Explore
Bel and the Dragon 1:34View Full Chapter
34 But the Lord’s angel said to Habakkuk,“Take this lunch to Babylon, to Daniel in the lions’ pit.”
Bel and the Dragon 1:37View Full Chapter
37 Habakkuk yelled,“Daniel! Daniel! Take the lunch that God has sent to you!”
Bel and the Dragon 1:38View Full Chapter
38 Daniel said,“God, you remembered me! You don’t abandon the people who love you.”
Bel and the Dragon 1:39View Full Chapter
39 Daniel got up and ate, while God’s angel took Habakkuk instantly back to his own place.
Bel and the Dragon 1:40View Full Chapter
40 On the seventh day the king came to the pit to grieve for Daniel. He looked in, and there was Daniel, sitting there!
Bel and the Dragon 1:41View Full Chapter
41 Then the king shouted out loud, “You are great, Lord, Daniel’s God! There’s no other but you!”
Bel and the Dragon 1:42View Full Chapter
42 He pulled Daniel out. But he threw the ones who had planned Daniel’s destruction into the pit, and they were eaten instantly, right in front of him.
1 Maccabees 2:60View Full Chapter
60 Daniel was delivered from the lions’ mouths because of his innocence.
3 Maccabees 6:6View Full Chapter
6 Daniel’s three friends in Babylon voluntarily gave their lives to the fire in order not to serve worthless things. You rescued them, sprinkling the fiery furnace with dew, such that not a hair on their heads was harmed, while you sent the flames forth upon all their enemies.
3 Maccabees 6:7View Full Chapter
7 Because Daniel was envied and slandered, he was thrown down into the earth to lions as food for the beasts. But you led him back up into the light unhurt.
Daniel 1View Full Chapter
Jerusalem taken by the Babylonians
1 In the third year of the rule of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and attacked it. 2 The Lord handed Judah’s King Jehoiakim over to Nebuchadnezzar, along with some of the equipment from God’s house. Nebuchadnezzar took these to Shinar, to his own god’s temple, putting them in his god’s treasury.
Training for royal service
3 Nebuchadnezzar instructed his highest official Ashpenaz to choose royal descendants and members of the ruling class from the Israelites— 4 good-looking young men without defects, skilled in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, conversant with learning, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. Ashpenaz was to teach them the Chaldean language and its literature. 5 The king assigned these young men daily allotments from his own food and from the royal wine. Ashpenaz was to teach them for three years so that at the end of that time they could serve before the king. 6 Among these young men from the Judeans were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 But the chief official gave them new names. He named Daniel “Belteshazzar,” Hananiah “Shadrach,” Mishael “Meshach,” and Azariah “Abednego.”
Test
8 Daniel decided that he wouldn’t pollute himself with the king’s rations or the royal wine, and he appealed to the chief official in hopes that he wouldn’t have to do so. 9 Now God had established faithful loyalty between Daniel and the chief official; 10 but the chief official said to Daniel, “I’m afraid of my master, the king, who has mandated what you are to eat and drink. What will happen if he sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men in your group? The king will have my head because of you!”
11 So Daniel spoke to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 12 “Why not test your servants for ten days? You could give us a diet of vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance to the appearance of the young men who eat the king’s food. Then deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 The guard decided to go along with their plan and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. 16 So the guard kept taking away their rations and the wine they were supposed to drink and gave them vegetables instead. 17 And God gave knowledge, mastery of all literature, and wisdom to these four men. Daniel himself gained understanding of every type of vision and dream.
Result of the training
18 When the time came to review the young men as the king had ordered, the chief official brought them before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 When the king spoke with them, he found no one as good as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they took their place in the king’s service. 20 Whenever the king consulted them about any aspect of wisdom and understanding, he found them head and shoulders above all the dream interpreters and enchanters in his entire kingdom. 21 And Daniel stayed in the king’s service until the first year of King Cyrus.