In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.

Within a week, the Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with valuable objects from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar brought them to the temple of his god in the land of Shinar and stored them in its treasure house.

Included among the people of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king spoke up and told Daniel, "So you are Daniel, one of the Judean exiles whom my grandfather the king brought from Judah!

"To you, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open humiliation even to this day, to the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, both those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the lands to which you drove them because of their unfaithful acts that they committed against you.