² This was after ^(A)King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.

^24 (A)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^(B)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off ²⁵ and ^(C)give you ^(D)into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ^26 (E)I will hurl you and ^(F)the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. ²⁷ But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, ^(A)when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—

^9 (A)Jehoiachin was eighteen^[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁰ In ^(B)the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, ^(C)with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother ^(D)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

^12 (A)and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^(B)The king of Babylon took him prisoner ^(C)in the eighth year of his reign ¹³ and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^(D)and the treasures of the king's house, ^(E)and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^(F)which Solomon king of Israel had made, ^(G)as the Lord had foretold. ^14 (H)He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^(I)10,000 captives, ^(J)and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^(K)except the poorest people of the land. ^15 (L)And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^(M)7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war.

³ Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ^(A)his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family^[a] and of ^(B)the nobility, ⁴ youths without ^(C)blemish, of good appearance and ^(D)skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to ^(E)teach them the literature and language of the ^(F)Chaldeans. ⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of ^(G)the food that the king ate, and of ^(H)the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ^(I)three years, and at the end of that time they were to ^(J)stand before the king. ⁶ Among these were ^(K)Daniel, ^(L)Hananiah, ^(M)Mishael, and ^(N)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷ And ^(O)the chief of the eunuchs ^(P)gave them names: ^(Q)Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸ But Daniel ^(R)resolved that he would not ^(S)defile himself with ^(T)the king's food, or with ^(U)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(V)defile himself. ^9 (W)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 ^(X)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 ^(Y)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 ^(Z)the king's food. ^16 (AA)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(AB)vegetables.

¹⁷ As for these four youths, ^(AC)God gave them learning and ^(AD)skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^(AE)understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ At the end of ^(AF)the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^(AG)they stood before the king. ²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^(AH)the magicians and ^(AI)enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹ And Daniel ^(AJ)was there until the first year of ^(AK)King Cyrus.

⁴ I will also bring back to this place ^(A)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, ^(B)for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord.

^18 (A)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, ^(B)and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”