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[186]
BUT now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took some of the most noble
of the Jews that were children, and the kinsmen of Zedekiah their king,
such as were remarkable for the beauty of their bodies, and the comeliness
of their countenances, and delivered them into the hands of tutors, and
to the improvement to be made by them. He also made some of them to be
eunuchs; which course he took also with those of other nations whom he
had taken in the flower of their age, and afforded them their diet from
his own table, and had them instructed in the institutes of the country,
and taught the learning of the Chaldeans; and they had now exercised themselves
sufficiently in that wisdom which he had ordered they should apply themselves
to. Now among these there were four of the family of Zedekiah, of most
excellent dispositions, one of whom was called Daniel, another was called
Ananias, another Misael, and the fourth Azarias; and the king of Babylon
changed their names, and commanded that they should make use of other names.
Daniel he called Baltasar; Ananias, Shadrach; Misael, Meshach; and Azarias,
Abednego. These the king had in esteem, and continued to love, because
of the very excellent temper they were of, and because of their application
to learning, and the profess they had made in wisdom.
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