Dan 1 | NASB2020 | STEP | In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Daniel 1

The Choice Young Men

1 In the third year of the reign of ^aJehoiakim king of Judah, ^bNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the ^cLord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the ^dvessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ^eShinar, to the house of his ^{▼▼Or gods}god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his ^{▼▼Or gods
,} ^hgod.

3 Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his ^{▼▼Or eunuchs, and so throughout the ch}officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the ^{▼▼Lit seed of the monarchy}royal ^kfamily and of the nobles, 4 youths in whom there was ^lno impairment, who were good-looking, suitable for ^minstruction in every kind of expertise, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability to ^{▼▼Lit stand}serve in the king’s ^{▼▼Lit palace}court; and he ordered Ashpenaz to teach them the ^{▼▼Or writing}literature and ^qlanguage of the ^rChaldeans. 5 The king also allotted for them a daily ration from the ^sking’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 ^{▼▼Lit stand before the king
,} ^uenter the king’s personal service. 6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were ^vDaniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name ^wBelteshazzar, to Hananiah ^xShadrach, to Mishael ^yMeshach, and to Azariah ^zAbed-nego.

Daniel’s Resolve

8 But Daniel ^{▼▼Lit set upon his heart}made up his mind that he would not ^abdefile himself with the ^acking’s choice food or with the ^adwine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God granted Daniel ^aefavor 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 ^{▼▼Lit make my head guilty}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 ^aggiven some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance be ^{▼▼Lit seen}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 ^aibetter, and ^{▼▼Lit fat of flesh}they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. 16 So the overseer continued to ^{▼▼Lit take away}withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^algiving them vegetables.

17 And as for these four youths, ^amGod gave them knowledge and intelligence in every kind of ^{▼▼Or writing}literature and expertise; Daniel even understood all kinds of ^aovisions and dreams.

18 Then at the end of the days which the king had ^{▼▼Lit said}specified ^{▼▼Lit to bring them in}for presenting them, the commander of the officials ^{▼▼Lit brought them in}presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^asDaniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they ^{▼▼Lit stood before the king
,} ^auentered the king’s personal service. 20 As for every matter of ^avexpertise ^{▼▼Lit of}and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ^axten times ^aybetter than all the ^azsoothsayer priests and conjurers who were in all his realm. 21 And Daniel ^{▼▼Lit was until}continued until the ^bbfirst year of Cyrus the king.