Daniel 1
Daniel Taken to Babylon
In the third year of athe reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of athe vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to bthe land of Shinar, to the house of his god, cand placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ahis chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of bthe nobility, 4 youths without ablemish, of good appearance and bskillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to cteach them the literature and language of the dChaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of athe food that the king ate, and of bthe wine that he drank. They were to be educated for cthree years, and at the end of that time they were to dstand before the king. 6 Among these were aDaniel, bHananiah, bMishael, and bAzariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And athe chief of the eunuchs bgave them names: cDaniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
Daniel’s Faithfulness
8 But Daniel aresolved that he would not bdefile himself with cthe king’s food, or with dthe wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to bdefile himself. 9 aAnd God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and 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.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for aten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat athe king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate athe king’s food. 16 aSo the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them bvegetables.
17 As for these four youths, aGod gave them learning and bskill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had cunderstanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of athe time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore athey stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all athe magicians and benchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel awas there until the first year of bKing Cyrus.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.