Daniel Serves Darius

6 ^[a]It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, to be in charge of the whole kingdom, ² and over them, three commissioners (of whom ^(A)Daniel was one), so that these satraps would be accountable to them, and that the king would not ^[b]suffer ^(B)loss. ³ Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself ^[c]among the commissioners and satraps because ^[d]he possessed an ^(C)extraordinary spirit, and the king intended to appoint him over the ^(D)entire kingdom. ⁴ Then the commissioners and satraps began ^(E)trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel regarding ^[e]government affairs; but they could find ^(F)no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. ⁵ Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him regarding the ^(G)law of his God.”

⁶ Then these commissioners and satraps came ^[f]by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, ^(H)live forever! ⁷ All the ^(I)commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have ^(J)consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who offers a prayer to any god or person besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall ^(K)be thrown into the lions’ ^[g]den. ⁸ Now, O king, ^(L)establish the injunction and sign the document so that it will not be changed, according to the ^(M)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[h]may not be revoked.” ⁹ Thereupon, King Darius ^(N)signed the document, that is, the injunction.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the document was signed, he entered his house (and in his roof chamber he had windows open ^(O)toward Jerusalem); and he continued ^(P)kneeling on his knees three times a day, ^(Q)praying and ^(R)offering praise before his God, just as he had been doing previously. ¹¹ Then these men came ^[i](S)by agreement and found Daniel offering a prayer and imploring favor before his God. ¹² Then they approached and ^(T)spoke before the king about the king’s injunction: “Did you not sign an injunction that any person who offers a prayer to any god or person besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king replied, “The statement is true, according to the ^(U)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[j]may not be revoked.” ¹³ Then they responded and spoke before the king, “^(V)Daniel, who is one of the ^[k]exiles from Judah, pays ^(W)no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps offering his prayer three times a day.”

¹⁴ Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply ^(X)distressed, and set his mind on rescuing Daniel; and until sunset he kept exerting himself to save him. ¹⁵ Then these men came ^[l]by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Recognize, O king, that it is a ^(Y)law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

¹⁶ Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and ^(Z)thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “^[m](AA)Your God whom you continually serve will Himself rescue you.” ¹⁷ And a ^(AB)stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed regarding Daniel. ¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night ^(AC)fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his ^(AD)sleep fled from him.

¹⁹ Then the king got up at dawn, at the break of day, and went in a hurry to the lions’ den. ²⁰ And when he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king began speaking and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has ^(AE)your God, whom you continually serve, been ^(AF)able to rescue you from the lions?” ²¹ Then Daniel spoke ^[n]to the king, “^(AG)O king, live forever! ²² My God ^(AH)sent His angel and ^(AI)shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, since ^[o]I was found innocent before Him; and also ^[p]toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.” ²³ Then the king was very glad and gave orders for Daniel to be lifted up out of the den. So Daniel was lifted up out of the den, and ^(AJ)no injury whatever was found on him, because he had ^(AK)trusted in his God. ²⁴ The king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had ^[q]maliciously accused Daniel, and they ^(AL)threw them, their ^(AM)children, and their wives into the lions’ den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

²⁵ Then Darius the king wrote to all the ^(AN)peoples, nations, and populations of all ^[r]languages who were living in all the land: “^(AO)May your ^[s]peace be great! ^26 [t]I ^(AP)issue a decree that in all the realm of my kingdom people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel;

²⁸ So this ^(AU)Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of ^(AV)Cyrus the Persian.

