Daniel 1:8-16

English Standard Version

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸ But Daniel ^(A)resolved that he would not ^(B)defile himself with ^(C)the king's food, or with ^(D)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(E)defile himself. ^9 (F)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 ^(G)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 ^(H)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 ^(I)the king's food. ^16 (J)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(K)vegetables.