15. “Now, Lord, our God, who led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and made a name for yourself even to this day, we have sinned, we are guilty.
16. Lord, in keeping with all your just deeds, let your anger and your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. On account of our sins and the crimes of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become the reproach of all our neighbors.
17. Now, our God, hear the prayer and petition of your servant; and for your own sake, Lord, let your face shine upon your desolate sanctuary.
18. Give ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look upon our desolate city upon which your name is invoked. When we present our petition before you, we rely not on our just deeds, but on your great mercy.
19. Lord, hear! Lord, pardon! Lord, be attentive and act without delay, for your own sake, my God, because your name is invoked upon your city and your people!”
20. I was still praying to the Lord, my God, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, presenting my petition concerning the holy mountain of my God—
21. I was still praying, when the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision before, came to me in flight at the time of the evening offering.
22. He instructed me in these words: “Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding.
23. When you began your petition, an answer was given which I have come to announce, because you are beloved. Therefore, mark the answer and understand the vision.
24. “Seventy weeks are decreedfor your people and for your holy city:Then transgression will stop and sin will end,guilt will be expiated,Everlasting justice will be introduced,vision and prophecy ratified,and a holy of holies will be anointed.
25. Know and understand:From the utterance of the wordthat Jerusalem was to be rebuiltUntil there is an anointed ruler,there shall be seven weeks.In the course of sixty-two weeksit shall be rebuilt,With squares and trenches,in time of affliction.
26. After the sixty-two weeksan anointed one shall be cut downwith no one to help him.And the people of a leader who will comeshall destroy the city and the sanctuary.His end shall come in a flood;until the end of the war, which is decreed,there will be desolation.
27. For one week he shall makea firm covenant with the many;Half the weekhe shall abolish sacrifice and offering;In their place shall be the desolating abominationuntil the ruin that is decreedis poured out upon the desolator.”