¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lord^* delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah and some of the equipment of the house of God into his hand, and he brought it to the land of Shinar, to the house of his gods, and he brought the equipment to the treasury of his gods. ³And the king commanded Ashpenaz the head of his eunuchs to bring some of the sons of Israel and some of the royal seed, and some seed of the high-ranking officials, ⁴children in whom was no blemish, and who were good-looking and insightful in all wisdom, and who were knowledgeable and who understood science, and who had the mettle to stand in the king's palace. And he gave commandment to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed them daily servings from the king's fare, and some wine as used for his drink, and he gave instructions to educate them for three years, and at the end of that, they would stand before the king. ⁶And among them were, of the sons of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷And the officer in charge of the eunuchs assigned them names. And he assigned to Daniel, Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego. ⁸Now Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's fare or with the wine as used for his drink, and he requested from the officer in charge of the eunuchs that he should not defile himself. ⁹And God gave Daniel kind and compassionate treatment before the officer in charge of the eunuchs. ¹⁰And the officer in charge of the eunuchs said to Daniel. “I am fearful of my lord the king who appointed your food and your drink, because why should he see your faces more pallid than those of the other children of your age, and why should you all cost me my head with the king?” ¹¹Then Daniel said to the head steward whom the head of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹²“Please do a trial with your servants for ten days, and let them give us some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then our appearance and that of the children who eat the king's fare will be seen in your presence, and then deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴And he heeded them in this matter, and he gave them a trial for ten days. ¹⁵And at the end of ten days, their appearance was better and more healthy than that of all the children who ate the king's fare. ¹⁶Then the head steward took away their fare and wine for their drink and gave them vegetables. ¹⁷And God gave these four children intellect and insight in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding of every vision and all dreams. ¹⁸And after the days which the king had specified as to when to bring them in, the head of the eunuchs brought them before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king spoke with them. And of all of them, no-one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and they stood before the king. ²⁰And in every matter of wisdom in discernment which the king asked them, he found them ten times superior to all the magi and enchanters who were in all his kingdom. ²¹And Daniel was there until the first year of Cyrus the king.