Daniel Taken to Babylon

1 In the third year of ^(A)the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of ^(B)the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to ^(C)the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, ^(D)and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. ³ Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ^(E)his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family^[a] and of ^(F)the nobility, ⁴ youths without ^(G)blemish, of good appearance and ^(H)skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to ^(I)teach them the literature and language of the ^(J)Chaldeans. ⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of ^(K)the food that the king ate, and of ^(L)the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ^(M)three years, and at the end of that time they were to ^(N)stand before the king. ⁶ Among these were ^(O)Daniel, ^(P)Hananiah, ^(Q)Mishael, and ^(R)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷ And ^(S)the chief of the eunuchs ^(T)gave them names: ^(U)Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸ But Daniel ^(V)resolved that he would not ^(W)defile himself with ^(X)the king's food, or with ^(Y)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(Z)defile himself. ^9 (AA)And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰ and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” ¹¹ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Test your servants for ^(AB)ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^(AC)the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^(AD)the king's food. ^16 (AE)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(AF)vegetables.

¹⁷ As for these four youths, ^(AG)God gave them learning and ^(AH)skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^(AI)understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ At the end of ^(AJ)the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^(AK)they stood before the king. ²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^(AL)the magicians and ^(AM)enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹ And Daniel ^(AN)was there until the first year of ^(AO)King Cyrus.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^(AP)his spirit was troubled, and ^(AQ)his sleep left him. ² Then the king commanded that ^(AR)the magicians, ^(AS)the enchanters, the ^(AT)sorcerers, and ^(AU)the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^(AV)stood before the king. ³ And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^(AW)my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” ⁴ Then ^(AX)the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{[b] (AY)}“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” ⁵ The king answered and said to ^(AZ)the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^(BA)torn limb from limb, ^(BB)and your ^(BC)houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶ But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^(BD)you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^(BE)Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” ⁸ The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^(BF)gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— ⁹ if you do not make the dream known to me, ^(BG)there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^(BH)the times change. ^(BI)Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” ^10 (BJ)The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^(BK)Chaldean. ¹¹ The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^(BL)the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹² Because of this the king was angry and ^(BM)very furious, and ^(BN)commanded that all ^(BO)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(BP)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(BQ)Arioch, the ^(BR)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He declared^[c] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^(BS)so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(BT)Hananiah, ^(BU)Mishael, and ^(BV)Azariah, his companions, ^18 (BW)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(BX)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(BY)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(BZ)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(CA)blessed the ^(CB)God of heaven. ²⁰ Daniel answered and said:

Suffering for Righteousness' Sake

⁸ Finally, all of you, ^(A)have unity of mind, sympathy, ^(B)brotherly love, ^(C)a tender heart, and ^(D)a humble mind. ^9 (E)Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, ^(F)bless, for ^(G)to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. ¹⁰ For

¹³ Now ^(I)who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? ^14 (J)But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. ^(K)Have no fear of them, ^(L)nor be troubled, ¹⁵ but ^(M)in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, ^(N)always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and ^(O)respect, ^16 (P)having a good conscience, so that, ^(Q)when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷ For ^(R)it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

¹⁸ For Christ also ^(S)suffered^{[a] (T)}once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, ^(U)that he might bring us to God, being put to death ^(V)in the flesh but made alive ^(W)in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which^[b] he went and ^(X)proclaimed^[c] to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ because^[d] they formerly did not obey, ^(Y)when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, ^(Z)while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, ^(AA)eight persons, were brought safely through water. ²¹ Baptism, which corresponds to this, ^(AB)now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but ^(AC)as an appeal to God for a good conscience, ^(AD)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and ^(AE)is at the right hand of God, ^(AF)with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Stewards of God's Grace

4 Since therefore ^(AG)Christ suffered in the flesh,^{[e] (AH)}arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for ^(AI)whoever has suffered in the flesh ^(AJ)has ceased from sin, ^2 (AK)so as to live for ^(AL)the rest of the time in the flesh ^(AM)no longer for human passions but ^(AN)for the will of God. ³ For the time that is past ^(AO)suffices ^(AP)for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. ⁴ With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of ^(AQ)debauchery, and ^(AR)they malign you; ⁵ but they will give account to him who is ready ^(AS)to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is why ^(AT)the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

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