Study Desk

In the third year of the reign of ^(a)Jehoiakim king of Judah, ^(b)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

The ^(c)Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the ^(d)vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ^(e)Shinar, to the house of his ^[a]god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his ^[b](f)god.

Then the king ^[c]ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his ^[d]officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the ^[e]royal ^(g)family and of the nobles,

youths in whom was ^(h)no defect, who were good-looking, showing ⁽ⁱ⁾intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for ^[f]serving in the king's ^[g]court; and he ordered him to teach them the ^[h]literature and ^(j)language of the ^(k)Chaldeans.