Daniel 1:3–16

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 5}The 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 7}The 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 14}So 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 16}So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.^a