Historical Background: (taken from The Open Bible New King James Version. Page 1204).
Time: About 605 B. C. and onward.
Biblical Record: Daniel, Chapters 1-6
Summary: Daniel's life and ministry bridge the entire seventy-year period of Babylonian captivity, and continue on after the Medes and Persians overcame Babylon in 539 B.C. But I have consentrated on just the stories, not the prophetic aspect of the book of Daniel. Introduction
This account is not about the prophecies in the book of Daniel. I will leave that to the prophecy experts. This is a series of five stories taken from the book of Daniel, told in a relaxing way. Sit back and enjoy them at your leisure. Each story is complete in itself, but you will want to read them all. At the end of each story, you will find a link that will carry you to the next story. Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, along with many other youths, were captured when King Nebuchadnezzar subdued Jerusalem in 505 B.C. Daniel was about sixteen years old when he was deported to Babylon, and it is quite likely that his four friends were about the same age. These four young men were apparently born into noble Judean families. Daniel 1:4, (NKJV) describes them as "young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand." In the land of Babylon all the "deportees" were placed in an intensive training program in Nebuchadnezzar's court. Their names and diets were changed in order to cause them to lose their Jewish identity. "And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king." Daniel 1:5 Daniel, whose name means: "God is my Judge", was named, Belteshazzar, meaning "Bel Protect His Life." Hananiah, was given the name, Shadrach; Mishael was called Meshach; and Azariah's name became Aded-Nego. The names they couldn't do anything about, but Daniel and his three friends resolved to remain faithful to the Lord. They refused the rich diet from the king's table, choosing rather to stick to a vegetarian diet. God had given them favor with the man in charge, and he granted their wish—on a ten-day trial. "At the end of the ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies." Daniel 1:15  Sit down. Relax. Enjoy reading these stories of:
If you must leave before completion you will always be able to return to this index page to take up again where you left off. If you wish to complete the stories during this visit then you will find at the bottom of each page a link that will carry you to the next chapter.
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