Daniel 1
1 After King Jehoiakim had been ruling in Judah for almost three years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem [with his army] and surrounded the city.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 [After two years, ] Yahweh allowed Nebuchadnezzar’s [soldiers] to capture Jehoiakim, [who was the] King of Judah. They also took some of the things that were in the temple of God, and took them to Babylonia. There Nebuchadnezzar put them in the temple of his god.
And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim the king of Judah and a portion of the vessels of the house of God. And he carried them away into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasure chamber of his god.
3 Then Nebuchadnezzar commanded Ashpenaz, the chief official in his palace, to bring [to him] some of the Israeli men [whom they had brought to Babylon. He wanted men] who belonged to important families, including the family of the King of Judah.
And the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the sons of Israel, and some of the offspring of the king and of the sovereigns:
4 [King Nebuchadnezzar wanted only] men who were very healthy, handsome/good-looking, wise, well-educated, capable of learning many things, and suitable for working in the palace. He also wanted to teach them the Babylonian language and have them read things that had been written in the Babylonian language.
young men, in whom there was no blemish, noble in appearance, and accomplished in all wisdom, cautious in knowledge, and well-educated, and who could stand in the palace of the king, so that he might teach them the letters and the language of the Chaldeans.
5 The king commanded [his servants], “Give them the same kind of food and wine that is given to me. Train them for three years. Then they will become my servants.”
And the king appointed for them provisions for each day, from his own food and from the wine which he himself drank, so that, after being nourished for three years, they would stand in the sight of the king.
6 Among the young Israeli men [who were chosen] were [me], Daniel, and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who all came from Judah.
Now, among those of the sons of Judah, there were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 But Ashpenaz gave us [Babylonian] names. The name he gave to me was Belteshazzar, the name he gave to Hananiah was Shadrach, the name he gave to Mishael was Meshach, and the name he gave to Azariah was Abednego.
And the chief of the eunuchs assigned names to them: to Daniel, Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But I decided that I would not eat the kind of food that the king ate, or drink the wine that he drank, because that would make me (ritually defiled/unacceptable to God). So I asked Ashpenaz to allow me to eat and drink other things.
But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not be polluted with the king’s meal, nor with the wine he drank, and he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not be contaminated.
9 God had caused Ashpenaz to greatly respect me,
And so God gave Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the leader of the eunuchs.
10 but he was worried about what I suggested. He said, “My master, the king, has commanded that you eat the kinds of food and drink that he does. If [you eat other things and as a result] you become more thin and pale than the other young men who are your age, he will [order his soldiers to] cut off my head because of what you have done!”
And the leader of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed food and drink for you, who, if he should see that your faces are leaner than those of the other youths your age, you would condemn my head to the king.”
11 Ashpenaz had ordered a guard to watch me, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the leader of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 So I said to this guard: “[Please] test us for ten days. [During that time] give us [only] vegetables to eat and water to drink.
“I beg you to test us, your servants, for ten days, and let roots be given to us to eat and water to drink,
13 After ten days, see how we look, and see how the other young men look, the ones who are eating the kind of food that the king eats. Then you can decide about [what food you will let us eat].”
and then observe our faces, and the faces of the children who eat the king’s food, and then deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 The guard agreed to do what I suggested, and he tested us like that for ten days.
When he had heard these words, he tested them for ten days.
15 After ten days, [he saw that] my three friends and I looked healthier [DOU] than the young men who had been eating the food that the king wanted them to eat.
But, after ten days, their faces appeared better and fatter than all the children who had eaten from the king’s food.
16 So after that, the guard gave us [only] vegetables to eat; he did not give us the king’s special food and wine.
Thereafter, Malasar took away their portions and their wine for drinking, and he gave them roots.
17 And God gave to us four young men wisdom and the ability to study many things that Babylonians had written and studied. And [he also gave to] me the ability to understand the meaning of visions and dreams.
Yet, to these children, God gave knowledge and instruction in every book, and wisdom, but to Daniel, also the understanding of all visions and dreams.
18 When those three years that the king had set for training us young men from Judah were ended, Ashpenaz brought all of us to King Nebuchadnezzar.
And when the time was completed, after which the king had said that they would be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before the sight of Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king talked with [each of] us, and realized that none of the other young men were as capable as Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah and I were. So we four became the king’s special advisors/servants.
And, when the king conversed with them, there had not been found any so great in all the world as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and so they stood in the sight of the king.
20 In all important matters, the king found that what we [four men] advised was ten times as good as what all the magicians and sorcerers/fortune-tellers in his kingdom advised.
And in every concept of wisdom and understanding, about which the king consulted with them, he found them to be ten times better than all the seers and astrologers put together, who were in his entire kingdom.
21 I remained [there serving the king more than 60 years], until the first year that Cyrus became king.
And so Daniel remained, even until the first year of king Cyrus.
