Daniel 1

Daniel’s Captivity in Babylon

1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim ^aking of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar ^bcking of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ²The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. ^dNebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, ^efto the house of his god, ^gand put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

³The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, ^hto bring some of the Israelites from the royal family ⁱand from the nobility— ⁴young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, ^jknowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace ^k—and to teach them the Chaldean language ^land literature. ⁵The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. ^mThey were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court. ^no6Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel, ^pHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah. ^q

Faithfulness in Babylon

⁸Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food ^ror with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself. ^s9God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official, ^t10yet he said to Daniel, “My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I’m afraid of what would happen if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my life ^uwith the king.”

¹¹So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then 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.” ¹⁴He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. ¹⁵At the end of 10 days they looked better and healthier ^vthan all the young men who were eating the king’s food. ^w16So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

Faithfulness Rewarded

¹⁷God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding ^xin every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams ^yof every kind. ¹⁸At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ^zSo they began to serve in the king’s court. ²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them 10 times ^abbetter than all the diviner-priests and mediums ^cin his entire kingdom. ²¹Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. ^d