Daniel 1:1–7

Daniel and His Friends Obey God

1In the third year of the reign of ^aJehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with ^bsome of the articles of ¹the house of God, which he carried ^cinto the land of Shinar to the house of his god; ^dand he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

³Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring ^esome of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, ⁴young men ^fin whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and ^gwhom they might teach the language and ²literature of the Chaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might ^hserve before the king. ⁶Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ⁱTo them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: ^jhe gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.