1It was the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. His armies surrounded the city and attacked it.2The Lord handed Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, over to him. Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the objects from God’s temple. He carried them off to the temple of his god in Babylon. He put them among the treasures of his god.3The king gave Ashpenaz an order. Ashpenaz was the chief of Nebuchadnezzar’s court officials. The king told him to bring him some of the Israelites. The king wanted them to serve him in his court. He wanted nobles and men from the royal family.4He was looking for young men who were healthy and handsome. They had to be able to learn anything. They had to be well educated. They had to have the ability to understand new things quickly and easily. The king wanted men who could serve in his palace. Ashpenaz was supposed to teach them the Babylonian language and writings.5The king had his servants give them food and wine from his own table. They received a certain amount every day. The young men had to be trained for three years. After that, they could begin to serve the king.6Some of the men chosen were from Judah. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.7The chief official gave them new names. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar. He gave Hananiah the name Shadrach. He gave Mishael the name Meshach. And he gave Azariah the name Abednego.8Daniel decided not to make himself ‘unclean’ by eating the king’s food and drinking his wine. So he asked the chief official for a favour. He wanted permission not to make himself ‘unclean’ with the king’s food and wine.9God had caused the official to be kind and friendly to Daniel.10But the official refused to do what Daniel asked for. He said, ‘I’m afraid of the king. He is my master. He has decided what you and your three friends must eat and drink. Other young men are the same age as you. Why should he see you looking worse than them? When he sees how you look, he might kill me.’11So Daniel spoke to one of the guards. The chief official had appointed him over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.12Daniel said to him, ‘Please test us for ten days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat. And give us only water to drink.13Then compare us with the young men who eat the king’s food. See how we look. After that, do what you want to.’14So the guard agreed. He tested them for ten days.15After the ten days Daniel and his friends looked healthy and well fed. In fact, they looked better than any of the young men who ate the king’s food.16So the guard didn’t require them to eat the king’s special food. He didn’t require them to drink the king’s wine either. He gave them vegetables instead.17God gave knowledge and understanding to these four young men. So they understood all kinds of writings and subjects. And Daniel could understand all kinds of visions and dreams.18The three years the king had set for their training ended. So the chief official brought them to Nebuchadnezzar.19The king talked with them. He didn’t find anyone equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they began to serve the king.20He asked them for advice in matters that required wisdom and understanding. The king always found their answers to be the best. Other men in his kingdom claimed to get knowledge by using magic. But the answers of Daniel and his friends were ten times better than theirs.21Daniel served in Babylon until the first year Cyrus ruled over the land of Babylon. Cyrus was king of Persia.
Daniel 1
English Standard Version
Daniel Taken to Babylon
1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. (2Ki 24:1; 2Ch 36:6)2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. (Ge 11:2; 2Ki 24:13; 2Ch 36:7; 2Ch 36:10; Ezr 5:14; Jer 27:18; Da 5:2; Zec 5:11)3Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family[1] and of the nobility, (2Ki 20:18; Es 1:3; Isa 39:7)4youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. (Le 24:19; 2Sa 14:25; Isa 47:10; Da 1:17; Da 2:2; Da 2:4; Da 2:10; Da 3:8; Da 4:7; Da 5:7; Da 5:11; Da 9:22)5The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. (Ge 41:46; 1Ki 10:8; Da 1:8; Da 1:16; Da 1:18; Da 2:2; Da 11:26)6Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. (Eze 14:14; Eze 14:20; Da 2:17; Mt 24:15)7And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. (2Ki 23:34; 2Ki 24:17; Da 1:3; Da 2:26; Da 4:8; Da 4:18; Da 5:12; Da 10:1)
Daniel’s Faithfulness
8But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Le 3:17; Eze 4:13; Da 1:5; Ho 9:3; 2Co 9:7)9And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, (Ge 39:21; Ps 106:46; Pr 16:7)10and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”11Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,12“Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. (Re 2:10)13Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” (Da 1:5)14So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.15At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. (Da 1:5)16So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. (Da 1:11; Da 1:12)17As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. (Job 32:8; Da 1:4; Da 2:20; Da 2:23; Da 5:12; Da 9:23; Da 10:1; Da 10:11; Jas 1:5)18At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. (Da 1:5)19And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. (Da 2:2)20And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. (Ge 41:8; Ge 41:24; Ex 7:11; Ex 7:22; Ex 8:7; Ex 8:18; Ex 9:11; Da 2:2; Da 2:10; Da 2:27; Da 4:7; Da 5:7; Da 5:11; Da 5:15)21And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. (Da 6:28; Da 10:1)