`O Lord, according to all Thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray Thee, Thine anger and Thy fury from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people <FI>are<Fi> for a reproach to all our neighbours;
Daniel 9:14 And Jehovah doth watch for the evil, and bringeth it upon us, for righteous <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah our God concerning all His works that He hath done, and we have not hearkened to His voice.
Daniel 9:15 And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought forth Thy people from the land of Egypt by a strong hand, and dost make for Thee a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Daniel 9:16 `O Lord, according to all Thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray Thee, Thine anger and Thy fury from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people <FI>are<Fi> for a reproach to all our neighbours;
Daniel 9:17 and now, hearken, O our God, unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, and cause Thy face to shine on Thy sanctuary that <FI>is<Fi> desolate, for the Lord's sake.
Daniel 9:18 `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 <FI>are<Fi> many.
The verse centers on "iniquities", "lord", "righteous", "acts", "turn", "back", "pray", and "thee". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "iniquities" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And now O Lord our God who..." into verse 17's "and now hearken O our God unto...", so "iniquities" and "lord" 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 "iniquities" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.