Daniel 1:5-16

English Standard Version

⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of ^(A)the food that the king ate, and of ^(B)the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ^(C)three years, and at the end of that time they were to ^(D)stand before the king. ⁶ Among these were ^(E)Daniel, ^(F)Hananiah, ^(G)Mishael, and ^(H)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷ And ^(I)the chief of the eunuchs ^(J)gave them names: ^(K)Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸ But Daniel ^(L)resolved that he would not ^(M)defile himself with ^(N)the king's food, or with ^(O)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(P)defile himself. ^9 (Q)And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰ and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” ¹¹ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Test your servants for ^(R)ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^(S)the king's food be observed by you, 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 they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^(T)the king's food. ^16 (U)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(V)vegetables.