Daniel 9:18

King James Version

O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Listen closely, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion.

Hebrew Names Version
My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies' sake.

English Standard Version
O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

New American Standard Bible
"My God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our pleas before You based on any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion.

New Century Version
My God, pay attention and hear me. Open your eyes and see all the terrible things that have happened to us. See how our lives have been ruined and what has happened to the city that is called by your name. We do not ask these things because we are good; instead, we ask because of your mercy.

Amplified Bible
"O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion.

Geneva Bible (1587)
O my God, encline thine eare and heare: open thine eyes, and beholde our desolations, and the citie whereupon thy Name is called: for we doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne righteousnes, but for thy great tender mercies.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.

Berean Standard Bible
Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your abundant compassion.

Contemporary English Version
Please show mercy to your chosen city, not because we deserve it, but because of your great kindness.

Complete Jewish Bible
My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes and see how desolated we are, as well as the city which bears your name. For we plead with you not because of our own righteousness, but because of your compassion.

Darby Translation
Incline thine ear, O my God, and hear; open thine eyes and behold our desolations, and the city that is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee because of our righteousnesses, but because of thy manifold mercies.

Easy-to-Read Version
My God, listen to me! Open your eyes and see all the terrible things that have happened to us. See what has happened to the city that is called by your name. I am not saying we are good people. That is not why I am asking these things. I am asking these things because I know you are kind.

George Lamsa Translation
O my God, incline thine ear and hear; open thine eyes and behold our ruined and desolate places and the city which is called by thy name; for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies.

Good News Translation
Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right.

Lexham English Bible
Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called by your name, for we are not presenting our pleas for mercy before you because of our righteousness, but rather because of your great compassion.

Literal Translation
O my God, bow down Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our ruins and the city which is called by Your name. For we do not make our prayers fall before You on account of our righteousnesses, but because of Your great mercies.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
O my God, enclyne thine eare, and herken (at the leest for thine owne sake) open thine eyes: beholde how we be desolated, yee and the cite also, which is called after thy name: For we do not cast oure prayers before the in oure owne rightuousnesse, no: but only in thy greate mercies.

American Standard Version
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies' sake.

Bible in Basic English
O my God, let your ear be turned and give hearing; let your eyes be open and see how we have been made waste and the town which is named by your name: for we are not offering our prayers before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercies.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city upon which Thy name is called; for we do not present our supplications before Thee because of our righteousness, but because of Thy great compassions.

King James Version (1611)
O my God, encline thine eare and heare: open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, & the city, which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
O my God, encline thyne eare & hearken, open thyne eyes, beholde howe we be desolated, yea and the citie also which is called after thy name: for we do not present our prayers before thee in our owne righteousnes, but in thy great mercies.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Incline thine ear, O my God, and hear; open thine eyes and behold our desolation, and that of thy city on which thy name is called: for we do not bring our pitiful case before thee on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of thy manifold compassions, O Lord.

English Revised Version
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

World English Bible
My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies' sake.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
My God, for thi silf boowe doun thin eere, and here; opene thin iyen, and se oure desolacioun, and the citee, on which thi name is clepid to help. For not in oure iustifiyngis we setten forth mekeli preiers bifor thi face, but in thi many merciful doyngis.

Update Bible Version
O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and look at our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies' sake.

Webster's Bible Translation
O my God, incline thy ear, and hear; open thy eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

New English Translation
Listen attentively, my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins and the city called by your name. For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, but because your compassion is abundant.

New King James Version
O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.

New Living Translation
"O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.

New Life Bible
O my God, turn Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our trouble and the city that is called by Your name. We are not asking this of You because we are right or good, but because of Your great loving-pity.

New Revised Standard
Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Incline, O my God, thine ear, and hearken, open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city on which hath been called thy name; for, not on the ground of our own righteousnesses, are we causing our supplications to fall down before thee, but on the ground of thine abounding compassions.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear: open thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies.

Revised Standard Version
O my God, incline thy ear and hear; open thy eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name; for we do not present our supplications before thee on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of thy great mercy.

Young's Literal Translation
`Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that [are] many.

