DAN 9:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Then I turned my face to the Lord God, to seek him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

UST After I read that, I pleaded to Yahweh my God to help us, praying and fasting. While doing that, I was wearing rough cloth and sitting in ashes to show that I was very sad about what had happened to us .

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(1-8)“Darius, son of Ahasuerus, born a Mede, became king over the land of Babylon. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was meditating on the Scriptures that gave, according to the Word of God to the prophet Jeremiah, the number of years that Jerusalem had to lie in ruins, namely, seventy. I turned to the Master God, asking for an answer—praying earnestly, fasting from meals, wearing rough penitential burlap, and kneeling in the ashes. I poured out my heart, baring my soul to God, my God:

NET So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

LSV and I set my face toward the Lord God, to seek [by] prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

FBV So I turned to the Lord God in prayer. I fasted and wore sackcloth and ashes, and I pleaded with him in prayer to act.[fn]

9:3 “To act”: implied.

T4T After I read that, I pleaded to Yahweh my God to help us, praying and ◄fasting/abstaining from eating food►. While doing that, I was wearing rough cloth and sitting in ashes to show that I was very sad about what was going to happen to us.

LEB Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and pleas for mercy,[fn] in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes.

9:3 Or “supplications”

BBE And turning my face to the Lord God, I gave myself up to prayer, requesting his grace, going without food, in haircloth and dust.

Moff So I sought the Lord God, applying myself to prayer and entreaty with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

JPS And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

ASV And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

DRA And I set my face to the Lord my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

YLT and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek [by] prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

Drby And I set my face unto the Lord [fn]God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;

9.3 Elohim

RV And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

SLT And I will give my face to Jehovah God to seek prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes:

Wbstr And I set my face to the Lord GOD, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

KJB-1769 ¶ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

KJB-1611 ¶ And I set my face vnto the LORD God to seeke by prayer, and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
(¶ And I set my face unto the LORD God to seek by prayer, and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.)

Bshps And I turned my face vnto the Lord God, and sought by prayer and supplication, with fasting, sackcloth, and asshes.
(And I turned my face unto the Lord God, and sought by prayer and supplication, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.)

Gnva And I turned my face vnto the Lord God, and sought by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
(And I turned my face unto the Lord God, and sought by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. )

Cvdl ad I turned me vnto God the LORDE, for to praye and make myne intercessio, with fastinge, sackcloth ad ashes
(and I turned me unto God the LORD, for to pray and make mine intercessio, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes)

Wycl And Y settide my face to my Lord God, to preie and to biseche in fastyngis, in sak, and aische.
(And I set my face to my Lord God, to pray and to beseech/implore in fastingis, in sak, and ash.)

Luth Und ich kehrete mich zu GOtt dem HErr’s, zu beten und zu flehen, mit Fasten, im Sack und in der Asche.
(And I returned me to/for God to_him LORD’s, to/for pray and to/for beg/implore, with fasting(n), in_the sack/bag and in the/of_the ash.)

ClVg Et posui faciem meam ad Dominum Deum meum rogare et deprecari in jejuniis, sacco, et cinere.
(And I_put face of_mine to the_Master God mine to_ask and to_beg in/into/on yeyuniis, bag, and ash. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 9:1–27: Daniel asked God to help Jerusalem and received a message from Gabriel concerning seventy weeks

The vision recorded in this chapter occurred during the first year of the reign of Darius (538 B.C.). Thirteen years had therefore passed since Daniel received the vision described in chapter 8. Daniel was now more than eighty years old.

Daniel had read in the book of Jeremiah that God’s people would remain in exile and serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11). During that time the city of Jerusalem would remain in ruins. However, God had promised to bring his people back to the land of Judah after the seventy years were over (Jeremiah 29:10). Now Daniel realized that the seventy-year period was almost at an end. He prayed for his people and for Jerusalem. In response, God sent the angel Gabriel to reveal what would happen in the future.

