prayer! So then people will know that you are God. *Lord, look with kindness on your holy place, because nobody lives there now. v18 Listen to us, *Lord. Look at the city that belongs to you. Nobody lives there now. We do not pray for things because we are good. We pray to you because you are kind. v19 *Lord, listen. *Lord, forgive us. *Lord, listen because your city and your people are yours. Do not delay before you do something for us. Then people will know that you are God.’
Verses 15-19 Then Daniel asked God for things. He asked God to stop being angry with the *Jews. He asked God to forgive them. The *Jews did not deserve God’s love, because they had not obeyed him. Daniel knew that. Daniel also knew that God still loved them. Daniel gave God reasons why he should forgive the people.
•God had done it before. He had brought his people out of Egypt although they had not obeyed him there. (See Jeremiah 16:14-15.)
•God always does what is right and good. He is kind. He likes to forgive people.
•God is suffering. Jerusalem is his city. Nobody lives in his holy place. Other people hate God’s city and God’s people.
•People should know that the *Lord is God. They know it when he acts.
v20 I continued to pray. I was confessing that I and my people Israel had done wrong things. I was praying to the *Lord my God about his holy place.
v21 And while I was praying, Gabriel came to me. He was the same man that I had seen in the first dream. He flew quickly to me. It was about the time of the evening *sacrifice. v22 He came and he spoke to me. ‘Daniel, I have come in order to help you to understand’, he said. v23 ‘As soon as you started to pray, God answered you. I have come to tell you the answer because God really loves you. Now listen to me. I will explain what you have read.’
Verses 20-23 Daniel kept on praying. It was about the time of the evening *sacrifice. The *Jews could not give *sacrifices to God in Babylon. Instead, Daniel prayed at the time of the *sacrifice. (See Psalms 141:2.) While he was praying, Gabriel arrived. Daniel had seen Gabriel before in a dream (Daniel 8:16-17). Gabriel was flying quickly. He told Daniel that God had heard his prayer. As soon as he started to pray, God heard him. Then God sent Gabriel to give Daniel an answer. Gabriel told Daniel how much God loved him. Then he promised to explain what Daniel had read.
v24 ‘God has chosen a period of 490 years (in other words, 70 times 7)’, Gabriel continued. ‘This is about your people and the holy city. Then God will stop evil and bad things. He will forgive the wrong things that people have done. He will bring goodness that will last always. What the *prophets wrote about will happen. He will establish the very holy place.’
Verse 24 Daniel had been reading what God had told Jeremiah. The *Jews would return to Jerusalem after 70 years. The 70 years were almost over. The next king, Cyrus, allowed the people to return to Jerusalem.
However, Gabriel told Daniel that God had other plans. His plans were for a period of 70 times 7 years. At the end of that time, some important things would happen.
•God would stop evil and bad things.
•God would forgive people although they have done wrong things.
•God would start a good time that would last for always.
•God had told his *prophets what would happen in the future. These things would happen as God had promised.
•God would make a very holy place. We do not understand what this sentence means. It might mean that a very holy person would come.
These things were answers to Daniel’s prayers. Daniel was praying for his people. They had done wrong things and God had punished them.
v25 ‘I want you to know and understand’, Gabriel continued. ‘Someone will issue a command to build Jerusalem again. 49 years (in other words, 7 times 7) will pass. People will build Jerusalem city again. They will build streets and a wall. But God’s people will suffer trouble during this time. Then there will be 434 years (in other words, 62 times 7) more. Then, the special ruler that God has chosen will come. v26 After the 434 years, people will kill the special ruler that God has appointed. He will have nothing. Then a foreign prince will come with his army and he will destroy the city and the holy place. The end will be like a flood. God has ordered that people should destroy things. He has decided that there will be war until the end of that time. v27 The prince will make a strong agreement with many people for 7 years. In the middle of the 7 years he will stop all the *sacrifices. He will put an awful thing in the holy place. And it will stay there until God acts. God has decided to kill this prince, and his end will happen.’
Verses 25-27 Then Gabriel told Daniel more about what would happen.
A new king (Cyrus) would allow the *Jews to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4). Not many of the *Jews wanted to go to Jerusalem. Most of them had been born in Babylon. Only the old people like Daniel had been to Jerusalem. The people who did go to Jerusalem tried to build God’s holy house again. It was hard work. The other people in the country tried to stop them. Many years later, another king (Artaxerxes) allowed Nehemiah to go to build the walls of Jerusalem again (Nehemiah 2:4-6). This too was hard work. Again, the other people in the country tried to stop them.
This is probably the 7 times 7 years.
Then there is a period of 62 times 7 years. After this, Jesus came into the world. He taught and he cured people for about three and a half years. But then the people killed him. He was the man whom God had appointed. Later the *Romans came. They destroyed Jerusalem and God’s holy place.
When Jesus was born, some people were waiting for him (Luke 2:25-38). Perhaps they had read the book of Daniel.
God promised Daniel that he would remove evil things. He said that he would start a good time that would last for always. This has not happened yet. However, when Jesus died he defeated God’s evil enemies. Evil things will only last for a certain time. God has decided that time.
Some people think that the last part of Gabriel’s message has not happened yet. It will happen at the very end of the world. Then there will be no more evil things, as God has promised. Then he will start a good time that will last for always.
Lord ~ Lord is a special kind of name, and a title, for God. The Jewish people often use this title for God. It shows that he is over all. Or it may mean that he is always God.lord ~ when this title does not mean God, it just means someone very important.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to a Jew.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes what Jews believe. It is also a name for people from Judah and Israel.
prophet ~ a person whom God sends to speak for him; a prophet tells people good and bad things that will happen. Prophets often tell people to change before bad things happen.
kingdom ~ the place or territory or land where a king rules.
Mede ~ a person from Media, a nation at the time of Daniel.
Persian ~ someone or something from a country called Persia in Daniel’s time; it is called Iran today.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes what Jews believe. It is also a name for people from Judah and Israel.
sackcloth ~ clothes that people make from very rough material. People would wear such rough clothes when they were very sorry or very sad.'keep a promise ~ do what you promised to do.
sacrifice ~ a gift, such as food or an animal; people often gave it as part of their worship of God or of a false god; a gift to God to ask him to forgive us; or to thank him for something.
worship ~ to show honour to someone superior; to respect God; to praise and serve God; to tell God that we love him very much; or, to serve and to show honour to a false god.
Roman ~ a person from Rome. Rome was the most famous city in the world by the time of Jesus. Their soldiers fought and defeated many countries. They made the people obey the rules of Rome. They made them pay taxes to Rome. The people could not rule themselves; they had to obey the laws of Rome.