Daniel 1

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah ^acame Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. ²And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with ^bpart of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried ^cinto the land of Shinar to the house of his god; ^dand he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

³And the king spake unto Ashpenaz ^ethe master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of ^fthe princes; ⁴children in whom was no ^gblemish, but well favoured, and ^hiskilful in all wisdom, and cunning in ⁱknowledge, and understanding ^ikscience, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and ^lwhom they might teach ^imthe learning and the tongue of ⁿthe Chaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed them ⁿⁿa daily provision of ^othe king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them ^pthree years, that at the end thereof they might ^qstand before the king. ⁶Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, ^rHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ⁷unto whom the prince of the eunuchs ^sgave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of ^tBelteshazzar; ^ttand to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-^unego.

⁸But Daniel ^vpurposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with ^othe portion of the king’s ^wxmeat, nor with ^wythe wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹Now God ^zahad brought Daniel into favour and ^atender love with the prince of the eunuchs. ¹⁰And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. ¹¹Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ^bten days; and let them give us ^cpulse to eat, and water to drink. ¹³Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of ^dthe portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. ¹⁴So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. ¹⁵And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and ^efatter in flesh than all the children which did eat ^dthe portion of the king’s meat. ¹⁶Thus Melzar took away ^dthe portion of their meat, and ^dthe wine that they should drink; and gave them ^cpulse.

¹⁷As for these four children, ^fGod gave them ^gknowledge and ^gskill in all ^glearning and ^gwisdom: and Daniel ^hhad understanding in all visions and ⁱdreams. ¹⁸Now at the end of ^kthe days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore ^lstood they before the king. ²⁰And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that ^mthe king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^nothe magicians and ^opastrologers that were in all his realm. ²¹And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

II.