The Daily Audio Bible

9 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed 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 whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.

³ And I set my face unto the Lord God, ^[a]to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy precepts and from thine ordinances; ⁶ neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, that spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. ⁸ O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; ^[b]for we have rebelled against him; ¹⁰ neither have we obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even turning aside, that they should not obey thy voice: therefore hath the curse been poured out upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God; for we have sinned against him. ¹² And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. ¹³ As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Jehovah our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and ^[c]have discernment in thy truth. ¹⁴ Therefore hath Jehovah watched over the evil, and brought it upon us; for Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, and we have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. ¹⁶ O Lord, according to all thy ^[d]righteousness, let thine anger and thy wrath, I pray thee, be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are round about us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, O our God, hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. ¹⁸ O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not ^[e]present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies’ sake. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

²⁰ And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God; ²¹ yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, ^[f]being caused to fly swiftly, ^[g]touched me about the time of the evening oblation. ²² And he ^[h]instructed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee wisdom and understanding. ²³ At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art ^[i]greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, ^[j]to finish ^[k]transgression, and ^[l]to make an end of sins, and to ^[m]make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and ^[n]prophecy, and to anoint ^[o]the most holy. ²⁵ Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto ^[p]the anointed one, the prince, shall be ^[q]seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times. ²⁶ And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and ^[r]shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined. ²⁷ And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the ^[s]oblation to cease; and ^[t]upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.

10 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. ² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. ³ I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. ⁴ And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is ^[u]Hiddekel, ⁵ I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz: ⁶ his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like unto burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. ⁷ And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. ⁹ Yet heard I the voice of his words; and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.

¹⁰ And, behold, a hand touched me, which ^[v]set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. ¹¹ And he said unto me, O Daniel, thou man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. ¹² Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: and I am come for thy words’ sake. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I ^[w]remained there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days. ¹⁵ And when he had spoken unto me according to these words, I set my face toward the ground, and was dumb. ¹⁶ And, behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I retain no strength. ¹⁷ For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me.

¹⁸ Then there touched me again one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. ¹⁹ And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he spake unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. ²⁰ Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I go forth, lo, the prince of ^[x]Greece shall come. ²¹ But I will tell thee that which is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none that ^[y]holdeth with me ^[z]against these, but Michael your prince. 11 ¹ And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

¹⁸ Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest ^[a]that they all are not of us. ²⁰ And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, ^[b]and ye know all things. ²¹ I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and ^[c]because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son. ²³ Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise which he promised ^[d]us, even the life eternal. ²⁶ These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray. ²⁷ And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, ^[e]and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ^[f]ye abide in him. ²⁸ And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed ^[g]before him at his ^[h]coming. ²⁹ If ye know that he is righteous, ^[i]ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him.

3 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. ² Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if ^[j]he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is. ³ And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. ⁴ Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. ⁵ And ye know that he was manifested to ^[k]take away sins; and in him is no sin. ⁶ Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither ^[l]knoweth him.

Jehovah the keeper of his people.

A Song of Ascents.