Translation
After the 62 sets of seven,
the Messiah will be
cut off, and no [benefit] to him,
Go to footnote numberand the people of a prince that is to come
Go to footnote numberwill destroy the city and the sanctuary,
Go to footnote numberand the end shall come with a flood, (also, to the end of the war,
Go to footnote numberdesolations are decreed).
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
After the almost full set of relevant activities has passed, the Messiah will be killed, and will appear to accomplish nothing,
then the followers
of another leader that is to come will destroy the city of Jerusalem and the temple, (and devastation has been decreed until the end of that war), but the end itself shall come with the force and unexpected suddenness of a flood.
Footnotes
1
The Hebrew says, “but not,” or “and nothing.” Translators have struggled to interpret this; some choose to say “and will have nothing,” others prefer “and will appear to accomplish nothing,” others “and will be no more,” while others choose “but not for himself.” I prefer the idea of “and will appear to have accomplished nothing” because it seems to fit better with the rest of what is being communicated. But we cannot say conclusively because some assumptions must be made.
2
“A prince that is to come” refers to a different prince, an evil ruler.
3
“Sanctuary” means the temple. Since it is clear that this refers to events after the death of the Messiah, and since the description of the destruction of the temple is clear, it must refer to AD 70 when the Romans, under Titus, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.
4
The war being referred to here is likely the resistance of the Jews to the Romans.
5
This last clause is either a parenthetical clause or it should go earlier in the sentence, as demonstrated in the paraphrase column. Throughout that war things will be very difficult but then things will escalate to an abrupt termination.