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.
Daniel 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousnes, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy wrath be turned away from thy citie Ierusalem thine holy Mountaine: for because of our sinnes, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Ierusalem and thy people are a reproche to all that are about vs.
Daniel 9:17 Nowe therefore, O our God, heare the prayer of thy serunant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine vpon thy Sanctuarie, that lyeth waste for the Lords sake.
Daniel 9:18 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.
Daniel 9:19 O Lord, heare, O Lord forgiue, O Lord consider, and doe it: deferre not, for thine owne sake, O my God: for thy Name is called vpon thy citie, and vpon thy people.
Daniel 9:20 And whiles I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sinne, and the sinne of my people Israel, and did present my supplication before the Lord my God, for the holy Mountaine of my God,
The verse centers on "called", "encline", "thine", "eare", "heare", "open", "eyes", and "beholde". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "encline", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Nowe therefore O our God heare the..." into verse 19's "O Lord heare O Lord forgiue O...", so "called" and "encline" belong inside that flow. In Daniel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "called" and "encline" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.