Daniel Taken to Babylon

1 In the third year of ^(A)the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of ^(B)the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to ^(C)the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, ^(D)and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. ³ Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ^(E)his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family^[a] and of ^(F)the nobility, ⁴ youths without ^(G)blemish, of good appearance and ^(H)skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to ^(I)teach them the literature and language of the ^(J)Chaldeans. ⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of ^(K)the food that the king ate, and of ^(L)the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ^(M)three years, and at the end of that time they were to ^(N)stand before the king. ⁶ Among these were ^(O)Daniel, ^(P)Hananiah, ^(Q)Mishael, and ^(R)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷ And ^(S)the chief of the eunuchs ^(T)gave them names: ^(U)Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸ But Daniel ^(V)resolved that he would not ^(W)defile himself with ^(X)the king's food, or with ^(Y)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(Z)defile himself. ^9 (AA)And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰ and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” ¹¹ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Test your servants for ^(AB)ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^(AC)the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^(AD)the king's food. ^16 (AE)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(AF)vegetables.

¹⁷ As for these four youths, ^(AG)God gave them learning and ^(AH)skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^(AI)understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ At the end of ^(AJ)the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^(AK)they stood before the king. ²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^(AL)the magicians and ^(AM)enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹ And Daniel ^(AN)was there until the first year of ^(AO)King Cyrus.

Overcoming the World

5 ^(A)Everyone who believes that ^(B)Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and ^(C)everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ^2 (D)By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For ^(E)this is the love of God, that we ^(F)keep his commandments. And ^(G)his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For ^(H)everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—^(I)our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes ^(J)that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

⁶ This is he who came ^(K)by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And ^(L)the Spirit is the one who testifies, because ^(M)the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. ^9 (N)If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ^(O)that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God ^(P)has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ^(Q)has made him a liar, ^(R)because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us ^(S)eternal life, and ^(T)this life is in his Son. ^12 (U)Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

¹³ I write ^(V)these things to you who ^(W)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is ^(X)the confidence that we have toward him, that ^(Y)if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and ^(Z)God^[a] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. ^(AA)There is sin that leads to death; ^(AB)I do not say that one should pray for that. ^17 (AC)All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸ We know that ^(AD)everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ^(AE)he who was born of God ^(AF)protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and ^(AG)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and ^(AH)has given us understanding, so that we may know ^(AI)him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and ^(AJ)eternal life. ²¹ Little children, ^(AK)keep yourselves from idols.