THE MESSAGE
"‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don't deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:

Contextual Overview

⁴ And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; ⁵ We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: ⁶ Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ O Lord , righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. ⁸ O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; ¹⁰ Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. ¹² And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. ¹³ As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

incline: 1 Kings 8:29, 2 Kings 19:16, Psalms 17:6, Psalms 17:7, Isaiah 37:17, Isaiah 63:15-19, Isaiah 64:12

behold: Exodus 3:7, Psalms 80:14-19

which is called by thy name: Heb. whereupon thy name is called, Jeremiah 7:10, Jeremiah 14:9, Jeremiah 15:16, Jeremiah 25:29, 1 Corinthians 1:2

for we: Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 14:7, Ezekiel 36:32

present: Heb. cause to fall, Jeremiah 36:7, Jeremiah 37:20, *marg.

Reciprocal: Exodus 32:32 - if thou Leviticus 26:32 - And I Leviticus 26:41 - and they Numbers 6:27 - put my Deuteronomy 9:28 - Because Deuteronomy 28:10 - called Nehemiah 1:6 - thine ear Nehemiah 9:19 - in thy Job 9:15 - I would Job 23:4 - fill my mouth Psalms 6:4 - for Psalms 17:1 - attend Psalms 31:16 - save Psalms 40:1 - inclined Psalms 51:1 - O God Psalms 62:12 - mercy Psalms 86:1 - Bow Psalms 103:10 - dealt Psalms 119:77 - thy tender Psalms 119:124 - Deal Jeremiah 31:9 - come Ezekiel 3:20 - righteousness Daniel 9:19 - for thy Joel 2:17 - Spare Amos 9:12 - which are called by my name Haggai 1:4 - and Zechariah 3:3 - General Zechariah 12:4 - I will open Matthew 6:7 - repetitions Matthew 15:27 - Truth Luke 7:42 - he Luke 18:13 - God Acts 4:29 - behold Romans 12:12 - continuing James 5:11 - the Lord is

Cross-References

Genesis 9:23
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

Genesis 9:25
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Genesis 9:27
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Genesis 10:1
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

Genesis 10:6
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

1 Chronicles 1:4
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

O my God, incline thine ear, and hear,.... The petitions now put up, for Christ's sake:

open thine eyes, and behold our desolations; the city and temple a heap of rubbish, and the whole land forsaken of its inhabitants, and lying waste and uncultivated, or, however, at most possessed by enemies; and things being thus, it seemed as if the Lord shut his eyes to them, and therefore is desired to open them, and look with pity and compassion on the case of his people, and deliver them out of all their troubles:

and the city which is called by thy name; or, "on which thy name is called" k; as Jerusalem was, being called the city of our God, the city of the great King, Psalms 48:1 and in which also his name was called upon, both by the inhabitants of it in their private houses, and by the priests and Levites, and others, in the temple, which stood in it:

for we do not present our supplications before thee; or, "cause them to fall before thee" l; expressing the humble and lowly manner in which they presented their petitions to God, and respecting the gesture they used in prayer, bowing themselves to the ground, and falling prostrate upon it; and as was the custom of the eastern people when they supplicated their princes: and this Daniel, in the name of his people, did; not, says he,

for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies; not pleading their good works and righteous actions, and the merits of them, which had none in them, and were no other than as filthy rags, and could not recommend them to God, or be used as a plea and argument to obtain any good thing from him; but throwing themselves upon the abundant grace and mercy of God in Christ, mercy they pleaded, and not merit; and made mention of the righteousness of Christ, and not their own; as all good men, who are truly sensible of themselves, and of the grace of God, will do.

k אשר נקרא שמך עליה "super quam invocatum est nomen tuum", Vatablus, Pagninus, Calvin; "super qua nomen tuum nuncupatum est", Cocceius. l מפילים "nos cadere facientes", Montanus; "nos cadere facimus", Gejerus, Michaelis.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

O my God, incline thine ear, and hear - Pleading earnestly for his attention and his favor, as one does to a man.

Open thine eyes - As if his eyes had been closed upon the condition of the city, and he did not see it. Of course, all this is figurative, and is the language of strong and earnest pleading when the heart is greatly interested.

And the city which is called by thy name - Margin, “whereupon thy name is called.” The margin expresses the sense more literally; but the meaning is, that the city had been consecrated to God, and was called his - the city of Jehovah. It was known as the place of his sanctuary - the city where his worship was celebrated, and which was regarded as his peculiar dwelling place on the earth. Compare Psalms 48:1-3; Psalms 87:3. This is a new ground of entreaty, that the city belonged to God, and that he would remember the close connection between the prosperity of that city and the glory of his own name.