Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Parallel translations
- WEB Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink.
- BSB “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.
- NKJV “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
- NASB “Please put your servants to the test for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.
- NLT “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Daniel proposes a ten-day test on vegetables and water instead of royal fare. He offers a low-risk way to honor conscience without endangering the steward.
Overview
The modest, time-limited trial lets the steward verify the outcome before committing. Daniel trusts God for the result rather than relying on the king's diet. His humble 'I beg you' again shows respectful boldness, conviction without arrogance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Rom 14:2For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
- Dan 1:16Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.
- Gen 1:29–30And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
- Deut 8:3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 1:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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