CHAPTER 5

¹King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and before the thousand he drank wine. ²With the wine on his tongue, Belshazzar said to bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken away from the Temple in Jerusalem so that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. ³Then did they bring the vessels of gold that had been taken away from the temple of the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines, drank from them. ⁴They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. ⁵At that very moment, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote before the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the palm of the hand that was writing. ⁶Then did the king’s countenance change and his thoughts panicked him, and the cords of his loins went slack and his knees knocked together. ⁷The king called out loudly to bring in his magicians, Chaldeans, and diviners. The king spoke out and said to the sages of Babylonia, “Whichever man reads this writing and tells me its meaning shall wear royal purple and have a golden collar round his neck and rule over a third of the kingdom.” ⁸Then did the king’s sages come in, but they could not read the writing nor make its meaning known to the king. ⁹Then did King Belshazzar greatly panic and his countenance changed, and his nobles were confounded. ¹⁰Because of the words of the king and his nobles, the queen came into the banquet hall. The queen spoke out and said, “May the king live forever! Let not your thoughts panic you, nor your countenance change. ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom in whom the spirit of the holy gods resides, and in your father’s days enlightenment and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar your father raised him up as master of the soothsayers, the magicians, the Chaldeans, the diviners, ¹²because exceeding spirit and knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams and explain enigmas and untie knotty matters were found in Daniel, to whom the king gave the name of Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell its meaning.” ¹³Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke out and said, “You are Daniel, who is of the exiles from Judah whom my father brought from Judah. ¹⁴And I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods resides within you and that enlightenment and understanding and exceeding wisdom are found within you. ¹⁵And now, the sages and the magicians were brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make its meaning known to me, but they could not tell the thing’s meaning. >¹⁶And I have heard of you that you can interpret meanings and untie knotty matters. Now, if you can read the writing and make its meaning known to me, you shall wear royal purple and a golden collar shall be round your neck, and over a third of the kingdom you shall rule.” ¹⁷Then did Daniel speak out and say before the king, “Let your gift be yours, and your presents give to another. I shall read the writing and the meaning I shall make known to the king. ¹⁸You, O king, the Most High God gave kingship and greatness and honor and glory to Nebuchadnezzar your father. ¹⁹And because of the greatness that He gave him, all people, nations, and tongues were trembling and fearful before him. Whom he would will he would slay and whom he would will he would let live, and whom he would will he would raise up and whom he would will he would bring low. ²⁰And when his heart was overweening and his spirit grew mighty in defiance, he was taken down from his royal throne and his glory was removed from him. ²¹And he was driven from humankind, and his heart was leveled with the beasts and his dwelling was with the wild asses. Grass like the oxen they fed him, and from the dew of the heavens his body was moistened, until he knew that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of man, and whom He will He raises over it. ²²And you, his son Belshazzar, your heart has not been humbled though you have known all this. ²³And against the LORD of the heavens you have exalted yourself, and you brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines drank wine in them, and you praised gods of silver and gold, bronze, wood, and stone, who do not see and do not hear and do not know. And the God in Whose hand is your life-breath and all your ways are His, you did not glorify. ²⁴Then before Him was sent the palm of a hand and this writing was inscribed. ²⁵And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene mene teqal ufarsin. ²⁶This is the meaning of the word: mene, God has numbered your kingship and brought it to an end. ²⁷Teqal, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. ²⁸Peras, your kingdom has been broken apart and given to Media and Persia.” ²⁹Then Belshazzar spoke, and they clothed Daniel in royal purple and put a golden collar round his neck and proclaimed of him that he should rule over a third of the kingdom. ³⁰On that very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain. ^6:1And Darius the Mede received the kingdom when he was sixty-two years old.