Daniel 1

Faithfulness in Babylon

1 In the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign as king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon pulled up to Jerusalem and took it over, no cap.

2 God let Nebuchadnezzar win, and he took some of the sacred stuff from God’s house. Dude went back to Babylon and put that sacred swag in the house of his gods.

3 Then the king told his right-hand man Ashpenaz, “Listen, go scoop up some young dudes from the royal fam and the elite, bring them to me.”

4 He said, “Find the ones who look good, no dummies, smart with street smarts too. They must be able to work for me in the palace. Teach them our language and ways.”

5 The king even set them up with the best food and wine from his own stash. They had three years to get right before they could pull up and serve the king.

6 Among these young dudes were four from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

7 Ashpenaz gave them new names to fit the Babylon vibe: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah was called Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah got named Abednego.

God Gives Favor and Wisdom

8 But Daniel was not feeling the king’s food. He did not want to defile himself with all that, so he asked the head guard for a pass on the royal menu.

9 God put Daniel on the guard’s good side, so dude was feeling him, showing him love.

10 But the guard was like, “Listen, if you do not eat the king’s food and start looking all weak, the king is going to notice. He might come for my head!”

11 Daniel said to the guard who was looking out for him, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Lemme make a deal with you, fam.”

12 “Give us just veggies and water for ten days, and see how we look after that.”

13 “Compare how we look to the guys eating the king’s food. Then you can do whatever you think is right with us.”

14 The guard was like, “Aight,” and let them try it for ten days.

15 After the ten days, Daniel and his boys were looking healthier and stronger than all the dudes eating the king’s fancy food.

16 So the guard kept giving them veggies and water instead of the royal menu.

Daniel Stays Clean

17 God blessed these four with knowledge and understanding in all kinds of stuff. Daniel even got the special gift to understand visions and dreams.

18 When the time came for the king to meet them, the head guard brought Daniel and his boys to King Nebuchadnezzar.

19 The king chopped it up with them and realized they were smarter and wiser than all the others. He was like, “These the ones I need in my squad.”

20 Anytime the king needed advice or knowledge, Daniel and his boys had the answers ten times better than the magicians and astrologers in the whole kingdom.

21 And Daniel stayed there serving the king all the way up until King Cyrus came through.