Daniel and His Friends Obey God^(A)

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

³ Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring ^(F)some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, ⁴ young men ^(G)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 ^(H)whom they might teach the language and ^[b]literature of the Chaldeans.

^7 (A)To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: ^(B)he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

¹⁷ As for these four young men, ^(A)God gave them ^(B)knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had ^(C)understanding in all visions and dreams.

¹⁸ Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ Then the king ^[a]interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore ^(D)they served before the king. ^20 (E)And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.