Paragraph 9:1–3

In this paragraph Daniel turned to God in prayer. Verses 1 and 2 give some historical and other background information that explains why Daniel wanted to pray to God at that time.

9:3a

So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition,

So I turned/gave my face/attention to the Lord God. I prayed and begged him earnestly/seriously.
So I began to pray to the Lord God with full sincerity. I begged/asked him for help.

So I turned my attention to the Lord God: The Hebrew clause that the BSB translates as I turned my attention to the Lord God is literally “I set my face to the Lord God.” This indicates that Daniel gave the Lord God his full attention. If he was doing other things, he left them and concentrated on praying to God. Use the expression that is natural in your language. For example:

So I began to pray earnestly to the Lord God

So I turned my attention to the Lord God (NET)

the Lord God: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as Lord means “master.” It is not the holy name of God that the BSB translates as LORD (9:2c).

to seek Him by prayer and petition: The phrase to seek Him by prayer and petition indicates that Daniel prayed to God, and in his prayer he asked God for help. The prayer and petition are not separate actions. Other ways to translate this include:

to seek Him by prayer and supplications (NASB)

to implore him by prayer and requests (NET)

and prayed and asked him for help (NCV)

to seek Him: The Hebrew verb that the BSB literally translates as to seek Him indicates that Daniel was looking or asking for God’s mercy and an answer to his prayer.

prayer and petition: The two nouns that the BSB translates as prayer and petition both refer to the action of asking God for help. In some languages it may be natural to follow the GW and translate them as verbs:

I prayed, pleaded… (GW)

9:3b

with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

I fasted, and I wore sackcloth and sprinkled myself with ashes.
I dressed in mourning clothes and refused to eat anything. I put cold ashes on my head to show my sorrow/repentance.

with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes: This verse part indicates what Daniel did while he prayed to God. He fasted and he wore sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on himself. These actions all indicated sorrow and repentance. In some languages it may be natural to translate one or more of the nouns with verbs. For example:

and fasted in sackcloth and ashes (GW)

I fasted. I wore sackcloth and put ashes on my head.

with fasting: The phrase with fasting indicates that Daniel chose not to eat in order to show his grief and sincere repentance. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate the meaning or purpose of this action. For example:

I refused to eat to show my sorrow

sackcloth: The phrase sackcloth indicates that Daniel wore clothing made from rough cloth as a sign of his sincere mourning and repentance. See Esther 4:1, Isaiah 58:5, and Matthew 11:21. Here is another way to translate this:

I also wore rough burlap (NLT)

and ashes: The phrase and ashes is short for “and in ashes.” This indicates that Daniel sat in ashes or put ashes on himself, probably on his head, to show his sorrow and sincerity. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 6:26 and Luke 10:13 and the examples above. The NLT says;

and sprinkled myself with ashes

General Comment on 9:3b-c

It is probable that Daniel put on sackcloth and ashes and began to fast before he began to pray. In some languages it may therefore be natural to reorder the action recorded in these verse parts. For example:

^3cI dressed myself in sackcloth and sat in ashes. I stopped eating ^3band began to pray and ask God for help.

General Comment on 9:3b

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate the purpose of the three actions. For example:

Then, to show my sorrow, I went without eating and dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes. (CEV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וָ⁠אֶתְּנָ֣⁠ה אֶת־פָּנַ֗⁠י אֶל־אֲדֹנָ⁠י֙ הָֽ⁠אֱלֹהִ֔ים

and,I,set DOM face_of,my to/towards my=master the=ʼElohīm

Here face represents Daniel’s attention. Alternate translation: “I focused my attention on the Lord God” or “I directed my thoughts toward the Lord God”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לְ⁠בַקֵּ֥שׁ

to,seek

Those who want to know Yahweh and please him are spoken of as if they are literally seeking to find Yahweh.

Note 3 topic: translate-symaction

בְּ⁠צ֖וֹם וְ⁠שַׂ֥ק וָ⁠אֵֽפֶר

with,fasting and,sackcloth and,ash[es]