Daniel 9 - 10, James 4 - 5, Proverbs 21

Daniel’s Prayer of Supplication

9In the first year of ^aDarius the son of Ahasuerus, from the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— ²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, discerned in the books the ^anumber of the years concerning which the word of ¹Yahweh came to ^bJeremiah the prophet for the fulfillment of the laying waste of Jerusalem, namely, ^cseventy years. ³So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴And I prayed to Yahweh my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the ^agreat and awesome God, who ^bkeeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁵^awe have sinned and committed iniquity and acted wickedly and ^brebelled, even ^cturning aside from Your commandments and judgments. ⁶“Moreover, we have not ^alistened to Your slaves the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

⁷“^aTo You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us ¹^,^bopen shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in ^call the countries to which You have banished them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. ⁸“O Yahweh, to us belongs ¹open shame, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ⁹“To the Lord our God belong ^acompassion and forgiveness, ¹for we have ^brebelled against Him; ¹⁰nor have we listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in His ¹laws which He ^aput before us through His slaves the prophets. ¹¹“Indeed ^aall Israel has trespassed against Your law, even turning aside, not listening to Your voice; so the ^bcurse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the ¹law of Moses the ²servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. ¹²“Thus He has ^aestablished His words which He had spoken against us and against our ^bjudges who judged us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has ^cnot been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. ¹³“As it is written in the ¹^,^alaw of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have ^bnot ²entreated the favor of Yahweh our God by ^cturning from our iniquity and acting wisely in Your truth. ¹⁴“Therefore Yahweh has ^awatched over the calamity and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is ^brighteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not listened to His voice.

¹⁵“So now, O Lord our God, who have ^abrought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and have ^bmade a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned; we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶“O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteousness, let now Your ^aanger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your ^bholy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a ^creproach to all those around us. ¹⁷“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your slave and to his supplications, and for ¹Your sake, O Lord, ^alet Your face shine on Your ^bdesolate sanctuary. ¹⁸“O my God, ^aincline Your ear and listen! Open Your eyes and ^bsee our desolations and the city which is ^ccalled by Your name; for we are not ¹^,^dpresenting our supplications before You on account of any righteousness of our own, but on account of Your abundant compassion. ¹⁹“O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, ^ado not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Gabriel Brings Understanding

²⁰Now while I was ^aspeaking and praying, and ^bconfessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and ¹presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, ²¹and while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man ^aGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision ¹previously, ²touched me ³in my extreme weariness about the time of the ^bevening offering. ²²Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with ^aunderstanding. ²³“At the ^abeginning of your supplications the word was issued, so I have come to tell you, for you are ¹^,^bhighly esteemed; so understand the message and gain ^cunderstanding in what has appeared.

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah

²⁴“Seventy ¹^,^aweeks have been determined for your people and for your holy city, to ²finish the transgression, to ³make an end of sin, to ^bmake atonement for iniquity, to bring in ^ceverlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and ⁴prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. ²⁵“So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a ¹^,^aword to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until ²^,^bMessiah the ^cPrince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and rebuilt, with ³plaza and moat, even in times of distress. ²⁶“Then after the sixty-two weeks the ¹Messiah will be ^acut off and have ²nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will ^bdestroy the city and the sanctuary. And ³its end will come with a ^cflood; even to the end ⁴there will be war; desolations are decreed. ²⁷“And he will make a ¹firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will make sacrifice and grain offering cease; and on the wing of ²^,^aabominations will come one who ³makes desolate, even until a ^bcomplete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who ⁴makes desolate.”

Daniel’s Terrifying Vision of a Man

10In the third year of ^aCyrus king of Persia, a word was revealed to ^bDaniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the ^cword was true and one of great ¹conflict, but he understood the word and had an ^dunderstanding of what had appeared.

²In those days, I, Daniel, had been ^amourning for three entire ¹weeks. ³I ^adid not eat any ¹tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three ²weeks were fulfilled.

