Daniel Is Taken to Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, along with some of the vessels of the House of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar,^[a] into the house of his god. He brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.

³ The king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials,^[b] to bring some young Israelite men from the royal family or from the nobility. ⁴ He was to choose young men who had no blemish, who were good looking, who had insight into all kinds of wisdom, who possessed knowledge, understanding, and learning, and who were capable of serving in the king’s palace, in order to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.^{[c] 5} The king assigned them daily rations from the special royal food and from the king’s own wine. He ordered that they should be trained for three years. At the end of training they were to serve the king.