Jeremiah 29:2

²⁴“As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from there. ²⁵I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶I will cast you out with your mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born; and there you will die. ²⁷But to the land to which their soul longs to return, there they will not return.” ²⁸Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which no one delights? Why are they cast out, he and his offspring, and cast into a land which they don’t know?

⁹Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. ¹⁰At the return of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of the LORD’s house, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—

¹²and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³He carried out from there all the treasures of the LORD’s house and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the LORD’s temple, as the LORD had said. ¹⁴He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

⁴I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD; ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

³The king spoke to Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspring^[+] and of the nobles: ⁴youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding science, and who had the ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans. ⁵The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years, that at its end they should stand before the king.

⁶Now among these of the children of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

⁸But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹Now God made Daniel find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs. ¹⁰The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink. For why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age? Then you would endanger my head with the king.”

¹¹Then Daniel said to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ¹²“Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then let our faces be examined before you, and the face of the youths who eat of the king’s delicacies; and as you see, deal with your servants.” ¹⁴So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.

¹⁵At the end of ten days, their faces appeared fairer and they were fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate of the king’s delicacies. ¹⁶So the steward took away their delicacies and the wine that they were given to drink, and gave them vegetables.

¹⁷Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

¹⁸At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹The king talked with them; and among them all was found no one like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. ²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.

²¹Daniel continued even to the first year of King Cyrus.

¹The LORD showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before the LORD’s temple, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

¹⁸‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

³²He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.