⁴And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great ^ariver, that is, the ¹Tigris, ⁵I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man ^adressed in linen, whose loins were ^bgirded with a belt of pure ^cfine gold of Uphaz. ⁶His body also was like ¹beryl, his face ²had the appearance of lightning, ^ahis eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. ⁷Now I, Daniel, ^aalone saw the vision that appeared, but the ^bmen who were with me did not see the vision that appeared; nevertheless, a great ^cterror fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. ⁸So I alone ^aremained and saw this great vision that appeared; yet ^bno might remained in me, for my outward splendor turned to ¹a deathly pallor, and I retained no might. ⁹But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I ^afell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Daniel Is Strengthened

¹⁰Then behold, a hand ^atouched me and set me shaking on my ¹hands and knees. ¹¹And he said to me, “O ^aDaniel, man of ¹high esteem, ^bunderstand the words that I am about to speak to you and ^cstand ²upright, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up ^dtrembling. ¹²Then he said to me, “^aDo not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you gave your heart to understand this and to ^bhumble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response ^cto your words. ¹³“But the ¹prince of the kingdom of Persia was ²standing against me for twenty-one days; then behold, ^aMichael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. Now I had been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴“Now I have come to ^agive you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the ¹^,^blast days, for the vision pertains to ^cthe days yet future.” ¹⁵Now when he had spoken to me according to these words, I ¹turned my face toward the ground and became ^aspeechless.

¹⁶And behold, ^aone ¹in the likeness of the sons of men was ^btouching my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “O my lord, as a result of the vision that appeared, ^cpains have come upon me, and I have retained no might. ¹⁷“Now ^ahow can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, right now ^bno might stands within me, nor does any breath remain within me.”

¹⁸Then this one with the appearance of a man touched me again and ^astrengthened me. ¹⁹And he said, “O man of ¹high esteem, ^ado not be afraid. Peace ²be with you; gather ^bstrength and be strong!” Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, “May my lord speak, for you have ^cstrengthened me.” ²⁰Then he said, “Do you know why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the ¹prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the ²^,^aprince of ³Greece is about to come. ²¹“However, I will tell you what is ¹inscribed in the writing of ^atruth. Now there is no one who ²exerts strength with me against these forces except ^bMichael your prince.

Draw Near to God

4¹What is the source of quarrels and ^aconflicts among you? ²Is not the source your pleasures that wage ^bwar in your members? ²You lust and do not have, so you ^amurder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. ³You ask and ^ado not receive, because you ask ¹with wrong motives, so that you may spend it ²on your pleasures. ⁴You ^aadulteresses, do you not know that friendship with ^bthe world is ^cenmity toward God? ^dTherefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think that the Scripture ^aspeaks to no purpose: “¹He ²jealously desires ^bthe Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? ⁶But ^aHe gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “^bGod is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷^aBe subject therefore to God. ^bResist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸^aDraw near to God and He will draw near to you. ^bCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^cpurify your hearts, you ^ddouble-minded. ⁹^aBe miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰^aHumble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

¹¹^aDo not slander one another, ^bbrothers. He who slanders a brother or ^cjudges his brother, slanders ^dthe law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not ^ea doer of the law but a judge of it. ¹²There is only one ^aLawgiver and Judge, the One who is ^bable to save and to destroy. But ^cwho are you who judge your neighbor?

Life Is a Vapor

¹³^aCome now, you who say, “^bToday or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴¹Yet you do not know ²what your life will be like tomorrow. ^aYou are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵¹Instead, you ought to say, “^aIf the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” ¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your ¹arrogance. ^aAll such boasting is evil. ¹⁷Therefore, ^ato one who knows to do the ¹right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Miseries of the Rich

5^aCome now, ^byou rich, ^ccry, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you. ²^aYour riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up such treasure ^ain the last days! ⁴Behold, ^athe pay of the laborers who mowed your fields—that which has been withheld by you—cries out against you; and ^bthe outcries of those who did the harvesting have reached the ears of ^cthe ¹Lord of ²Sabaoth. ⁵You have ^alived luxuriously on the earth and lived in self-indulgence. You have ¹fattened your hearts in a ^bday of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and ^amurdered ^bthe righteous man; ¹he does not resist you.

