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;