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No other Biblical character is more popular, for his wonderful rise from the position of captive and slave in a royal household to that of ruler of the kingdom was brought about not through kingly favor but through Daniel's own wisdom and goodness. When Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, swept down upon Jerusalem, he carried off not only the sacred vessels from the Temple but a number of high-born youths, of whom Daniel was one. In Babylon, Daniel refused to eat of his "portion of the king's meat," lest he might defile himself, but throve so well on his simple diet that he attracted the notice of the king.
One night, King Nebuchadnezzar had a troublesome dream, which his wise men could not interpret. But Daniel, declaring that "there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets," described the dream and gave the interpretation, and as a reward, was made ruler over the whole district of Babylon. In later years, he made clear another royal dream, which foretold the madness of Nebuchadnezzar, and interpreted to Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, the marvelous handwriting on the wall. Under Darius, the Median, who fulfilled the writing by capturing Babylon, Daniel was given high authority by reason of his wisdom, but the Babylonian princes became jealous, and by a trick had him cast into a den of lions. His miraculous preservation led Darius to acknowledge the God of the Hebrews and put an end to the persecutions of Daniel, who from this time on "prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian."
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"Daniel's answer to the king"