King James VersionDaniel1

Daniel

1 In the third year of the reign of Je­hoiakim king of Ju­dah came Neb­uchad­nez­zar king of Baby­lon unto Jerusalem, and be­sieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Je­hoiakim king of Ju­dah into his hand, with part of the ves­sels of the house of God: which he car­ried into the land of Shi­nar to the house of his god; and he brought the ves­sels into the trea­sure house of his god. 3 And the king spake unto Ash­pe­naz the mas­ter of his eu­nuchs, that he should bring certain of the chil­dren of Is­rael, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; 4 Chil­dren in whom was no blem­ish, but well favoured, and skil­ful in all wis­dom, and cun­ning in knowl­edge, and un­der­stand­ing sci­ence, and such as had abil­i­ty in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learn­ing and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 5 And the king ap­point­ed them a dai­ly pro­vi­sion of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nour­ish­ing them three years, that at the end there­of they might stand be­fore the king. 6 Now among these were of the chil­dren of Ju­dah, Daniel, Hana­ni­ah, Mishael, and Azari­ah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eu­nuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Bel­te­s­haz­zar; and to Hana­ni­ah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Me­shach; and to Azari­ah, of Abed­nego. 8 But Daniel pur­posed in his heart that he would not de­file him­self with the por­tion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: there­fore he re­quest­ed of the prince of the eu­nuchs that he might not de­file him­self. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and ten­der love with the prince of the eu­nuchs. 10 And the prince of the eu­nuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath ap­point­ed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse lik­ing than the chil­dren which are of your sort? then shall ye make me en­dan­ger my head to the king. 11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eu­nuchs had set over Daniel, Hana­ni­ah, Mishael, and Azari­ah, 12 Prove thy ser­vants, I be­seech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and wa­ter to drink. 13 Then let our coun­te­nances be looked upon be­fore thee, and the coun­te­nance of the chil­dren that eat of the por­tion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy ser­vants. 14 So he con­sent­ed to them in this mat­ter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their coun­te­nances ap­peared fair­er and fat­ter in flesh than all the chil­dren which did eat the por­tion of the king's meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the por­tion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. 17 As for these four chil­dren, God gave them knowl­edge and skill in all learn­ing and wis­dom: and Daniel had un­der­stand­ing in all vi­sions and dreams. 18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eu­nuchs brought them in be­fore Neb­uchad­nez­zar. 19 And the king com­muned with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hana­ni­ah, Mishael, and Azari­ah: there­fore stood they be­fore the king. 20 And in all mat­ters of wis­dom and un­der­stand­ing, that the king en­quired of them, he found them ten times bet­ter than all the ma­gi­cians and as­trologers that were in all his realm. 21 And Daniel con­tin­ued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.