Daniel 1
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.
2 The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. He took them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.
3 The king told Ashpenaz, chief of his officials, to bring in some of the Israelites, from the royal family and the nobility.
4 They were to be young men without any defect, good-looking, trained in every kind of wisdom, knowledgeable and discerning, and fit to serve in the king’s palace. They were to teach them the writing and language of the Chaldeans.
5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the king’s food and the wine he drank, and ordered that they be trained for three years. At the end of that time, they would serve before the king.
6 Among them, from the people of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 The chief of the officials gave them new names: he named Daniel Belteshazzar, Hananiah Shadrach, Mishael Meshach, and Azariah Abednego.
8 Daniel resolved in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s food or the wine he drank, and asked the chief of the officials not to make him defile himself.
9 God caused Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the eyes of the chief of the officials.
10 But the chief of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who assigned your food and drink. Why should he see your faces looking worse than those of the young men your age? You would put my head at risk before the king.”
11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
12 “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 Then look at our appearance and the appearance of the young men who eat the king’s food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 He agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days, they looked better and were healthier than all the young men who ate the king’s food.
16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were supposed to drink, and gave them vegetables instead.
17 God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of writing and wisdom; and Daniel understood every vision and dream.
18 At the end of the time the king had set for bringing them in, the chief of the officials brought them before Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king spoke with them, and among them all none was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.
20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
21 Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
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