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

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Footnotes

aHebrew Shinar
bOr Chaldeans

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