Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9 In the first year ^(A)of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through ^(B)Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

^3 (C)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴ And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O ^(D)Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, ^5 (E)we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. ^6 (F)Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. ⁷ O Lord, ^(G)righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

⁸ “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ^9 (H)To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yes, ^(I)all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the ^(J)Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. ¹² And He has ^(K)confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; ^(L)for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

^13 (M)“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; ^(N)yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord has ^(O)kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for ^(P)the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, ^(Q)who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself ^(R)a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

¹⁶ “O Lord, ^(S)according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, ^(T)Your holy mountain; because for our sins, ^(U)and for the iniquities of our fathers, ^(V)Jerusalem and Your people ^(W)are a reproach to all those around us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, ^(X)and ^(Y)for the Lord’s sake ^[a]cause Your face to shine on ^[b]Your sanctuary, ^(Z)which is desolate. ^18 (AA)O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes ^(AB)and see our desolations, and the city ^(AC)which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

The Seventy-Weeks Prophecy

²⁰ Now while I was speaking, 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 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man ^(AD)Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, ^[c]being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. ²² And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. ²³ At the beginning of your supplications the ^[d]command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly ^(AE)beloved; therefore ^(AF)consider the matter, and understand the vision:

Vision of the Glorious Man

10 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose ^(AS)name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, ^[m]but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision. ² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. ³ I ate no ^[n]pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

⁴ Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the ^[o]Tigris, ⁵ I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in ^(AT)linen, whose waist was ^(AU)girded with gold of Uphaz! ⁶ His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, ^(AV)and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

⁷ And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. ⁸ Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my ^[p]vigor was turned to ^[q]frailty in me, and I retained no strength. ⁹ Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Prophecies Concerning Persia and Greece

^10 (AW)Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. ¹¹ And he said to me, “O Daniel, ^(AX)man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.

¹² Then he said to me, ^(AY)“Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, ^(AZ)your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. ^13 (BA)But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, ^(BB)Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people ^(BC)in the latter days, ^(BD)for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

¹⁵ When he had spoken such words to me, ^(BE)I ^[r]turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. ¹⁶ And suddenly, ^(BF)one having the likeness of the ^[s]sons of men ^(BG)touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision ^(BH)my sorrows have ^[t]overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength. ¹⁷ For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me.”

¹⁸ Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. ^19 (BI)And he said, “O man greatly beloved, ^(BJ)fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”

So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

²⁰ Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight ^(BK)with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. ²¹ But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, ^(BL)except Michael your prince.

Warring Kings of North and South

11 “Also ^(BM)in the first year of ^(BN)Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.)

Deceptions of the Last Hour

^18 (A)Little children, ^(B)it is the last hour; and as you have heard that ^(C)the^[a] Antichrist is coming, ^(D)even now many antichrists have come, by which we know ^(E)that it is the last hour. ^19 (F)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(G)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out ^(H)that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

²⁰ But ^(I)you have an anointing ^(J)from the Holy One, and ^(K)you^[b] know all things. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

^22 (L)Who is a liar but he who denies that ^(M)Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (N)Whoever denies the Son does not have the ^(O)Father either; ^(P)he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Let Truth Abide in You

²⁴ Therefore let that abide in you ^(Q)which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, ^(R)you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. ^25 (S)And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who try to ^[c]deceive you. ²⁷ But the ^(T)anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and ^(U)you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing ^(V)teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you ^[d]will abide in Him.

The Children of God

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in Him, that ^[e]when He appears, we may have ^(W)confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. ^29 (X)If you know that He is righteous, you know that ^(Y)everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

The Command to Love

3 Behold ^(Z)what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that ^(AA)we should be called children of ^[f]God! Therefore the world does not know ^[g]us, ^(AB)because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, ^(AC)now we are children of God; and ^(AD)it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, ^(AE)we shall be like Him, for ^(AF)we shall see Him as He is. ^3 (AG)And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Sin and the Child of God

⁴ Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and ^(AH)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ And you know ^(AI)that He was manifested ^(AJ)to take away our sins, and ^(AK)in Him there is no sin. ⁶ Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

God the Help of Those Who Seek Him

A Song of Ascents.