Daniel, considering the time of the captivity, 1, 2, makes confession of sins, 3-15, and prays for the restoration of Jerusalem, 16-19. Gabriel informs him of the seventy weeks, 20-27.
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring 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 books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 And I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God and made my confession, and said, "O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those who love him and to those who keep his commandments, 5 We have sinned, have committed iniquity, have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments, 6 Neither have we listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 "O Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us, disgrace, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. 8 O Lord, to us belongs disgrace, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him, 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 And all Israel has transgressed your law, even by departing, and they have not obeyed your voice; therefore, the curse is poured upon us, along with the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he has confirmed his words which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil. For under the whole heaven it has not been done as it has been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, so that we might turn from our iniquities and understand your truth. 14 Therefore, the LORD has watched over the evil and brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does, but we have not obeyed his voice.
15 "And now, O Lord our God, who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have obtained yourself renown, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I implore you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer and supplications of your servant and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and behold our desolations and the city which is called by your name. For we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and do. Do not defer, O my God, for your own sake. For your city and your people are called by your name."
20 And 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 Even while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22 And he informed me and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I have come to show you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter and consider the vision.
24 "Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again with a plaza and a moat, even in troubled times. 26 And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince who come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And on the wing of abominations, he shall come to make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that which is determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Daniel, Chapter 9[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
This chapter contains a prayer of Daniel and the answer to it. The time, occasion, and manner of his prayer, or circumstances of it, are observed (Daniel 9:1-3); the parts of it, an address to God, under various suitable epithets and characters (Daniel 9:4); confession of sin, of his own, of the inhabitants of the land, kings, princes, and people, which are largely dwelt upon and exaggerated (Daniel 9:5-15); and petitions for mercy (Daniel 9:16-19); then the answer follows, the time when it was ordered and given, and the person by whom it was sent, are expressed (Daniel 9:20-23); who delivered to him the vision of the seventy weeks to be considered by him, in which both the work of the Messiah and the time of his coming are clearly pointed out (Daniel 9:24-27).
[v.17] - The end of this verse is rendered in the Septuagint as, "...and cause your face to shine on your desolate sanctuary, for your own sake, O Lord."
[v.24] - Reference, Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 53:5; 1st Corinthians 15:3.