Daniel Brought to Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of ^(A)Jehoiakim king of Judah, ^(B)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the ^(C)Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the ^(D)vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ^(E)Shinar, to the house of his ^[a]god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his ^[b](F)god.

³ Then the king said for Ashpenaz, the chief of his ^[c]officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal ^(G)seed and of the nobles, ⁴ youths in whom was ^(H)no defect, who were good in appearance, showing ^(I)insight in every branch of wisdom, being thoroughly ^[d]knowledgeable and discerning knowledge, and who had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and he said for him to teach them the ^[e]literature and ^(J)tongue of the ^(K)Chaldeans. ⁵ And the king appointed for them a daily ration from the ^(L)king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be ^[f]educated three years, at the end of which they were to ^(M)stand before the king. ⁶ Now among them from the sons of Judah were ^(N)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ Then the commander of the officials set names for them; and for Daniel he set the name ^(O)Belteshazzar, for Hananiah ^(P)Shadrach, for Mishael ^(Q)Meshach, and for Azariah ^(R)Abed-nego.

Daniel’s Heart

⁸ But Daniel set in his heart that he would not ^(S)defile himself with the ^(T)king’s choice food or with the ^(U)wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. ⁹ Now God granted Daniel ^(V)lovingkindness and compassion before the commander of the officials, ¹⁰ and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would ^[g]make me forfeit my head to the king.” ¹¹ But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be ^(W)given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance be ^[h]observed before you and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; 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 their appearance was ^(X)better and that ^[i]they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. ¹⁶ So the overseer continued to ^[j]withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^(Y)giving them vegetables.

¹⁷ And as for these four youths, ^(Z)God gave them knowledge and insight in every branch of ^[k]literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of ^(AA)visions and dreams.

¹⁸ Then at the end of the days which the king had spoken of for bringing them in, the commander of the officials brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^(AB)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they ^(AC)stood in service before the king. ²⁰ And as for every matter of ^(AD)wisdom in understanding which the king sought from them, he found them ^(AE)ten times ^(AF)better than all the ^[l](AG)magicians and conjurers who were in all his kingdom. ²¹ And Daniel ^[m]continued until the ^(AH)first year of Cyrus the king.