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we have sinned against you

Daniel 9:3-15 (JDV)

Daniel 9:3 So I turned my attention to Yahveh God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:4 I prayed to Yahveh my God and confessed: Ah, Lord – the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands –
Daniel 9:5 we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances.
Daniel 9:6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.
Daniel 9:7 Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel– those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you.
Daniel 9:8 Lord, the public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
Daniel 9:9 Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him
Daniel 9:10 and have not obeyed Yahveh our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants the prophets.
Daniel 9:11 All Israel has broken your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him.
Daniel 9:12 He has carried out his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done under all of the sky.
Daniel 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of Yahveh our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.
Daniel 9:14 So Yahveh kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for Yahveh our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.
Daniel 9:15 Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made your name renowned as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

we have sinned against you

What a prayer of repentance! Daniel acknowledges the sin of his nation along with the righteous judgment from God. He does not plead for God to reduce the suffering, because God is the judge who has brought it about as a just sentence.

LORD, nothing is happening that we do not deserve, because our sins are great, and you are fair in punishing us for them. Restore us for your name’s sake.