Daniel Removed to Babylon

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

²And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar,to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.

³Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal familyand the nobility—

⁴young men without blemish, handsome, gifted in all wisdom, knowledgeable, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace—and to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldeans.

⁵The king assigned them daily provisions of the royal food and wine. They were to be trained for three years, after which they were to enter the king’s service.

⁶Among these young men were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

⁷The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Daniel’s Faithfulness

⁸But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.

⁹Now God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,

¹⁰but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age? You would endanger my head before the king!”

¹¹Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

¹²“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.

¹³Then compare our appearances with those of the young men who are eating the royal food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴So he consented to this and tested them for ten days.

¹⁵And at the end of ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.

¹⁶So the steward continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and he gave them vegetables instead.

Daniel’s Wisdom

¹⁷To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. And Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.

¹⁸Now at the end of the time specified by the king, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁹And the king spoke with them, and among all the young men he found no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.

²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

²¹And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

God’s Help to Israel

¹“Be silent before Me, O islands,and let the peoples renew their strength.Let them come forward and testify;let us together draw near for judgment.

²Who has aroused one from the eastand called him to his feet in righteousness?He hands nations over to himand subdues kings before him.He turns them to dust with his sword,to windblown chaff with his bow.

³He pursues them, going on safely,hardly touching the path with his feet.

⁴Who has performed this and carried it out,calling forth the generations from the beginning?I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”

⁵The islands see and fear;the ends of the earth tremble.They approach and come forward.

⁶Each one helps the otherand says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,and he who wields the hammercheers him who strikes the anvil,saying of the welding, “It is good.”He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

⁸“But you, O Israel, My servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen,descendant of Abraham My friend—

⁹I brought you from the ends of the earthand called you from its farthest corners.I said, ‘You are My servant.’I have chosen and not rejected you.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you;do not be afraid, for I am your God.I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

¹¹Behold, all who rage against youwill be ashamed and disgraced;those who contend with youwill be reduced to nothing and will perish.

¹²You will seek them but will not find them.Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

¹³For I am the LORD your God,who takes hold of your right handand tells you: Do not fear,I will help you.

¹⁴Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm,O few men of Israel.I will help you,” declares the LORD.“Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge,new and sharp, with many teeth.You will thresh the mountains and crush them,and reduce the hills to chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away;a gale will scatter them.But you will rejoice in the LORD;you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water, but there is none;their tongues are parched with thirst.I, the LORD, will answer them;I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the barren heights,and fountains in the middle of the valleys.I will turn the desert into a pool of water,and the dry land into flowing springs.

¹⁹I will plant cedars in the wilderness,acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.I will set cypressesin the desert,elms and boxwood together,

²⁰so that all may see and know,may consider and understand,that the hand of the LORD has done thisand the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Meaningless Idols

²¹“Present your case,” says the LORD.“Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.

²²“Let them come and tell us what will happen.Tell the former things,so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome.Or announce to us what is coming.

²³Tell us the things that are to come,so that we may know that you are gods.Yes, do something good or evil,that we may look on together in dismay.

²⁴Behold, you are nothingand your work is of no value.Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

²⁵I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name.He will march over rulers as if they were mortar,like a potter who treads the clay.

²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning,so that we may know,and from times past,so that we may say: ‘He was right’?No one announced it, no one foretold it,no one heard your words.

²⁷I was the first to tell Zion:‘Look, here they are!’And I gave to Jerusalema herald of good news.

²⁸When I look, there is no one;there is no counselor among them;when I ask them,they have nothing to say.

²⁹See, they are all a delusion;their works amount to nothing;their images are as empty as the wind.

The Command to Leave Sinai

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

²And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

³Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴When the people heard this bad news, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry.

⁵For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”

⁶So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

The Tent of Meeting

⁷Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

⁸Then, whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand at the entrances to their own tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent.

⁹As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses.

¹⁰When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent.

¹¹Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.

The Promise of God’s Presence

¹²Then Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have been telling me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’

¹³Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.”

¹⁴And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵“If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here.

¹⁶For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”

¹⁹“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

²⁰But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

²¹The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock,

²²and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

²³Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

You Have Searched Me and Known Me

¹O LORD, You have searched meand known me.

²You know when I sit and when I rise;You understand my thoughts from afar.

³You search out my path and my lying down;You are aware of all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,You know all about it, O LORD.

⁵You hem me in behind and before;You have laid Your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,too lofty for me to attain.

⁷Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?Where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸If I ascend to the heavens, You are there;if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle by the farthest sea,

¹⁰even there Your hand will guide me;Your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,and the light become night around me”—

¹²even the darkness is not dark to You,but the night shines like the day,for darkness is as light to You.

¹³For You formed my inmost being;You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise You,for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Marvelous are Your works,and I know this very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from Youwhen I was made in secret,when I was woven togetherin the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body;all my days were written in Your bookand ordained for mebefore one of them came to be.

¹⁷How precious to me are Your thoughts,O God,how vast is their sum!

¹⁸If I were to count them,they would outnumber the grains of sand;and when I awake,I am still with You.

¹⁹O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

²⁰who speak of You deceitfully;Your enemies take Your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD,and detest those who rise against You?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;I count them as my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;test me and know my concerns.

²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me;lead me in the way everlasting.