1In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim^a of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar^A^b of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ²The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God.^c Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon,^B^d to the house of his god,^C and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

³The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family^e and from the nobility—⁴young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,^f knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace.^g He was to teach them the Chaldean language^h and literature. ⁵The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank.ⁱ They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.^D^j ⁶Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel,^k Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.^l

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Footnotes

AOr Nebuchadrezzar
B Shinar
COr gods
D to stand before the king

Cross references

a 2Kg 24:1–2; 2Ch 36:5–6
b Jr 25:1; 52:12,28–30
c 2Kg 24:13; 2Ch 36:7–10; Ezr 5:14; Jr 27:19–22; Dn 5:2
d Gn 10:10; 11:2; Is 11:11; Zch 5:11
e 2Kg 20:18; 24:15; Is 39:7; Dn 1:9
f Dn 9:22
g Is 39:7
h Jr 5:15
i 2Kg 25:30; Dn 11:26
j Gn 41:46; 1Sm 16:22
k Ezk 14:14,20; 28:3
l 2Kg 23:34; 24:17; Dn 4:8,19; 5:12; 10:1