Daniel 1

Daniel’s Captivity in Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim  * 1:1 2Kg 24:1–2; 2Ch 36:5–6 of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar  * 1:1 Or Nebuchadrezzar,* 1:1 Jr 25:1; 52:12,28–30 of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. 2 The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God.  * 1:2 2Kg 24:13; 2Ch 36:7–10; Ezr 5:14; Jr 27:19–22; Dn 5:2 Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon,  * 1:2 Lit Shinar,* 1:2 Gn 10:10; 11:2; Is 11:11; Zch 5:11 to the house of his god,  * 1:2 Or gods and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family  * 1:3 2Kg 20:18; 24:15; Is 39:7; Dn 1:9 and from the nobility —  4 young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,  * 1:4 Dn 9:22 knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace.  * 1:4 Is 39:7 He was to teach them the Chaldean language  * 1:4 Jr 5:15 and literature. 5 The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank.  * 1:5 2Kg 25:30; Dn 11:26 They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.  * 1:5 Lit to stand before the king,* 1:5 Gn 41:46; 1Sm 16:226 Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel,  * 1:6 Ezk 14:14,20; 28:3 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.