Once again this verse speaks of God in the third person, and this will have to be transposed into the second person in many languages for the sake of naturalness and clarity.

Therefore: the Hebrew has only the simple conjunction most often translated “and.” Good News Translation leaves it untranslated. However, several English versions see the need of a strong transition word here. An American Translation and Moffatt follow Revised Standard Version with “Therefore,” New Jerusalem Bible has “Hence,” while New American Bible and Revised English Bible have “So.”

Kept ready the calamity: the verb here is usually translated “watched” in the sense of keeping a vigil. The phrase appears to be quoted from Jer 1.12; 31.28; 44.27, where the LORD is said to “watch over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil” (Jer 31.28). New Jerusalem Bible retains the idea of “watching” as it renders “Yahweh has watched for the right moment to bring disaster on us.” New English Bible also focuses on this element with “the LORD has been biding his time and has now brought this calamity on us.”

Righteous: see the discussion of righteousness in verse 7.

Obeyed his voice: see verses 10 and 11.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .