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Daniel 9:17
ESV Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.
NIV "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
NASB So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for Your sake, Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
CSB Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine on your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake.
NLT 'O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.
KJV Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
NKJV Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.

What does Daniel 9:17 mean?

God warned His people that they would suffer terribly if they betrayed Him (Deuteronomy 28:15–24, 48–50; 29:25). Despite that advice, the people eventually turned away from God, and the threats became reality (2 Kings 17:1–8; 2 Chronicles 36:5–7; Jeremiah 25:7–11). At the same time, God promised that the terrible exile of Jewish people would not last forever (Jeremiah 29:10–14). This is what inspires Daniel to pray (Daniel 9:3–4), in response to the fall of Babylon and the words of the prophet Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1–2). He confesses the nation's sins (Daniel 9:5–14) and asks the Lord to make good on His promise of restoration (Daniel 9:15–16).

A servant is willing to accept his master's will, no matter what. To be sure, Daniel was willing to accept the Lord's answer, whether yes or no. He demonstrated this level of faith repeatedly during his many years in Babylon (Daniel 1:8; 6:10–13). Yet the servant may also ask the master for something. Daniel begs for mercy and includes his sincere belief that this answer to prayer would glorify God. Specifically, Daniel asked the Lord to shine upon His sanctuary: the temple in Jerusalem. Daniel longed for the restoration of the place where the people of Israel offered sacrifices and worshiped and where God met His people.

"Lifting up" one's face or causing it to shine meant to look with favor upon a person or object. For the Lord to withdraw His face would indicate His disfavor or punishment. The shining of the Lord's face on His people was one of the elements the Lord told Moses to direct Aaron and his sons to include in the blessing of the people (Numbers 6:22–26).
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