Daniel’s Development in the King’s Court

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim the king of Judah into his hand and ⌊some of⌋a of the utensils of the temple of God,b and he brought them to the land of Shinar to the temple of his gods, and he brought the utensils to ⌊the treasury⌋c of his gods.

3 And the king ⌊ordered⌋d Ashpenaz, the commander of his court officials, to bring ⌊some of the Israelites⌋e from ⌊the royal family⌋f and from the lords,g 4 youths who ⌊have no physical defect⌋,h and who are ⌊handsome⌋,i and who are prudentj in all wisdom and ⌊endowed with knowledge⌋,k and who understand insight, and who have the ⌊ability⌋l in them to serve in the palace of the king. And the king ordered him to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. 5 And the king assigned to them ⌊his daily portion⌋m from the fine food of the king, and from ⌊the wine that he drank⌋,n and instructed that ⌊they were to be educated for three years⌋.o And at the end of their training, ⌊they were to be stationed⌋p ⌊before⌋q the king. 6 Now there was among them ⌊from the Judeans⌋,r Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 And the commander of the court officials gave them names, and he called Daniel, Belteshazzar; and Hananiah, Shadrach; and Mishael, Meshach; and Azariah, Abednego.