¹⁸ ‘And ^(A)they shall take away some of your sons who will ^[a]descend from you, whom you will beget; ^(B)and they shall be ^(C)eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

³ Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring ^(A)some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,

⁴ young men ^(A)in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and ^(B)whom they might teach the language and ^[a]literature of the Chaldeans.