1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, 3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.” 5But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods. 6Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.’
7“Therefore now Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining, 8in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live, that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.’
11“Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. 12I will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach. 13For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; 14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’”
15Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. 17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. 18But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”
19The women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of the sky and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people—to the men and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, 21“The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn’t Yahweh remember them, and didn’t it come into his mind? 22Thus Yahweh could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today. 23Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today.”
24Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt! 25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her.”
“‘Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.’
26“Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord Yahweh lives.” 27Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone. 28Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.
29“‘This will be the sign to you,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’ 30Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.’”
This chapter tells the story of how Daniel and his companions arrived in Babylon, remained faithful to God, and rose to prominence in King Nebuchadnezzar's court. In 605 BC, at the Battle of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the invading Egyptian army under Pharaoh Neco II. With Egypt pushed back, he turned to Jerusalem, which he saw as a rebellious city that needed control. That summer, the young Daniel watched in horror as Babylonian soldiers stormed into Jerusalem. Foreigners shouted in Aramaic, a language unfamiliar to many Jews. The invaders sought out Judah’s nobility and royal family, looking for the best and brightest young men. They would be taken as hostages to ensure Judah’s loyalty to Babylon. Among those seized were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—later known by their Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The boys, frightened and unsure of their fate, took one last look at their families before being forced to march north to Haran, then south along the Tigris and Euphrates, finally passing through the massive gates of Babylon. The journey likely took four months (Ezra 8:31-32).
Meanwhile, as Daniel and his companions traveled, King Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father, died on July 20, 605 BC. The young prince hurried back to Babylon, leaving his armies behind. On August 12, he was crowned King of Babylon. His father had divided power between his two sons: Nebuchadnezzar was made king, while his younger brother Nabu-shum-lisher was given the title of Chief Priest of Marduk. Shortly after Nebuchadnezzar’s coronation, Daniel and the other captives arrived in Babylon.
Once in Babylon, the young captives likely faced a terrifying ritual—castration. They were placed under the care of Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, suggesting that they, too, were made eunuchs. The Bible never mentions Daniel marrying or having children, further supporting this possibility. Isaiah had warned that Hezekiah’s royal descendants would be taken as eunuchs in the palace of Babylon (Isaiah 39:7). Babylon had no anesthetics and little compassion. The pain, grief, and loss these boys endured must have been unbearable. They may have questioned God’s faithfulness: Was the God of Israel real? Where were His promises? Was Marduk, the god of Babylon, stronger than Yahweh? What had they done to deserve such a fate? They had lost everything—their families, their home, and their future as men. In Jewish tradition, boys became adults at thirteen, when they celebrated their bar mitzvah. But instead of stepping into manhood, they were stripped of it and became slaves to a foreign king.
Despite their suffering, Daniel and his friends remained faithful to God. Israel’s priests and kings, who once had great power and wealth, had failed to obey God’s commands. Later, Judah’s exiles in Egypt would also reject the Lord (Jeremiah 44:16). But these four teenage captives, even after being emasculated and enslaved, refused to compromise their faith. They would not defile themselves by accepting pagan customs. Because of their loyalty, God would use them—along with the prophet Ezekiel—to preserve the covenant promises given to Abraham, Moses, and David. These promises would eventually lead to the Messiah, whom Daniel would later brilliantly prophesy.
Nebuchadnezzar had a clear plan for his new captives. He wanted them trained in the language and literature of the Chaldeans. Babylon prided itself on science, literature, and technology. Learning Chaldean wisdom was like mastering Greek in Rome, Latin in the Middle Ages, or French in 19th-century England. It was the key to becoming truly cultured. The word “Chaldean” did not just refer to an ethnic group—it became synonymous with wisdom, astrology, and priesthood. Nebuchadnezzar’s goal was to train a new class of sages, loyal only to him, to counterbalance the influence of his brother and the powerful Chaldean priesthood. By doing this, he ensured that his own political allies held the highest positions.
As a young king ruling a newly conquered empire, Nebuchadnezzar faced many challenges. He spent much of his reign on military campaigns, fighting to expand and secure his vast territory. While he led troops into battle, he needed a trusted cabinet of advisors to govern Babylon in his absence. Nebuchadnezzar had personally fought in his father’s war against Assyria, overthrowing the last Assyrian king, Sin-shar-ishkun. This experience taught him a critical lesson: a Babylonian king who ignored internal politics risked being overthrown. By training foreign elites like Daniel and his companions, Nebuchadnezzar created a network of educated, loyal servants to help him maintain order. This was not just about education—it was a political survival strategy.
Daniel wrote Chapter 1 in Hebrew, a message meant specifically for his fellow Jews. However, later in the book (Daniel 2:4b –7:28), he switched to Aramaic, the international language of the Babylonian and Persian empires. This shift signaled that those chapters were meant for the entire world to read.