Δανιήλ 1
1 ἐπὶ βασιλέως Ιωακιμ τῆς Ιουδαίας ἔτους τρίτου παραγενόμενος Ναβουχοδονοσορ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Ιερουσαλημ ἐπολιόρκει αὐτήν
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.
2 καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτὴν κύριος εἰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ καὶ Ιωακιμ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς Ιουδαίας καὶ μέρος τι τῶν ἱερῶν σκευῶν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἀπήνεγκεν αὐτὰ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα καὶ ἀπηρείσατο αὐτὰ ἐν τῷ εἰδωλίῳ αὐτοῦ
[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.
3 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Αβιεσδρι τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ἀρχιευνούχῳ ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν μεγιστάνων τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γένους καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιλέκτων
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.
4 νεανίσκους ἀμώμους καὶ εὐειδεῖς καὶ ἐπιστήμονας ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ γραμματικοὺς καὶ συνετοὺς καὶ σοφοὺς καὶ ἰσχύοντας ὥστε εἶναι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ διδάξαι αὐτοὺς γράμματα καὶ διάλεκτον Χαλδαϊκὴν
[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.
5 καὶ δίδοσθαι αὐτοῖς ἔκθεσιν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ βασιλέως καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς τραπέζης καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴνου οὗ πίνει ὁ βασιλεύς καὶ ἐκπαιδεῦσαι αὐτοὺς ἔτη τρία καὶ ἐκ τούτων στῆσαι ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βασιλέως
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.”
6 καὶ ἦσαν ἐκ τοῦ γένους τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ιουδαίας Δανιηλ Ανανιας Μισαηλ Αζαριας
Among the young Israeli men [who were chosen] were [me], Daniel, and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who all came from Judah.
7 καὶ ἐπέθηκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ ἀρχιευνοῦχος ὀνόματα τῷ μὲν Δανιηλ Βαλτασαρ τῷ δὲ Ανανια Σεδραχ καὶ τῷ Μισαηλ Μισαχ καὶ τῷ Αζαρια Αβδεναγω
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.
8 καὶ ἐνεθυμήθη Δανιηλ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὅπως μὴ ἀλισγηθῇ ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἐν ᾧ πίνει οἴνῳ καὶ ἠξίωσε τὸν ἀρχιευνοῦχον ἵνα μὴ συμμολυνθῇ
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.
9 καὶ ἔδωκε κύριος τῷ Δανιηλ τιμὴν καὶ χάριν ἐναντίον τοῦ ἀρχιευνούχου
God had caused Ashpenaz to greatly respect me,
10 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἀρχιευνοῦχος τῷ Δανιηλ ἀγωνιῶ τὸν κύριόν μου τὸν βασιλέα τὸν ἐκτάξαντα τὴν βρῶσιν ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν πόσιν ὑμῶν ἵνα μὴ ἴδῃ τὰ πρόσωπα ὑμῶν διατετραμμένα καὶ ἀσθενῆ παρὰ τοὺς συντρεφομένους ὑμῖν νεανίας τῶν ἀλλογενῶν καὶ κινδυνεύσω τῷ ἰδίῳ τραχήλῳ
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!”
11 καὶ εἶπεν Δανιηλ Αβιεσδρι τῷ ἀναδειχθέντι ἀρχιευνούχῳ ἐπὶ τὸν Δανιηλ Ανανιαν Μισαηλ Αζαριαν
Ashpenaz had ordered a guard to watch me, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
12 πείρασον δὴ τοὺς παῖδάς σου ἐφ’ ἡμέρας δέκα καὶ δοθήτω ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀσπρίων τῆς γῆς ὥστε κάπτειν καὶ ὑδροποτεῖν
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.
13 καὶ ἐὰν φανῇ ἡ ὄψις ἡμῶν διατετραμμένη παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους νεανίσκους τοὺς ἐσθίοντας ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ δείπνου καθὼς ἐὰν θέλῃς οὕτω χρῆσαι τοῖς παισί σου
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].”
14 καὶ ἐχρήσατο αὐτοῖς τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον καὶ ἐπείρασεν αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας δέκα
The guard agreed to do what I suggested, and he tested us like that for ten days.
15 μετὰ δὲ τὰς δέκα ἡμέρας ἐφάνη ἡ ὄψις αὐτῶν καλὴ καὶ ἡ ἕξις τοῦ σώματος κρείσσων τῶν ἄλλων νεανίσκων τῶν ἐσθιόντων τὸ βασιλικὸν δεῖπνον
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.
16 καὶ ἦν Αβιεσδρι ἀναιρούμενος τὸ δεῖπνον αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν οἶνον αὐτῶν καὶ ἀντεδίδου αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ὀσπρίων
So after that, the guard gave us [only] vegetables to eat; he did not give us the king’s special food and wine.
17 καὶ τοῖς νεανίσκοις ἔδωκεν ὁ κύριος ἐπιστήμην καὶ σύνεσιν καὶ φρόνησιν ἐν πάσῃ γραμματικῇ τέχνῃ καὶ τῷ Δανιηλ ἔδωκε σύνεσιν ἐν παντὶ ῥήματι καὶ ὁράματι καὶ ἐνυπνίοις καὶ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ
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.
18 μετὰ δὲ τὰς ἡμέρας ταύτας ἐπέταξεν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτούς καὶ εἰσήχθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρχιευνούχου πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Ναβουχοδονοσορ
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.
19 καὶ ὡμίλησεν αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεύς καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τοῖς σοφοῖς ὅμοιος τῷ Δανιηλ καὶ Ανανια καὶ Μισαηλ καὶ Αζαρια καὶ ἦσαν παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ
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.
20 καὶ ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ καὶ συνέσει καὶ παιδείᾳ ὅσα ἐζήτησε παρ’ αὐτῶν ὁ βασιλεύς κατέλαβεν αὐτοὺς σοφωτέρους δεκαπλασίως ὑπὲρ τοὺς σοφιστὰς καὶ τοὺς φιλοσόφους τοὺς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐδόξασεν αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς
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.
21 καὶ ἦν Δανιηλ ἕως τοῦ πρώτου ἔτους τῆς βασιλείας Κύρου βασιλέως Περσῶν
I remained [there serving the king more than 60 years], until the first year that Cyrus became king.