Patience and Perseverance

⁷Therefore be patient, ^abrothers, ^buntil the coming of the Lord. Behold, ^cthe farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient about it, until ¹it receives ^dthe early and late rains. ⁸^aYou too be patient; ^bstrengthen your hearts, for ^cthe coming of the Lord is ^dat hand. ⁹^aDo not groan, ^bbrothers, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, ^cthe Judge is standing ¹^,^dright at the ²door. ¹⁰As an example, ^abrothers, of suffering and patience, take ^bthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Behold, we count those ^ablessed who persevere. You have heard of ^bthe ¹perseverance of Job and have seen ^cthe ²outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that ^dthe Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

¹²But above all, ^amy brothers, ^bdo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let ¹your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you ^asuffering? ^bThen he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to ^csing praises. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for ^athe elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ¹^,^banointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the ^aprayer ¹offered in faith will ^bsave the one who is ²sick, and the Lord will ^craise him up, and if he has committed sins, ³they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶Therefore, ^aconfess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ^bhealed. ^cThe effective ¹prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. ¹⁷Elijah was ^aa man with a nature like ours, and ^bhe prayed ¹earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for ^cthree years and six months. ¹⁸Then he ^aprayed again, and ^bthe ¹sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers, ^aif any among you strays from ^bthe truth and one turns him back, ²⁰let him know that ¹he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will ^asave his soul from death and will ^bcover a multitude of sins.

Salvation Belongs to Yahweh

21The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of Yahweh;He ^aturns it wherever He pleases.²^aEvery man’s way is right in his own eyes,But Yahweh ^bweighs the hearts.³To do ^arighteousness and justiceIs chosen by Yahweh over sacrifice.⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart—The ^afallow ground of the wicked—are sin.⁵The ¹thoughts of the ^adiligent lead surely to profit,But everyone ^bwho is hasty comes surely to poverty.⁶^aWorking for treasures by a lying tongueIs a fleeting breath, by those who pursue ^bdeath.⁷The destruction of the wicked will drag them away,Because they ^arefuse to do justice.⁸The way of a guilty man is ^aperverse,But as for the pure, his work is upright.⁹It is better to live in a corner of a roofThan ¹in a house shared with a contentious woman.¹⁰The soul of the wicked craves evil;His ^aneighbor finds no favor in his eyes.¹¹When the ^ascoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;And when one considers wisdom, he receives knowledge.¹²The righteous one considers the house of the wicked,Turning the ^awicked to ruin.¹³He who ^ashuts his ear to the outcry of the poorWill himself also call and not be ^banswered.¹⁴A ^agift in secret subdues anger,And a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.¹⁵To do justice is ¹pleasure for the righteous,But is ^aruin to the workers of iniquity.¹⁶A man who wanders from the way of insightWill ^arest in the assembly of the ¹dead.¹⁷He who ^aloves ¹pleasure will become a poor man;He who loves wine and oil will not become rich.¹⁸The wicked is a ^aransom for the righteous,And the ^btreacherous is in the place of the upright.¹⁹^aIt is better to live in a desert landThan with a contentious and vexing woman.²⁰There is desirable ^atreasure and oil in the abode of the wise,But a foolish man ^bswallows it up.²¹He who ^apursues righteousness and lovingkindnessFinds life, righteousness, and glory.²²A ^awise man goes up to the city of the mightyAnd brings down the ¹stronghold in which they trust.²³He who ^akeeps his mouth and his tongue,Keeps his soul from troubles.²⁴“Arrogant,” “Haughty,” “^aScoffer,” are his names,Who acts with ^barrogant fury.²⁵The ^adesire of the sluggard puts him to death,For his hands refuse to work;²⁶All day long he ¹is insatiably craving,While the righteous ^agives and does not hold back.²⁷The ^asacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,How much more when he brings it with a wicked scheme!²⁸A ^afalse witness will perish,But the man who listens will speak forever.²⁹A wicked man ¹^,^adisplays a brazen face,But as for the ^bupright, he establishes his way.³⁰There is ^ano wisdom, there is no discernmentAnd there is no counsel against Yahweh.³¹The ^ahorse is set for the day of battle,But ^bsalvation belongs to Yahweh.