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. Among these were (E)Daniel, (F)Hananiah, (G)Mishael, and (H)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 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

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. (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.

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