Daniel 9:2-4

Living Bible

² In that first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from the book of Jeremiah the prophet that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.^{[a] 3} So I earnestly pleaded with the Lord God to end our captivity and send us back to our own land.^[b]

As I prayed, I fasted and wore rough sackcloth, and I sprinkled myself with ashes ⁴ and confessed my sins and those of my people.

“O Lord,” I prayed, “you are a great and awesome God; you always fulfill your promises of mercy to those who love you and keep your laws.