Daniel 1:8–21

Daniel’s Resolve

⁸But Daniel ¹made up his mind that he would not ^adefile himself with the ^bking’s choice food or with the ^cwine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

⁹Now God granted Daniel ^1afavor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,

¹⁰and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would ¹make me forfeit my head to the king.”

¹¹But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,

¹²“Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be ^agiven some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

¹³“Then let our appearance be ¹observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.

¹⁵At the end of ten days their appearance seemed ^abetter and ¹they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food.

¹⁶So the overseer continued to ¹withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^agiving them vegetables.

¹⁷As for these four youths, ^aGod gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of ¹literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of ^bvisions and dreams.

¹⁸Then at the end of the days which the king had ¹specified ²for presenting them, the commander of the officials ³presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁹The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^aDaniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they ^1bentered the king’s personal service.

²⁰As for every matter of ^awisdom ¹and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ^bten times ^cbetter than all the ^2dmagicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

²¹And Daniel ¹continued until the ^afirst year of Cyrus the king.