Daniel 9:1-14
Daniel Confesses for His People
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1In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes, a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—
2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
4And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,
5we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
6We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.
7To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
8O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
9To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him
10and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.
11All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.
12You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.
13Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.
14Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.
Berean Standard Bible
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In the first year of Darius, Daniel understands from the books that the number of years in Jeremiah's word about Jerusalem's desolation is seventy. He turns to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel confesses Israel's sin. The people have sinned, acted wickedly, rebelled, turned aside from God's commandments, and refused to listen to the prophets. He includes kings, princes, fathers, and all the people rather than placing guilt only on a distant generation.
Daniel says righteousness belongs to the Lord, while Israel bears open shame. He remembers God's mercy and forgiveness, but also the curses written in Moses' law. Jerusalem's disaster has come because the people did not obey God's voice, and Daniel asks the Lord to turn away His anger.
Daniel responds to Jeremiah's timetable by praying, not by calculating a date for escape. He fasts, wears sackcloth, and confesses the nation's sin, even though the text does not present him as one of the leaders who caused the disaster. His solidarity refuses the comfort of locating all guilt in people safely far away.
The prayer holds judgment and mercy together. Israel's shame is deserved, yet Daniel appeals to the LORD's compassion and the fact that Jerusalem bears God's name. This is not a technique for persuading God that Israel is secretly righteous; it is the posture of someone who tells the truth about sin while trusting that God's character is more than the people's record.
Questions
1 What does Daniel learn from Jeremiah's prophecy?
AnswerHe learns that Jerusalem's desolation has a number of seventy years. The reading of Scripture moves him toward prayer rather than toward detached calculation.
2 How does Daniel confess?
AnswerHe names sin, wickedness, rebellion, disobedience, and refusal to listen. He speaks as part of the people instead of using their history to make himself innocent by comparison.
3 What contrast does Daniel make?
AnswerHe says righteousness belongs to the Lord, while open shame belongs to Israel. Confession begins with an honest difference between God's faithfulness and the people's failure.
4 What does Daniel ask God to remember?
AnswerHe asks God to remember mercy and forgiveness and to turn away anger from Jerusalem. The request is grounded in God's character, not in Israel's claim that it deserves restoration.
What This Means for Us
Daniel reads a promise about time and responds with confession. He does not use prophecy to avoid responsibility or to treat restoration as an entitlement.
His “we” is important. He does not stand outside the people and criticize them from a safe distance, yet he also does not blur the seriousness of their rebellion.
When your household admits a shared failure, name the specific actions and hear from the people harmed by them. Hope in mercy should make confession more honest, not less necessary.
Prayer
Merciful Lord, teach us to confess without excuses or distance. Give us courage to name shared failures, compassion for those harmed, and hope grounded in Your forgiveness rather than our deserving. Amen.