And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
This verse comes from a prophecy given to Daniel, a Jewish man living in Babylon after Jerusalem was conquered and its people taken into exile around 605 BC. An angel named Gabriel appeared to Daniel and revealed a mysterious timeline called the 'seventy sevens' — understood by many scholars as 490 years of prophetic history leading to a final reckoning. This last verse of that prophecy describes what happens in the final 'seven' — a seven-year period — involving a powerful figure who makes a formal covenant with many people, then violates it halfway through by halting the temple sacrifices and setting up a horrifying act of desecration in the holiest place. The phrase 'abomination that causes desolation' refers to something blasphemous erected in the most sacred space imaginable. Jesus himself referenced this verse in Matthew 24 as a future warning sign, and many Bible scholars connect this figure to a coming world ruler who will oppose God.
God, I don't understand all of this — the timelines, the prophecies, the weight of what is still to come. But you decree endings. Whatever feels like desolation right now — in my life, in the world — remind me that you hold the limit, and you are not surprised by any of it. Amen.
Some parts of the Bible don't resolve into comfort. They sit in your hands like a stone — heavy, jagged, without a smooth surface to grip. Daniel 9:27 is one of those passages. It describes a figure who promises peace through a formal agreement, then shatters it midway — who ends worship, desecrates the sacred, and causes desolation. Betrayal scaled up to apocalyptic levels, written by a man who was already living in the rubble of one civilization's collapse. But near the end there is a phrase easy to miss: 'until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.' The desolation has a limit. The chaos has a boundary that has already been set. Even in the darkest corner of Daniel's prophecies, there is a judge who decides when enough is enough — and a predetermined ending that no amount of human destruction can push past. Daniel spent his life writing down visions he admitted he didn't fully understand, trusting that the God who decrees endings holds every middle too. If you are in a chapter right now that feels like pure disorder with no narrative arc in sight, that is not a small thing to hold.
What does it mean to you that even the most destructive events in this prophecy have a decreed end — how does that truth shape the way you think about suffering in history or in your own life?
Daniel recorded prophecies he admitted he didn't fully understand. Are you comfortable holding parts of your faith that remain confusing or unresolved? What makes that difficult for you?
This passage describes a figure who makes a covenant and then breaks it catastrophically. How does the experience of betrayal — personal or global — challenge or test your trust in God's goodness?
How does the existence of end-times prophecy affect the way you engage with your present life — does it create urgency, anxiety, hope, or something else entirely?
What is one area of your life right now that feels like desolation with no visible ending — and what would it mean today to trust that God has already decreed its limit?
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luke 21:20
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
Psalms 102:13
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luke 24:44
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Matthew 24:15
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Luke 21:24
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
Daniel 11:31
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Daniel 12:11
And he will enter into a binding and irrevocable covenant with the many for one week (seven years), but in the middle of the week he will stop the sacrifice and grain offering [for the remaining three and one-half years]; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until the complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who causes the horror."
AMP
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
ESV
'And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.'
NASB
He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
NIV
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
NKJV
The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”
NLT
" 'Then for one seven, he will forge many and strong alliances, but halfway through the seven he will banish worship and prayers. At the place of worship, a desecrating obscenity will be set up and remain until finally the desecrator himself is decisively destroyed.' "
MSG