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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Daniel 9:1-19

Set – Daniel 9; Psalms 123; Luke 5

Go! – Daniel 9-10; Psalms 123; Luke 5

Daniel 9:1-19
Daniel: ^1-2 In the first year that Darius the Mede (Ahasuerus’ son) ruled over the Babylonians, I, Daniel, was studying the word of the Eternal One according to the prophet Jeremiah and discovered in the scrolls the number of years that Jerusalem must lie desolate before it is restored, that is, seventy years.
³ After learning this, I turned to the Lord God, praying diligently, begging for His mercy, grieving and fasting in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Eternal One my God, praising His greatness and confessing our sins: Lord God, You are great and awesome! You are always faithful to the covenant You made with us. Your unfailing love extends to all who love You and keep Your commandments. ⁵ But we have sinned and wronged You. We have acted wickedly in our rebellion, going so far as to disregard Your commandments and regulations. ⁶ We have ignored the message given through Your servants, the prophets, who spoke on Your behalf to our kings, princes, ancestors, indeed every last person of the land. ⁷ O Lord, You always do what is right. It is Your due, but we deserve nothing this day but public and open shame. The people of Judah, Jerusalem—indeed of all Israel, those who are in neighboring regions and those who are in the farthest reaches, driven into exile by You for all the treacherous acts they committed against You—we all deserve nothing but shame. ⁸ Eternal One, public and open shame is our due, for we have sinned against You, all of us, our kings, princes, and ancestors. ⁹ But You, O Lord our God, still show us compassion and forgiveness even though we have openly rebelled against You. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the voice of the Eternal our God, for we have failed to live by the teachings You gave us directly through Your servants, the prophets. ¹¹ All the people of Israel have abandoned Your teachings, deserted Your covenant, and refused to obey Your voice. This is why the curse and the oath inscribed in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us—for we have sinned against You. ¹² By unleashing on us this great calamity, You have carried out Your solemn words warning us and our leaders who led us astray. Under all of heaven, nothing like what happened to Jerusalem has ever happened before. ¹³ All the calamity that has befallen us fulfills the warnings written in Moses’ law; but despite our adversity, we have not sought the favor of the Eternal our God by walking away from our sins and pursuing insight into Your truth. ¹⁴ And now we have earned the misery that the Eternal has stored up for us. Truly, the Eternal our God was right to do all He has done, for we refused to obey His voice.
¹⁵ Now, Lord our God, You have made Your name great among the nations to this day by liberating Your enslaved people from the land of Egypt with powerful deeds; yet we have sinned against You, our Liberator, and we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶ Lord, the reputation of Your city Jerusalem has suffered, and Your people are mocked by those around us because we and our ancestors have done wrong. I beg You to spare Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; turn away Your burning anger and fiery wrath from Your people according to all Your covenant mercies. ¹⁷ Now, God, please hear the prayers and petitions voiced today by your servant. Shine Your face on Your destroyed and desolate sanctuary for the sake of Your name, my Lord. ¹⁸ Lend an ear, my God, and hear this prayer. Open Your eyes and see our deserted streets and witness the devastation across the city that bears Your name. We are crying to You and asking for mercy, not because we are righteous and deserve it. No, we bring these petitions to you because we know of Your great mercy. ¹⁹ Lord, hear our prayer! Lord, forgive our sins! Lord, pay attention to our plight and act without delay, not for our sake, my God, but for Yours because these people and this city bear Your name.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I heard Daniel’s prayer. He was a faithful servant to Me. Daniel recognized he was a part of the nation and the nation abandoned Me. So Daniel pled for forgiveness for himself in his part as well as those of his countrymen.

Have you thought of the role you play in the demise of your country? Have you shared My message with those you influence each day? If you lived as Christ in front of your neighbors and co-workers and friends, would it make a difference in your behavior or theirs each day? If you did everything as if you were doing it for Me, would it make a difference in the quality of your work? Maybe it’s time to join Daniel and make his prayer your own! What would happen if all Christians in your country or state or city or church took his attitude in prayer? I might just hear you!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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