Daniel
Chapter 1
1 In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and surrounded it.
2 God let Nebuchadnezzar capture Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and some of God’s house items. Nebuchadnezzar took them to Shinar, to his own god’s temple, and placed them in his god’s treasury.
3 The king told Ashpenaz, the head of his servants, to bring some young Israelites from royal families, and young nobles.
4 Children without flaws, good-looking, wise in all ways, clever in knowledge, understanding science, who could serve in the king’s palace, and who could be taught the Chaldeans’ education and language.
5 The king gave them a daily amount of his own food and wine to eat and drink. He did this for three years so they could be healthy enough to serve him.
6 Among these were Judah’s descendants: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 The head of the eunuchs gave them new names: he named Daniel, Belteshazzar; Hananiah was called Shadrach; Mishael was called Meshach; and Azariah was called Abednego.
8 Daniel decided in his heart not to make himself unclean with the king’s food or the wine he drank. So he asked the chief officer for permission not to make himself unclean.
9 God made Daniel liked and loved by the chief eunuch.
10 The official in charge of the servants told Daniel, “I am afraid of the king who has decided what you should eat and drink. What if he sees you looking worse than the other young men your age? Then I could get in trouble with the king.”
11 Daniel spoke to Melzar, who was put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah by the chief official.
12 Test us for ten days: give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 Let our faces be examined before you, and the faces of the kids who eat the king’s food; and treat us as you see fit.
14 He agreed to their request and tested them for ten days.
15 After ten days, they looked healthier and better-fed than any of the young people who ate the king’s food.
16 So Melzar removed their share of meat and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables instead.
17 God gave these four young people knowledge and skill in all kinds of learning and wisdom, and Daniel could understand all kinds of visions and dreams.
18 After the time set by the king to bring them in was over, the chief official presented them to King Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king spoke with them, but no one was like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, so they served the king.
20 In every area of wisdom and knowledge where the king tested them, he saw they were ten times better than all the sorcerers and fortune-tellers in his whole kingdom.
21 Daniel remained until King Cyrus’s first year.