And now,  ¹little children,  ²abide in Him, so that if  ³He is manifested, we may have boldness and not be  ⁴put to shame  ⁵from Him  ⁶at His coming.

If you  ¹know that  ²He is  ³righteous,  ⁴you  ⁵know that everyone who  ⁶practices righteousness also has been  ⁷begotten of Him.

 ¹Behold what manner of  ²love the  ³Father has given to us, that we should be called  ⁴children of God; and we are.  ⁵Because of this the world does not  ⁶know us,  ⁷because it did not know Him.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and  ¹it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We  ²know that if  ³He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will  ⁴see Him even as  ³He is.

And everyone who has  ¹this hope set on Him  ²purifies himself, even as  ³He is pure.

Everyone who  ¹practices sin practices  ²lawlessness also, and sin is lawlessness.

And you know that He was manifested that He might  ¹take away sins; and sin is not in  ²Him.

Everyone who  ¹abides in Him  ²does not sin; everyone who  ³sins  ⁴has not seen Him or known Him.

 ¹Little children, let no one  ²lead you astray; he who  ³practices righteousness is  ⁴righteous, even as He is righteous;

He who  ¹practices sin is of the  ²devil, because the devil has sinned  ³from the beginning.  ⁴For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might  ⁵destroy the works of the devil.

Everyone who has been  ¹begotten of God does  ²not practice sin, because His  ³seed abides in him; and he  ⁴cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God.

 ¹In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.

 ¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim the king of Judah Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim the king of Judah into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them into the land of  ¹Shinar to the house of his god, and he brought the  ²vessels into the treasury of his god.

 ¹Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs, to bring some of the sons of Israel, including some from the royal seed and from the nobility,

Children in whom was no defect, who were good in appearance, who showed insight in all wisdom, understanding in knowledge, and apprehension in thought, and in whom was the ability to stand in the king's palace. And he told him to teach them the learning and  ¹language of the Chaldeans.

And the king appointed to them a daily portion from the king's  ¹choice provision and from the wine that he drank, and appointed that they should be brought up for three years so that at the end  ²of the time they might stand before the king.

Now among these from the sons of Judah were  ¹Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

And the leader of the eunuchs gave them names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; Hananiah, the name Shadrach; Mishael, the name Meshach; and Azariah, the name Abed-nego.

But Daniel  ¹set his heart not to defile himself with the king's choice provision and with the wine that  ²the king drank, so he requested of the leader of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

And God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the leader of the eunuchs;

And the leader of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink; for why should he see your faces being more morose than those of the children who are of your own age? Then you would bring guilt upon my head before the king.

Then Daniel said to the steward whom the leader of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

Please test your servants for ten days, and let vegetables be given to us to eat and water to drink.

Then let our countenances be watched in your presence, as well as the countenances of the children who eat the king's choice provision; and do with your servants according to what you see.

So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.

And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared better, and they were more fully fleshed than all the children who ate the king's choice provision.

Therefore the steward withheld their portion of the choice provision and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

Now as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and insight in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Then at the end of the days when the king had said that the children should be brought in, the leader of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar;

And the king spoke with them. And among them all none were found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they stood in the presence of the king.

And in every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

And Daniel continued until the  ¹first year of Cyrus the king.