Daniel 8:27View Full Chapter

²⁷ Then I, Daniel, was overwhelmed and felt sick for days. When I finally got up and went about the king’s business, I remained troubled by the vision and couldn’t understand it.

Daniel 9:1View Full Chapter

Daniel’s prayer

9 In the first year of Darius’ rule—Darius, who was Ahasuerus’ son, a Median by birth and who ruled the Chaldean kingdom—

Daniel 9:2View Full Chapter

² I, Daniel, pondered the scrolls, specifically the number of years that it would take to complete Jerusalem’s desolation according to the Lord’s word to the prophet Jeremiah. It was seventy years.

Daniel 9:22View Full Chapter

²² He explained as he spoke with me: “Daniel, here’s why I’ve come: to give you insight and understanding.

Daniel 10:1View Full Chapter

Vision of a man

10 In the third year of Persia’s King Cyrus, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true: there would be a great conflict. Daniel understood the message, having discerned the meaning of the vision.

Daniel 10:2View Full Chapter

² During that time, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks.

Daniel 10:7View Full Chapter

⁷ Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The other people who were with me didn’t see it. Despite that, they were terrified and ran away to hide.

Daniel 10:11View Full Chapter

¹¹ The man said to me, “Daniel, you are greatly treasured. Now grasp the meaning of what I’m saying to you. And stand up, because I’ve been sent to you.”

As he said this to me, I stood up, shaking.

Daniel 10:12View Full Chapter

¹² Then the man said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel, because from the day you first set your mind to understand things and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I’ve come because of your words!

Daniel 12:4View Full Chapter

⁴ But you, Daniel, must keep these words secret! Seal the scroll until the end time! Many will stray far, but knowledge will increase.”

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.