Faithfulness in Babylon

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food(A) or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.(B) God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch,(C) 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[a] 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[b] than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.(D) 16 So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:10 Lit would make my head guilty
  2. 1:15 Lit fatter of flesh

Daniel's Faithfulness

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. (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.

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