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

9 In the first year of ^(A)Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to ^(B)Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, ^(C)seventy years. ³ So I gave my ^[a]attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, and said, “Oh, Lord, the ^(D)great and awesome God, who ^(E)keeps His covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ^5 (F)we have sinned, we have done wrong, and ^[b]acted wickedly and ^(G)rebelled, even ^(H)turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ Moreover, we have not ^(I)listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

⁷ “^(J)Righteousness belongs to You, Lord, but to us ^[c](K)open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in ^(L)all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. ^8 [d]Open shame belongs to us, Lord, to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong ^(M)compassion and forgiveness, ^[e]because we have ^(N)rebelled against Him; ¹⁰ and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His ^[f]teachings which He ^(O)set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ Indeed, ^(P)all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the ^(Q)curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. ¹² So He has ^(R)confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our ^[g](S)rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has ^(T)not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the ^(U)Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us; yet we have ^(V)not ^[h]sought the favor of the Lord our God by ^(W)turning from our wrongdoing and ^[i]giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ So the Lord has ^[j](X)kept the disaster in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is ^(Y)righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

¹⁵ “And now, Lord, our God, You who ^(Z)brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and ^(AA)made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked. ¹⁶ Lord, in accordance with all Your ^[k]righteous acts, let now Your ^(AB)anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your ^(AC)holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an ^(AD)object of taunting to all those around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for ^[l]Your sake, Lord, ^(AE)let Your face shine on Your ^(AF)desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ My God, ^(AG)incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and ^(AH)see our desolations and the city which is ^(AI)called by Your name; for we are not ^[m](AJ)presenting our pleas before You based on ^[n]any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, ^(AK)do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

²⁰ While I was still ^(AL)speaking and praying, and ^(AM)confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and ^[o]presenting my plea before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, ²¹ while I was still speaking in prayer, the man ^(AN)Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision ^[p]previously, ^[q]came to me ^[r]in my extreme weariness about the time of the ^(AO)evening offering. ²² And he instructed me and talked with me and said, “Daniel, I have come now to give you insight with ^(AP)understanding. ²³ At the ^(AQ)beginning of your pleas the ^[s]command was issued, and I have come to tell you, because you are ^[t](AR)highly esteemed; so pay attention to the message and gain ^(AS)understanding of the vision.

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah

²⁴ “Seventy ^[u](AT)weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to ^[v]finish the wrongdoing, to ^[w]make an end of sin, to ^(AU)make atonement for guilt, to bring in ^(AV)everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and ^[x]prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a ^[y](AW)decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until ^[z](AX)Messiah the ^(AY)Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with ^[aa]streets and moat, even in times of distress. ²⁶ Then after the sixty-two weeks, the ^[ab]Messiah will be ^(AZ)cut off and have ^[ac]nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will ^(BA)destroy the city and the sanctuary. And ^[ad]its end will come with a ^(BB)flood; even to the end ^[ae]there will be war; desolations are determined. ²⁷ And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of ^[af](BC)abominations will come the one who ^[ag]makes desolate, until a ^(BD)complete destruction, one that is ^[ah]decreed, gushes forth on the one who ^[ai]makes desolate.”

Cyrus Permits Return

^22 (A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord ^(B)by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord ^(C)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ²³ “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; ^[a]go up then!’”

Cyrus’ Proclamation

1 ^(A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he ^(B)sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^(C)He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! ^[a]Go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; ^(D)He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And every survivor, at whatever place he may ^[b]live, the people of ^[c]that place are to support him with silver and gold, with equipment and cattle, together with a ^[d]voluntary offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Holy Vessels Restored

⁵ Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, ^(E)everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ⁶ And all of those around them ^[e](F)encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with equipment, cattle, and with valuables, aside from everything that was given as a ^[f]voluntary offering. ^7 (G)Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, ^(H)which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; ⁸ and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to ^(I)Sheshbazzar, the leader of Judah. ⁹ Now this was their number: thirty ^(J)gold dishes, a thousand silver dishes, twenty nine ^[g]duplicates; ¹⁰ thirty gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind, and a thousand other articles. ¹¹ All the articles of gold and silver totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

¹⁷ The sons of Jeconiah, the prisoner, were his son Shealtiel ¹⁸ and Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ¹⁹ The sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the ^[a]sons of Zerubbabel were Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister;