Daniel 1:1-2:23

New American Standard Bible

The Choice Young Men

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. ²And the ^(C)Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, 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.

³Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his ^[c]officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the ^[d]royal ^(G)family and of the nobles, ⁴youths in whom there was ^(H)no impairment, who were good-looking, suitable for ^(I)instruction in every kind of expertise, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability to ^[e]serve in the king’s ^[f]court; and he ordered Ashpenaz to teach them the ^[g]literature and ^(J)language of the ^(K)Chaldeans. ⁵The king also allotted for them a daily ration from the ^(L)king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and ordered that they be educated for three years, at the end of which they were to ^[h]^(M)enter the king’s personal service. ⁶Now among them from the sons of Judah were ^(N)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name ^(O)Belteshazzar, to Hananiah ^(P)Shadrach, to Mishael ^(Q)Meshach, and to Azariah ^(R)Abed-nego.

Daniel’s Resolve

⁸But Daniel ^[i]made up his mind 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. ⁹Now God granted Daniel ^(V)favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. ¹⁰The commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has allotted your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking gaunt in comparison to the youths who are your own age? Then you would ^[j]make me forfeit my head to the king.” ¹¹But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“Please put your servants to the test for ten days, and let us be ^(W)given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then let our appearance be ^[k]examined in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴So he listened to them in this matter, and put them to the test for ten days. ¹⁵And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed ^(X)better, and ^[l]they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. ¹⁶So the overseer continued to ^[m]withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^(Y)giving them vegetables.

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

¹⁸Then at the end of the days which the king had ^[o]specified ^[p]for presenting them, the commander of the officials ^[q]presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^(AB)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they ^[r]^(AC)entered the king’s personal service. ²⁰As for every matter of ^(AD)expertise ^[s]and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ^(AE)ten times ^(AF)better than all the ^(AG)soothsayer priests and conjurers who were in all his realm. ²¹And Daniel ^[t]continued until the ^(AH)first year of Cyrus the king.

The King’s Dream

2 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ^[u]^(AI)had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his ^(AJ)sleep ^[v]left him. ²Then the king ^[w]gave orders to call in the ^(AK)soothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ^[x]Chaldeans, to ^[y]tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. ³The king said to them, “I ^[z]^(AL)had a dream, and my spirit ^[aa]is anxious to ^[ab]understand the dream.”

⁴Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^[ac]^(AM)Aramaic: “^(AN)O king, live forever! ^(AO)Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁵The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command ^[ad]from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^[ae]^(AP)torn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into a rubbish heap. ⁶But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^(AQ)gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷They answered a second time and said, “Let the king ^(AR)tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁸The king replied, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command ^[af]from me is firm, ⁹that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^(AS)one ^[ag]decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ^[ah]words before me until the ^[ai]situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, so that I may ^(AT)know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” ¹⁰The Chaldeans answered ^[aj]the king and said, “There is no person on earth who could declare the matter ^[ak]to the king, because no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^(AU)soothsayer priest, sorcerer, or Chaldean. ¹¹Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^[al]to the king except ^(AV)gods, whose ^(AW)dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

¹²Because of this, the king became ^(AX)angry and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³So the ^[am]decree was issued that the wise men be killed; and they looked for ^(AY)Daniel and his friends, to ^[an]kill them.

¹⁴Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^(AZ)Arioch, the captain of the king’s ^[ao]bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; ¹⁵he said to Arioch, the king’s officer, “For what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch informed Daniel of the matter. ¹⁶So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him a grace period, so that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, ^(BA)Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, ¹⁸so that they might ^(BB)request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^(BC)killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

¹⁹Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night ^(BD)vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; ²⁰Daniel said,

“May the name of God be ^(BE)blessed forever and ever,
For ^(BF)wisdom and power belong to Him.
²¹It is He who ^(BG)changes the times and the periods;
He ^(BH)removes kings and appoints kings;
He gives ^(BI)wisdom to wise men,
And knowledge to ^[ap]people of understanding.
²²It is He who ^(BJ)reveals the profound and hidden things;
^(BK)He knows what is in the darkness,
And the ^(BL)light dwells with Him.
²³To You, ^(BM)God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me ^(BN)wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we ^(BO)requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Footnotes

Daniel 1:2 Or gods
Daniel 1:2 Or gods
Daniel 1:3 Or eunuchs, and so throughout the ch
Daniel 1:3 Lit seed of the monarchy
Daniel 1:4 Lit stand
Daniel 1:4 Lit palace
Daniel 1:4 Or writing
Daniel 1:5 Lit stand before the king
Daniel 1:8 Lit set upon his heart
Daniel 1:10 Lit make my head guilty
Daniel 1:13 Lit seen
Daniel 1:15 Lit fat of flesh
Daniel 1:16 Lit take away
Daniel 1:17 Or writing
Daniel 1:18 Lit said
Daniel 1:18 Lit to bring them in
Daniel 1:18 Lit brought them in
Daniel 1:19 Lit stood before the king
Daniel 1:20 Lit of
Daniel 1:21 Lit was until
Daniel 2:1 Lit dreamed dreams
Daniel 2:1 Lit was gone upon him
Daniel 2:2 Lit said to call
Daniel 2:2 Probably master astrologers, diviners, etc., and so throughout the ch
Daniel 2:2 Lit explain to
Daniel 2:3 Lit dreamed
Daniel 2:3 Lit was troubled
Daniel 2:3 Lit know
Daniel 2:4 The text is in Aramaic from here through 7:28
Daniel 2:5 Another reading is is issued by me
Daniel 2:5 Lit turned into limbs
Daniel 2:8 See note 1 v 5
Daniel 2:9 Or verdict
Daniel 2:9 Lit word
Daniel 2:9 Lit time
Daniel 2:10 Lit before the
Daniel 2:10 Lit of
Daniel 2:11 Lit before
Daniel 2:13 Or law
Daniel 2:13 Lit be killed
Daniel 2:14 Or executioners
Daniel 2:21 Lit knowers of

1 Peter 3:8-4:6

New American Standard Bible

⁸^[a]To sum up, ^(A)all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, ^[b]^(B)loving, ^(C)compassionate, and ^(D)humble; ⁹^(E)not returning evil for evil or ^(F)insult for insult, but giving a ^(G)blessing instead; for ^(H)you were called for the very purpose that you would ^(I)inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For,

“^(J)The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
¹¹^(K)He must turn away from evil and do good;
He must seek peace and pursue it.
¹²^(L)For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears attend to their prayer,
But the face of the Lord is against evildoers.”

¹³^(M)And who is ^[c]there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should ^(N)suffer for the sake of righteousness, ^(O)you ^[d]are blessed. ^(P)And do not fear their ^[e]intimidation, and do not be in dread, ¹⁵but ^[f]sanctify ^(Q)Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready ^(R)to make a ^[g]defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the ^(S)hope that is in you, but ^(T)with gentleness and ^(U)respect; ¹⁶^[h]and keep a ^(V)good conscience so that in the thing in which ^(W)you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. ¹⁷For ^(X)it is better, ^(Y)if ^[i]God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. ¹⁸For ^(Z)Christ also ^[j]suffered for sins ^(AA)once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might ^(AB)bring us to God, having been put to death ^(AC)in the flesh, but made alive ^(AD)in the ^[k]spirit; ¹⁹in ^[l]which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who once were disobedient when the ^(AE)patience of God ^(AF)kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of ^(AG)the ark, in which a few, that is, ^(AH)eight ^(AI)persons, were brought safely through the water. ²¹^(AJ)Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—^(AK)not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God ^[m]for a ^(AL)good conscience—through ^(AM)the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²^(AN)who is at the right hand of God, ^(AO)having gone into heaven, ^(AP)after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Keep Fervent in Your Love

4 Therefore, since ^(AQ)Christ has ^[n]suffered in the flesh, ^(AR)arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because ^(AS)the one who has ^[o]suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ²^(AT)so as to live ^(AU)the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human lusts, but for the ^(AV)will of God. ³For ^(AW)the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, ^[p]^(AX)having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries. ⁴In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same excesses of ^(AY)^[q]debauchery, and they ^(AZ)slander you; ⁵but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge ^(BA)the living and the dead. ⁶For ^(BB)the gospel has for this purpose been ^[r]preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as people, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

Footnotes

1 Peter 3:8 Or Finally
1 Peter 3:8 I.e., as brothers and sisters
1 Peter 3:13 Lit the one who will harm you
1 Peter 3:14 Or would be
1 Peter 3:14 Lit fear
1 Peter 3:15 I.e., set apart
1 Peter 3:15 Or argument; or explanation
1 Peter 3:16 Lit having a good
1 Peter 3:17 Lit the will of God
1 Peter 3:18 One early ms died
1 Peter 3:18 Or Spirit
1 Peter 3:19 Or whom
1 Peter 3:21 Or from
1 Peter 4:1 I.e., suffered death
1 Peter 4:1 I.e., suffered death
1 Peter 4:3 Lit having gone in
1 Peter 4:4 Or reckless abandon
1 Peter 4:6 I.e., preached in their lifetimes

Psalm 119:65-80

New American Standard Bible

Teth

⁶⁵You have treated Your servant well,
Lord, according to Your word.
⁶⁶Teach me good ^[a]^(A)discernment and knowledge,
For I believe in Your commandments.
⁶⁷^(B)Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
⁶⁸You are ^(C)good and You ^(D)do good;
^(E)Teach me Your statutes.
⁶⁹The arrogant ^[b]have ^(F)forged a lie against me;
With all my heart I will ^(G)comply with Your precepts.
⁷⁰Their heart is ^(H)insensitive, like fat,
But I ^(I)delight in Your Law.
⁷¹It is ^(J)good for me that I was afflicted,
So that I may learn Your statutes.
⁷²The ^(K)Law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Yodh

⁷³^(L)Your hands made me and ^[c]fashioned me;
^(M)Give me understanding, so that I may learn Your commandments.
⁷⁴May those who ^[d]fear You ^(N)see me and be glad,
Because I ^[e]^(O)wait for Your word.
⁷⁵I know, Lord, that Your judgments are ^(P)righteous,
And that You have afflicted me ^(Q)in faithfulness.
⁷⁶May Your favor ^[f]comfort me,
According to Your ^[g]word to Your servant.
⁷⁷May ^(R)Your compassion come to me so that I may live,
For Your Law is my ^(S)delight.
⁷⁸May ^(T)the arrogant be put to shame, because they lead me astray ^(U)with a lie;
But I shall ^(V)meditate on Your precepts.
⁷⁹May those who ^[h]fear You turn to me,
And those who know Your testimonies.
⁸⁰May my heart be ^[i]^(W)blameless in Your statutes,
So that I will not ^(X)be ashamed.