Daniel 1:1-4

Christian Standard Bible

Daniel’s Captivity in Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim^(A) of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar^[a](B) of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ² The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God.^(C) Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon,^[b](D) to the house of his god,^[c] and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

³ The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family^(E) and from the nobility— ⁴ young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,^(F) knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace.^(G) He was to teach them the Chaldean language^(H) and literature.