Daniel 9:20-27

20I continued to pray and tell God about our sins. I agreed that I had done wrong things, and that my people, the Israelites, had also done wrong things. I asked the Lord my God to help Jerusalem, his holy mountain.

21While I was praying, Gabriel came towards me. He was the same man that I had seen in the first vision. He flew quickly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice.

22He said to me, ‘Daniel, I have come to teach you, so that you can understand these things.

23As soon as you started to pray, God sent his message. I have come to tell you the message, because you are very important to God. Listen carefully, so that you understand the meaning of your vision.

24God has decided the time of punishment for your people and your holy city. It will continue for 70 weeks. That will finish the punishment for their sins. The people will no longer turn against God. They will have paid the price for their sins. God will cause them to live for ever in a way that is right. God will show that the visions and messages of the prophets are true. The Most Holy Place will belong to God again.

25I want you, Daniel, to understand this properly. There will be a command to build Jerusalem again. Then 7 weeks will pass, and 62 weeks will also pass. After that, a ruler that God has chosen will arrive. People will build the city of Jerusalem again. It will have streets and a strong wall around it. But there will be a lot of trouble at that time.

26After the 62 weeks have passed, people will kill the ruler that God had chosen. He will have nothing. Then a foreign ruler and his army will attack the city and the temple. He will destroy them quickly, like a flood of water. War and terrible trouble will continue until the end that God has decided.

27The foreign ruler will make an agreement with many people. That agreement will continue for one week. In the middle of that week, he will stop the sacrifices and offerings in the temple. Instead, he will put a disgusting thing there that causes trouble. It will remain there until God finally destroys the ruler who destroys. His end will happen at the time that God has decided.’