Daniel 1:5-14

English Standard Version

⁵The 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. ⁶Among these were ^(E)Daniel, ^(F)Hananiah, ^(G)Mishael, and ^(H)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷And ^(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

⁸But 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. ⁹^(Q)And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰and 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.” ¹¹Then 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. ¹³Then 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.” ¹⁴So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.