The Descendants of King David

King David ruled from Hebron for seven years and six months, and during that time he had six sons, who were born in the following order: Amnon, Daniel, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream. Ahinoam from Jezreel was the mother of Amnon; Abigail from Carmel was the mother of Daniel; Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur was the mother of Absalom; Haggith was the mother of Adonijah; Abital was the mother of Shephatiah; and Eglah was the mother of Ithream. David then ruled from Jerusalem for 33 years,

Gershom of the Phinehas family; Daniel of the Ithamar family; Hattush son of Shecaniah of the David family; Zechariah and 150 other men of the Parosh family, who had family records; Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah with 200 men of the Pahath Moab family; Shecaniah son of Jahaziel with 300 men of the Zattu family; Ebed son of Jonathan with 50 men of the Adin family; Jeshaiah son of Athaliah with 70 men of the Elam family; Zebadiah son of Michael with 80 men of the Shephatiah family; Obadiah son of Jehiel with 218 men of the Joab family; Shelomith son of Josiphiah with 160 men of the Bani family; Zechariah son of Bebai with 28 men of the Bebai family; Johanan son of Hakkatan with 110 men of the Azgad family; Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah who returned sometime later with 60 men of the Adonikam family; Uthai and Zaccur with 70 men of the Bigvai family.

Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.

Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves.

Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the Lord, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared.

You think you're wiser than Daniel and know everything.

Daniel and His Friends

In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem.

Four of the young Jews chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all from the tribe of Judah.

But the king's chief official gave them Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.

Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace.

God had made the official friendly and kind to Daniel.

The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard,

The guard agreed to do what Daniel had asked.

Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace.

God made the four young men smart and wise. They read a lot of books and became well educated. Daniel could also tell the meaning of dreams and visions.

The king interviewed them and discovered that none of the others were as outstanding as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were given positions in the royal court.

Daniel served there until the first year of King Cyrus.

This made the king so angry that he gave orders for every wise man in Babylonia to be put to death, including Daniel and his three friends.

God Tells Nebuchadnezzar's Dream to Daniel

Arioch was the king's official in charge of putting the wise men to death. He was on his way to have it done, when Daniel very wisely went to him

Daniel rushed off and said to the king, “If you will just give me some time, I'll explain your dream.”

Daniel returned home and told his three friends.

In a vision one night, Daniel was shown the dream and its meaning. Then he praised the God who rules from heaven:

Daniel Interprets the Dream

Daniel went back to Arioch, the official in charge of executing the wise men. Daniel said, “Don't kill those men! Take me to the king, and I will explain the meaning of his dream.”

Arioch rushed Daniel to the king and announced, “Your Majesty, I have found out that one of the men brought here from Judah can explain your dream.”

The king asked Daniel, “Can you tell me my dream and what it means?”