The Choice Young Men

1 In the third year of the reign of ^(A)Jehoiakim king of Judah, ^(B)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the ^(C)Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the ^(D)vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ^(E)Shinar, to the house of his ^[a]god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his ^[b](F)god.

³ Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his ^[c]officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the ^[d]royal ^(G)family and of the nobles, ⁴ youths in whom there was ^(H)no impairment, who were good-looking, suitable for ^(I)instruction in every kind of expertise, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability to ^[e]serve in the king’s ^[f]court; and he ordered Ashpenaz to teach them the ^[g]literature and ^(J)language of the ^(K)Chaldeans. ⁵ The king also allotted for them a daily ration from the ^(L)king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and ordered that they be educated for three years, at the end of which they were to ^[h](M)enter the king’s personal service. ⁶ Now among them from the sons of Judah were ^(N)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name ^(O)Belteshazzar, to Hananiah ^(P)Shadrach, to Mishael ^(Q)Meshach, and to Azariah ^(R)Abed-nego.

Daniel’s Resolve

⁸ But Daniel ^[i]made up his mind that he would not ^(S)defile himself with the ^(T)king’s choice food or with the ^(U)wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. ⁹ Now God granted Daniel ^(V)favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. ¹⁰ The commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has allotted your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking gaunt in comparison to the youths who are your own age? Then you would ^[j]make me forfeit my head to the king.” ¹¹ But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Please put your servants to the test for ten days, and let us be ^(W)given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance be ^[k]examined in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and put them to the test for ten days. ¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed ^(X)better, and ^[l]they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. ¹⁶ So the overseer continued to ^[m]withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^(Y)giving them vegetables.

¹⁷ And as for these four youths, ^(Z)God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every kind of ^[n]literature and expertise; Daniel even understood all kinds of ^(AA)visions and dreams.

¹⁸ Then at the end of the days which the king had ^[o]specified ^[p]for presenting them, the commander of the officials ^[q]presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^(AB)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they ^[r](AC)entered the king’s personal service. ²⁰ As for every matter of ^(AD)expertise ^[s]and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ^(AE)ten times ^(AF)better than all the ^(AG)soothsayer priests and conjurers who were in all his realm. ²¹ And Daniel ^[t]continued until the ^(AH)first year of Cyrus the king.