1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who ruled over the kingdom of the Chaldeans,
2. in year one of his reign, I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of the years, concerning the word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah, the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would be completed in seventy years.
3. And I set my face to the Lord, my God, to ask and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
4. And I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I confessed, and I said, "I beg you, O Lord God, great and terrible, preserving the covenant and mercy for those who love you and keep your commandments.
5. We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we acted impiously and have withdrawn, and we have turned aside from your commandments as well as your judgments.