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the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the house of God. These he carried off to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the articles in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, suitable for instruction in wisdom, endowed with knowledge, perceptive, and competent to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal food and of the wine he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court.
6 Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the descendants of Judah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he renamed Shadrach, Mishael he renamed Meshach, and Azariah he renamed Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank, and he asked for permission from the chief official not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the chief official to have favour and compassion on Daniel, 10 but the official said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, and he has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see your faces looking worse than the other young men of your own age? Then the king would have my head because of you.
11 So Daniel asked the guard whom the chief official had assigned to 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 you can examine our appearance and compare it with the young men who eat the royal food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than any of the young men who were eating the royal food. 16 So the guard continued to take away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king spoke with them, and among all of them, he found no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they were appointed to serve in the king’s court. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted with them about, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
21 And Daniel continued there until the first year of King Cyrus.