Daniel Removed to Babylon 1 UST After King Jehoiakim had been ruling Judah for almost three years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem with his army and surrounded the city. BSB BSB: In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 UST { After two years,} the Lord allowed Nebuchadnezzar to capture Jehoiakim, the king of Judah. They also captured some of the things that the priests used in God’ s temple. They brought them back to Shinar, and Nebuchadnezzar put them in the treasury of the temple of his god. BSB BSB: And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.
3 UST Then Nebuchadnezzar commanded Ashpenaz, the chief official in his palace, to bring some Israelite men to Babylon. He wanted men who belonged to important families, including the family of the king of Judah. BSB BSB: Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—
4 UST He wanted young men who were healthy, handsome, and very intelligent. They needed to be people who had learned and understood many things. They had to be capable of working in the palace. People were to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldeans. BSB BSB: young men without blemish, handsome, gifted in all wisdom, knowledgeable, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace—and to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
5 UST The king told his servants to give them each day the same food and wine that he ate and drank. He told them to train them for three years. After that, they could work for him. BSB BSB: The king assigned them daily provisions of the royal food and wine. They were to be trained for three years, after which they were to enter the king’s service.
6 UST Among the Judeans whom Ashpenaz brought to Babylon were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. BSB BSB: Among these young men were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 UST The chief official gave them Babylonian names. He called Daniel Belteshazzar. He called Hananiah Shadrach. He called Mishael Meshach. And he called Azariah Abednego. BSB BSB: The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
Daniel’s Faithfulness 8 UST But Daniel resolved not to make himself ritually unclean by eating the same food that the king ate or drinking the same wine that he drank. So he asked the chief official for permission to eat and drink something else. BSB BSB: But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.
9 UST God caused the chief official to respect Daniel and to want to help him. BSB BSB: Now God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,
10 UST However, the chief official told Daniel,“My master, the king, ordered us to give you his own food and drink. So I am afraid of what he might do to me if I let you eat something else. Suppose he saw that you were not as healthy as the other young men who are your age. Then he might execute me!” BSB BSB: but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age? You would endanger my head before the king!”
11 UST So Daniel spoke instead to the man whom the chief official had appointed to care for him and for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. BSB BSB: Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 UST He asked him,“Please let us try something for ten days. Give us only beans, grains, and vegetables to eat and only water to drink. BSB BSB: “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 UST Then examine us and see how we look. Compare us to the other young men who are eating the same food as the king. Based on what you see, decide what food you will let us eat.” BSB BSB: Then compare our appearances with those of the young men who are eating the royal food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 UST The man agreed to do what Daniel suggested. He let them try eating and drinking something different for ten days. BSB BSB: So he consented to this and tested them for ten days.
15 UST After those ten days, he saw that Daniel and his friends looked better and healthier than all the young men who had been eating the same food as the king. BSB BSB: And at the end of ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.
16 UST So after that, the guard allowed them to keep eating only beans, grain, and vegetables. He did not make them eat the same food and drink the same wine as the king. BSB BSB: So the steward continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and he gave them vegetables instead.
Daniel’s Wisdom 17 UST God enabled those four young men to learn what the Babylonians were teaching them. He enabled them to understand their literature and to learn to think wisely. He enabled Daniel to understand what visions and dreams meant. BSB BSB: To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. And Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.
18 UST The king had said to bring the young men to him at the end of those three years. So the chief official brought them into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar. BSB BSB: Now at the end of the time specified by the king, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
19 UST The king spoke with each young man. He realized that none of the others were as capable as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So he included those four young men among his advisors. BSB BSB: And the king spoke with them, and among all the young men he found no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.
20 UST Whenever the king asked them to help him understand something, he found that what they told him was much better than what any of the magicians or sorcerers in his kingdom told him. BSB BSB: In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
21 UST Daniel remained an advisor in the royal court right up to the time when Cyrus became king. BSB BSB: And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.