1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim^a king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar^b king of Babylon^c came to Jerusalem and besieged it.^d ²And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried^e off to the temple of his god in Babylonia^a and put in the treasure house of his god.^f

³Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility^g—⁴young men without any physical defect, handsome,^h showing aptitude for every kind of learning,ⁱ well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language^j and literature of the Babylonians.^b ⁵The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine^k from the king’s table.^l They were to be trained for three years,^m and after that they were to enter the king’s service.ⁿ

⁶Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel,^o Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.^p ⁷The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar;^q to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.^r

⁸But Daniel resolved not to defile^s himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. ⁹Now God had caused the official to show favor^t and compassion^u to Daniel, ¹⁰but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^c food and drink.^v Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

¹¹Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹²“Please test^w your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”^x ¹⁴So he agreed to this and tested^y them for ten days.

¹⁵At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.^z ¹⁶So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.^a

¹⁷To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding^b of all kinds of literature and learning.^c And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.^d

¹⁸At the end of the time^e set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.^f ²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians^g and enchanters in his whole kingdom.^h

²¹And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.ⁱ

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Footnotes

aHebrew Shinar
bOr Chaldeans
cThe Hebrew for your and you in this verse is plural.

Cross references

aSee Jer 46:2
bSee 2 Ki 24:1; See Jer 28:14
c Jer 50:1
d 2 Ki 24:1; See 2 Ch 36:6; Jer 35:11
eSee 2 Ki 24:13
fSee 2 Ch 36:7; Jer 27:19–20; Zec 5:5–11
gSee 2 Ki 20:18; See 24:15; Isa 39:7
hSee Ge 39:6
iver 17
jSee Ezr 4:7
kver 8, 10
lSee Est 2:9
mver 18
nver 19; See Est 2:5–6
oSee Eze 14:14
p Da 2:17, 25
q Da 2:26; 4:8; 5:12; 10:1
rSee Isa 39:7; Da 2:49; 3:12
sSee Eze 4:13–14
tSee Ge 39:21; See Pr 16:7
uSee 1 Ki 8:50
vver 5
w Rev 2:10
xver 16
y Rev 2:10
z Ex 23:25
aver 12–13
bSee Job 12:13
c Da 2:23; Col 1:9; Jas 1:5
d Da 2:19, 30; 5:11; 7:1; 8:1
ever 5
fSee Ge 41:46
gSee Ge 41:8
hSee 1 Ki 4:30; Est 2:15; See Eze 28:3; Da 2:13, 28; 4:18; 6:3
iSee 2 Ch 36:22; Da 6:28; 10:1