³ he is to abstain from wine and beer.^(A) He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, during the period of his consecration.

¹³ He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring,^[a](A) and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and fresh oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.

¹⁴ I^[a] will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,^(A) and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil.^(B)

⁴ Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer,^(A) or to eat anything unclean;^(B)

²¹ No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.^(A)

³ The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family^(A) and from the nobility— ⁴ young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,^(B) knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace.^(C) He was to teach them the Chaldean language^(D) and literature. ⁵ The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank.^(E) They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.^{[a](F) 6} Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel,^(G) Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.^(H)

Faithfulness in Babylon

⁸ Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food^(I) or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.^{(J) 9} God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch,^{(K) 10} yet he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and drink. What if he sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men your age? You would endanger my life^[b] with the king.”

¹¹ So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” ¹⁴ He agreed with them about this and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier^[c] than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.^{(L) 16} So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

³ I didn’t eat any rich food,^(A) no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over.