1 During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah,*1:1 This event occurred in 605 b.c., during the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign (according to the calendar system in which the new year begins in the spring). King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

6 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah.