Daniel 1
1
The Story of Daniel and his Friends
1.1—6.28
The Young Men at Nebuchadnezzar's Court
1 #
2 Kgs 24.1; 2 Chr 36.5–7 In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem and surrounded the city. 2#2 Kgs 20.17–18; 24.10–16; 2 Chr 36.10; Is 39.7–8The Lord let him capture King Jehoiakim and seize some of the temple treasures. He took some prisoners back with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon, and put the captured treasures in the temple storerooms.
3The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families. 4They had to be handsome, intelligent, well trained, quick to learn, and free from physical defects, so that they would be qualified to serve in the royal court. Ashpenaz was to teach them to read and write the Babylonian language. 5The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king. 6Among those chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all of whom were from the tribe of Judah. 7The chief official gave them new names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
8Daniel made up his mind not to let himself become ritually unclean by eating the food and drinking the wine of the royal court, so he asked Ashpenaz to help him, 9and God made Ashpenaz sympathetic to Daniel. 10Ashpenaz, however, was afraid of the king, so he said to Daniel, “The king has decided what you are to eat and drink, and if you don't look as fit as the other young men, he may kill me.”
11So Daniel went to the guard whom Ashpenaz had placed in charge of him and his three friends. 12“Test us for ten days,” he said. “Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then compare us with the young men who are eating the food of the royal court, and base your decision on how we look.”
14He agreed to let them try it for ten days. 15When the time was up, they looked healthier and stronger than all those who had been eating the royal food. 16So from then on the guard let them continue to eat vegetables instead of what the king provided.
17God gave the four young men knowledge and skill in literature and philosophy. In addition, he gave Daniel skill in interpreting visions and dreams.
18At the end of the three years set by the king, Ashpenaz took all the young men to Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king talked with them all, and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah impressed him more than any of the others. So they became members of the king's court. 20No matter what question the king asked, or what problem he raised, these four knew ten times more than any fortune teller or magician in his whole kingdom. 21Daniel remained at the royal court until Cyrus the emperor of Persia conquered Babylonia.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Daniel 1
1
Kashrut as a Test of Faithfulness
1In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2God gave King Jehoiakim of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the House of God. He brought them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god and put the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
3Then the king told Ashpenaz the chief of his officials to bring in some of the sons of Israel from royal descent and nobility—
4youths without any defect, handsome, proficient in all wisdom, knowledgeable, intelligent and capable of serving in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
5The king allotted them a daily portion from the king’s delicacies and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end they were to stand before the king.
6Now among them were some from the sons of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
7The chief officer gave them new names: to Daniel, Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-nego.
8But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the king’s delicacies or with the wine he was drinking, so he entreated the chief official for permission not to defile himself.
9Now God caused the chief official to show mercy and compassion to Daniel.
10But the chief official said to Daniel: “I fear my lord the king, who allotted your food and your drink. Why should he see your faces looking poorly, unlike the other youths your age? Then the king would have my head because of you.”
11Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
12“Please test your servants for ten days, giving us just vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13Then compare our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s delicacies, and treat your servants according to what you see.”
14So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
15At the end of ten days their appearance looked better and their bodies healthier than all the youths who ate the king’s food.
16So the guard took away their delicacies and the wine they were supposed to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and proficiency in every kind of wisdom and literature, and Daniel could understand all sorts of visions and dreams.
18At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.
19When the king spoke with them, he did not find among all of them anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.
20In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers throughout his realm.
21Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
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