1. It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.
2. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.
3. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
4. I prayed to the lord my God and confessed:“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.
5. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.
6. We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.
7. “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.
8. O lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.