Old Testament · Prophets

Daniel chapter 1

During the third year that was king of Judah, king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem and . handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the objects from God’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar carried them off to the land of , to the temple of his god, and he put in the treasury of his god.Then the king told , the chief of his , to bring in some of the Israelites — specifically from the royal family and the nobility —young men with no physical defects, good-looking, sharp in every kind of , well-informed, quick learners, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the .The king set aside a daily portion of and wine from his own table for them. They were to be trained for , and after that they would enter the king’s service.Among these young men were some from the tribe of Judah: , , , and .The chief official gave them : Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.But Daniel that he would not by eating the king’s food or drinking his wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to do this.Now God had caused the chief official to look on Daniel with .The chief official told Daniel, “I’m afraid of my lord the king. He personally decided what you would eat and drink. What if he sees that you look worse than the other young men your age? You’d be .”Daniel then went to the whom the chief official had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.“Please us for ten days,” he said. “Just give us to eat and water to drink.Then compare how we look with how the young men who eat the king’s food look, and deal with us based on what you see.”So the guard agreed to this and tested them for ten days.At the end of the ten days, they looked than all the young men who had been eating the king’s food.So the guard continued to take away their rich food and wine and gave them vegetables instead.God gave these four young men of every kind of literature and wisdom. And Daniel could understand of every kind.When the training period that the king had set was over, the chief official brought all the young men before Nebuchadnezzar.The king talked with all of them, and to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.In every matter that required wisdom and insight, the king found them than all the in his entire kingdom.And Daniel there until the first year of .