Chapter 1

Make up a short dramatic story from these events and act it out as a play. You could pretend that those things were happening in your neighbourhood. Involve your friends and neighbours in your play.

1:1-21 Your play might be in several parts: 1:1-2; 3-5; 6-17; 18-20; 21. Think about each part carefully.

1:1 Who is this verse talking about? (These people are the ‘actors’.) What do you learn about the positions of these people? Where is this event happening? What happened?

1:2 What two things did God allow? List four things that Nebuchadnezzar did. What happened to Jehoiakim? What do you learn about Nebuchadnezzar’s buildings?

1:3 Who are the ‘actors’ in this verse? What do you learn about these people?

1:4, 5 List the qualities that Nebuchadnezzar wanted in these young men. List what they needed to achieve. What provisions would they receive? How long would the training take? What were they preparing for?

1:6 Name the four young men. Where did they come from?

1:7 List the new names given to these young men. What do you think about those names? Has anybody ever changed your name? What do you think about changing people’s names? List the original names of the young men. What do you think about those names?

1:8 What did Daniel decide? Why do you think that he decided that? What did he do about that?

1:9 What had God done?

1:10 Who spoke to whom? What was the official afraid of? Which was his worst fear? What kind of fears do your people have? What do you think about those fears?

1:11 To whom did Daniel speak? What do you know about that man's duties? Who was with Daniel?

1:12 How long would Daniel's test last? What was the test? What were the supplies that Daniel requested? How were those supplies different from the supplies that the king offered? (See Daniel 1:8.)

1:13 With whom did Daniel ask the guard to compare himself and his friends? What must the guard decide? What do you think about the test? Do you think that it was fair or unfair?

1:14 Did the guard agree? How long did the test last?

1:15 What were the results of the test? What do you think about those results?

1:16 What happened next? Who made it happen? Why do you think that Daniel and his friends chose the simple food?

1:17 List the gifts that God gave to the four young men. What extra gift did God give to Daniel? What might you be able to do if you had those gifts? What difference might those gifts have made for Daniel and his friends?

1:18 What happened next?

1:19 What did the king do? What did he discover? How might he have made that discovery? What did he do then?

1:20 What kind of advice did the king want? Who else gave advice to the king? Where did the other people come from?

1:21 How long did Daniel stay there? (See Daniel 2:1; 5:30, 31; 6:28; 8:1; 10:1.) What do you think about that?