Daniel 9

In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, 2in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years of which the Word of YAHWEH1 came to Armiya2 the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years. 3I set my face to the Lord God,3 to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 

4I prayed to YAHWEH my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances; 6neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your Name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7“Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. 8Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him; 10neither have we obeyed the voice of YAHWEH our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11Yes, all Israel have transgressed your Taurat, even turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore has the curse been poured out on us, and the oath that is written in the Taurat of Musa the servant of God; for we have sinned against him. 12He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky has not been done as has been done on Jerusalem. 13As it is written in the Taurat of Musa, all this evil is come on us: yet have we not entreated the favour of YAHWEH our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth. 14Therefore has YAHWEH watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for YAHWEH our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.

15“Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all who are around us. 

17“Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. 18My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your Name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake. 19Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; do not defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your Name.”

20While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before YAHWEH my God for the holy mountain of my God; 21yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Jibril,4 whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering. 22He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, “Daniel, I am now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding. 23At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell you; for you are dearly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision. 

24“Seventy ‘sevens’5 are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. 

25“Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment6 to restore and to build Jerusalem to AL-MASIH7 the prince, shall be seven ‘sevens’8 and sixty-two ‘sevens’:9 it shall be rebuilt, with street and moat, even in troubled times. 26After the sixty-two ‘sevens’ AL-MASIH shall be cut off,10 and shall have nothing: and the people of a ruler who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;11 and the end of it shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined. 27He shall make a firm covenant with many for one ‘seven’: and in the midst of the ‘seven’ he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on a wing of the Temple he shall set up an abomination that causes desolation12; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate.”

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  1. 9:2 YAHWEH, the name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
  2. 9:2 Armiya, in Hebrew Yirmeyah (meaning “YAHWEH will exalt”), also known in English as Jeremiah. ↩︎
  3. 9:3 God, English translation of elohim. Elohim (Hebrew) is related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
  4. 9:21 Jibril, that is, the angel Gabriel. ↩︎
  5. 9:24 seventy ‘sevens’, that is, 70 times 7 years, or 490 years. ↩︎
  6. 9:25 going forth of the commandment, probably referring to the first decree of King Artaxerxes in 457 BC. The text of the decree is found in Uzair 7:12-26 (also known as Ezra). ↩︎
  7. 9:25 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean Anointed One. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. According to Al-Kitab, ‘ISA AL-MASIH is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
  8. 9:25 seven ‘sevens’, or 49 years. This is the time predicted it would take to complete the restoration of Jerusalem after the word was given by King Artaxerxes in 457 BC, including rebuilding the Temple and the city walls. See the books of Uzair (Ezra) and Nehemiah for the historical account of those times. ↩︎
  9. 9:25 sixty-two ‘sevens’, or 434 years, the time span between the restoration of Jerusalem (408 BC) until the beginning of the public ministry of ‘ISA AL-MASIH (27 AD). ↩︎
  10. 9:26 AL-MASIH shall be cut off, a prediction that ‘ISA AL-MASIH would be put to death sometime after the date of 27 AD, when Prophet ‘ISA began his public ministry. ‘ISA ministered for about 3 years, before he was “cut off,” crucified on a Roman cross in about 30 AD. ↩︎
  11. 9:26 the people of a ruler who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD by the Romans under emperor Titus. ↩︎
  12. 9:27 abomination that causes desolation, This phrase is quoted by ‘ISA AL-MASIH in the Injil, Matthew 24:15 when giving a sermon about signs of his own return to this earth in the future. Matthew 24:14-16 says: “This Injil of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. When, therefore, you see the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” ↩︎