The old testament is studied by many different religions and backgrounds. All are welcome to post here.

What meaning can you figure out from this text?

(NIV)

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar(B) king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia[a] and put in the treasure house of his god.

3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

I am reading through the Old Testament. This just happens to be the next chapter I’m starting. There may be other parts of the Bible that are of more interesting to read at the current time, on here.

Are you a follower of Christianity or the bible?

I follow after New Testament (Christianity), Because for Christians, Christ is the only way to God. I seek to understand any spiritual texts. One can read the news of a place for the time one is actively living in, but if one is to read history, it has to be in somewhat of chronological order, with slow beginnings and all, because context is there.

Glad you stopped by; see the next topic, Daniel 3.

Daniel was among Israelites who were taken captive.
Though they were what we might call slaves, other-than-physical attributes were also appreciated for their value.

Daniel sought to obey the commandments and presently-applicable judgments of God -here concerning clean and unclean foods -so he proposed a test to show it was a good healthy decision -that there was wisdom behind it..... rather than simply refuse. He was also aware of potential backlash from captors, so he was careful in his approach.

(King Nebuchadnezzar eventually had a dream from God -and asked that someone not only tell him the meaning of it, but also tell him what he had dreamed -so he could be sure of the interpretation. The dream was a description of successive world-ruling kingdoms from Nebuchadnezzar until the return of Christ and the setting up of the kingdom of God on Earth)

Daniel is one of the most interesting books because of its broad overview of human history (much of it future at the time of recording) and also its great detail of specific events within that overview.

Though a very early book, it specifically mentions "the time of the end" -and contains a perfectly accurate description of related world events up to the present day -with a bit left as yet unfulfilled.

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

The interrelationship between the king(s) of the north and the king(s) of the south over time describe what we would call the history of the European and Muslim worlds.

If you follow the New Testament then you should follow both. They go hand in hand. You will often read the prophets of the New Testament writing this text: "As it is written".
Where was it written? Right, in the Old Testament. Christ was teaching Mozes.
We can't open a book in the middle and expect to get the correct understanding.

Though some believe otherwise, the kingdom represented by the feet and toes of iron and clay in "Nebuchadnezzar's dream" has yet to happen. It will be short-lived and at its end will be the beginning of the reign of Christ on Earth.

There has been quite a bit of time since the kingdom represented by the legs of iron. This space of time -in reference to the more immediate successions of the others -is described as going into -then out of -abyss/bottomless pit.
These kingdoms are also described elsewhere as different kinds of beasts. The last is referred to as "the" beast in Revelation.

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.