Daniel 9 in Hebrew - "Seventy Weeks of Daniel" (6-Page PDF DOWNLOAD)

The chapter of Daniel 9 includes one of the most important and dramatic prophecies in the Bible. This prophecy foresees the exact time of the coming of the Messiah as well as what will happen to Him. Starting with a short background and the timing in which this prophecy is given to Daniel (verses 1-2), the chapter goes on to Daniel's confession of sin and his plea for mercy for the nation of Israel and the Jewish People (verses 3-19). The angel Gabriel then appears to Daniel, corrects Daniel's assumption of when the Messianic Kingdom would be set up, and present's him with God's revelation of a timetable for the actual coming of the Messiah (verses 20-23).

Below is a breakdown of the last few verses which holds the actual prophecy:

Verse 24:
Daniel receives the prophecy known as "The Seventy Weeks of Daniel", although the real meaning here is Seventy Sevens of YEARS and not "weeks". Therefore, this means 70x7=490 years are decreed over the Jewish people and over the holy city of Jerusalem for the accomplishment of the final restoration of Israel and the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom. By the end of this period five purposes will be completed:

All transgressions and sin will end.
Atonement for inequity will be made.
There will be everlasting righteousness (Messianic Kingdom).
All oral (vision) and written prophecy will come to fulfillment. The most holy place will be anointed (the Jewish Temple as described in Ezekiel 40-48).

Verse 25:
A decree to rebuild Jerusalem will be the starting point of this 490-year period. Therefore,  by the year 444-445 BC (see Nehemiah 2:1-8), the countdown of the 490 years had begun. Furthermore, this period of 490 years will be divided into three parts:

Part 1 - 49 years - Jerusalem will be rebuilt. This was done by Nehemiah according to a decree given to him in 444-445 BC by the Persian King Artaxerxes.

Part 2 - 62x7=434 years - By the end of this period, the Messiah will come to earth.
In other words, the Messiah will have to come to earth and die BY 32-33 AD! 

Verse 26:
The third part of the 490 years, will be a period of 7 more years. According to the prophecy, this period will only come AFTER the following things will happen:

The Messiah will be cut off (will be killed by execution!) and will have nothing in it for Himself, meaning he will die for the sake of others.
(Yeshua-Jesus was crucified in 32-33 AD)
Sometime after the Messiah was cut off, Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed once again (The Romans fulfilled this in 70 AD!)
The land would be filled with war, and will result in desolation.

Verse 27:
The prophecy concludes with details for the last 7-year period. These 7 years are YET to come in the FUTURE:

This period will begin with the signing of a seven-year covenant (or treaty) between Israel and a major gentile political leader.
In the middle of that period (after 3 1/2 years), this gentile leader will break his treaty with Israel and put an end to the sacrificial system (By this time a temple in Jerusalem have been rebuilt again and the sacrificial system of Moses will be re-instituted, but then will be forcefully ceased).
Because of the breaking of this covenant, the temple will be abominated. In the final 3 1/2 years, there will be wrath and desolation, persecution and warfare on earth.

At the end of this period the age of righteousness will be brought in. The most holy place will be anointed and every vision and prophecy be fulfilled. At this point the messianic kingdom for which the prophet Daniel yearned will finally be set up. Obviously, the messianic kingdom requires the Messiah to rule as king, which means the Messiah will come AGAIN at the end of this period. The Messiah will be killed after his FIRST coming. Yet, he would be alive at his SECOND coming. So this implies that the Messiah would be resurrected from the dead after he was killed.

In Conclusion:
The Messiah was to come to earth 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Fulfilled by Yeshua-Jesus of Nazareth). Keep in mind that a year in biblical times was 360 days (not 365).
After his appearance on earth he was to be killed, not for his own sins, but rather for those of others; and the death he would die was to be the death of the penalty of the law (Fulfilled in 32-33 AD, by Yeshua-Jesus who was executed by crucifixion).
The death of the Messiah had to come sometime before Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed again, which occurred in 70 AD.
Some time after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and after a long period of warfare, the last period of 7 years will start, and once that has run its course, Messiah’s kingdom and the age of righteousness will be established. For that to happen, the implication is that the Messiah who was killed would return again.

So, if Daniel was right, then Messiah came and died BEFORE 70 AD!

If Daniel was right, then the Messiah MUST be Yeshua-Jesus of Nazareth!

If Daniel was right, Yeshua WILL return to set up the Messianic Kingdom!

For more, see this article by One for Israel on Daniel 9