Daniel’s Prayer

9 In the first year of Darius^(A) son of Xerxes^[a](B) (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian^[b] kingdom— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy^(C) years. ³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,^(D) and in sackcloth and ashes.^(E)

⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:^(F)

The Seventy “Sevens”

²⁰ While I was speaking and praying, confessing^(BC) my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill^(BD)— ²¹ while I was still in prayer, Gabriel,^(BE) the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.^{(BF) 22} He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.^{(BG) 23} As soon as you began to pray,^(BH) a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.^(BI) Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:^(BJ)

²⁴ “Seventy ‘sevens’^[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city^(BK) to finish^[d] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone^(BL) for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness,^(BM) to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.^[e]

²⁵ “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild^(BN) Jerusalem until the Anointed One,^[f](BO) the ruler,^(BP) comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.^{(BQ) 26} After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death^(BR) and will have nothing.^[g] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:^(BS) War will continue until the end, and desolations^(BT) have been decreed.^{(BU) 27} He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’^[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’^[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple^[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed^(BV) is poured out on him.^[k]”^[l]

Seventy Years of Captivity

25 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim^(A) son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar^(B) king of Babylon. ² So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah^(C) and to all those living in Jerusalem: ³ For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah^(D) son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again,^(E) but you have not listened.^(F)

⁴ And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets^(G) to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.^{(H) 5} They said, “Turn^(I) now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land^(J) the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. ⁶ Do not follow other gods^(K) to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

⁷ “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused^(L) my anger with what your hands have made,^(M) and you have brought harm^(N) to yourselves.”

⁸ Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹ I will summon^(O) all the peoples of the north^(P) and my servant^(Q) Nebuchadnezzar^(R) king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy^[a](S) them and make them an object of horror and scorn,^(T) and an everlasting ruin.^{(U) 10} I will banish from them the sounds^(V) of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom,^(W) the sound of millstones^(X) and the light of the lamp.^{(Y) 11} This whole country will become a desolate wasteland,^(Z) and these nations will serve^(AA) the king of Babylon seventy years.^(AB)

¹² “But when the seventy years^(AC) are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon^(AD) and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,^[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate^(AE) forever. ¹³ I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written^(AF) in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. ¹⁴ They themselves will be enslaved^(AG) by many nations^(AH) and great kings; I will repay^(AI) them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of God’s Wrath

¹⁵ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup^(AJ) filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send^(AK) you drink it. ¹⁶ When they drink^(AL) it, they will stagger^(AM) and go mad^(AN) because of the sword^(AO) I will send among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent^(AP) me drink it: ¹⁸ Jerusalem^(AQ) and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin^(AR) and an object of horror and scorn,^(AS) a curse^[c](AT)—as they are today;^{(AU) 19} Pharaoh king^(AV) of Egypt,^(AW) his attendants, his officials and all his people, ²⁰ and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz;^(AX) all the kings of the Philistines^(AY) (those of Ashkelon,^(AZ) Gaza,^(BA) Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); ²¹ Edom,^(BB) Moab^(BC) and Ammon;^{(BD) 22} all the kings of Tyre^(BE) and Sidon;^(BF) the kings of the coastlands^(BG) across the sea; ²³ Dedan,^(BH) Tema,^(BI) Buz^(BJ) and all who are in distant places^[d];^{(BK) 24} all the kings of Arabia^(BL) and all the kings of the foreign people^(BM) who live in the wilderness; ²⁵ all the kings of Zimri,^(BN) Elam^(BO) and Media;^{(BP) 26} and all the kings of the north,^(BQ) near and far, one after the other—all the kingdoms^(BR) on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak^[e](BS) will drink it too.

²⁷ “Then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk^(BT) and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword^(BU) I will send among you.’ ²⁸ But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink^(BV), tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! ²⁹ See, I am beginning to bring disaster^(BW) on the city that bears my Name,^(BX) and will you indeed go unpunished?^(BY) You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword^(BZ) on all^(CA) who live on the earth,^(CB) declares the Lord Almighty.’

³⁰ “Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them:

³² This is what the Lord Almighty says:

³³ At that time those slain^(CP) by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered^(CQ) up or buried,^(CR) but will be like dung lying on the ground.

A Letter to the Exiles

29 This is the text of the letter^(A) that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{(B) 2} (This was after King Jehoiachin^[a](C) and the queen mother,^(D) the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) ³ He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

Message to Shemaiah

²⁴ Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah^(AS) son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, ²⁶ ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac^(AT) who acts like a prophet into the stocks^(AU) and neck-irons. ²⁷ So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? ²⁸ He has sent this message^(AV) to us in Babylon: It will be a long time.^(AW) Therefore build^(AX) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

²⁹ Zephaniah^(AY) the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah^(AZ) the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send^(BA) him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, ³² this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants.^(BB) He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good^(BC) things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion^(BD) against me.’”

36 ¹ And the people^(A) of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

Jehoahaz King of Judah^(B)

² Jehoahaz^[a] was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. ³ The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents^[b] of silver and a talent^[c] of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho^(C) took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.^(D)

Jehoiakim King of Judah^(E)

⁵ Jehoiakim^(F) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. ⁶ Nebuchadnezzar^(G) king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.^{(H) 7} Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple^[d] there.^(I)

⁸ The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoiachin King of Judah^(J)

⁹ Jehoiachin^(K) was eighteen^[e] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁰ In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon,^(L) together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,^[f] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah King of Judah^(M)

¹¹ Zedekiah^(N) was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. ¹² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord^(O) his God and did not humble^(P) himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. ¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath^(Q) in God’s name. He became stiff-necked^(R) and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful,^(S) following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(T)(U)

¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers^(V) again and again,^(W) because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed^(X) at his prophets until the wrath^(Y) of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.^{(Z) 17} He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,^[g](AA) who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men^(AB) or young women, the elderly or the infirm.^(AC) God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.^{(AD) 18} He carried to Babylon all the articles^(AE) from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ They set fire^(AF) to God’s temple^(AG) and broke down the wall^(AH) of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed^(AI) everything of value there.^(AJ)

²⁰ He carried into exile^(AK) to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants^(AL) to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. ²¹ The land enjoyed its sabbath rests;^(AM) all the time of its desolation it rested,^(AN) until the seventy years^(AO) were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.

²² In the first year of Cyrus^(AP) king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

²³ “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: