³ Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.^(A)

The Seventy Weeks

²⁰ While I was speaking and was praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God,^{(A) 21} while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before in a vision, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.^{(B) 22} He came^[a] and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. ²³ At the beginning of your supplications a word went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved. So consider the word and understand the vision:^(C)

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last^(A)