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.