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:

Warring Kings of North and South

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

The Test of Knowing Christ

2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(A)we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And ^(B)He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^(C)also for the whole world.

The Test of Knowing Him

³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(D)liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But ^(E)whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God ^[a]is perfected ^(F)in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ^6 (G)He who says he abides in Him ^(H)ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

^7 [b]Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(I)from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard ^[c]from the beginning. ⁸ Again, ^(J)a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, ^(K)because the darkness is passing away, and ^(L)the true light is already shining.

^9 (M)He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ^10 (N)He who loves his brother abides in the light, and ^(O)there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But he who ^(P)hates his brother is in darkness and ^(Q)walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Their Spiritual State

Do Not Love the World

^15 (V)Do not love the world or the things in the world. ^(W)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, ^(X)the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And ^(Y)the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Deceptions of the Last Hour

^18 (Z)Little children, ^(AA)it is the last hour; and as you have heard that ^(AB)the^[d] Antichrist is coming, ^(AC)even now many antichrists have come, by which we know ^(AD)that it is the last hour. ^19 (AE)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(AF)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out ^(AG)that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

²⁰ But ^(AH)you have an anointing ^(AI)from the Holy One, and ^(AJ)you^[e] 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 (AK)Who is a liar but he who denies that ^(AL)Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (AM)Whoever denies the Son does not have the ^(AN)Father either; ^(AO)he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Let Truth Abide in You

²⁴ Therefore let that abide in you ^(AP)which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, ^(AQ)you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. ^25 (AR)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 ^[f]deceive you. ²⁷ But the ^(AS)anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and ^(AT)you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing ^(AU)teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you ^[g]will abide in Him.

The Children of God

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

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.