Daniel 5:1-31 (New American Standard)

Belshazzar's Feast

1 Belshazzar the king ^aheld a great ¹feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver ²vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his ^bfather had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem ; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They ³drank the wine and praised the gods of ⁴gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. 5 Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the ^cback of the hand that did the writing. 6 Then the king's ^d5face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his ⁶hip joints went slack and his ⁷knees began knocking together. 7 The king called aloud to bring in the ⁸conjurers, the ^eChaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, "Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be ⁹clothed with purple and have a ¹⁰necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as ^f11third ruler in the kingdom." 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but ¹²they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly ¹³alarmed, his ^g14face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed. 10 The queen entered the banquet ^hhall because of the words of the king and his nobles ; the queen spoke and said, "¹⁵O king, live forever ! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your ⁱface be pale. 11 "There is a ¹⁶man in your kingdom in whom is ^ja ¹⁷spirit of the holy gods ; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father ^k18the king, appointed him chief of the ^lmagicians, conjurers, ^mChaldeans and diviners. 12 "This was because an ¹⁹extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named ²⁰Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation."

Daniel Interprets Handwriting on the Wall

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the ⁿ²¹exiles from Judah, whom my father the king ²²brought from Judah ? 14 "Now I have heard about you that ^oa spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you. 15 "Just now the ²³wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they ²⁴could not declare the interpretation of the ^pmessage. 16 "But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its ²⁵interpretation known to me, you will be ²⁶clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the ^qthird ruler in the kingdom." 17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "^rKeep your ²⁷gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else ; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. 18 "^sO king, the ²⁸Most High God ²⁹granted ^tsovereignty, ³⁰grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. 19 "Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every ^ulanguage feared and trembled before him; ³¹whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive ; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. 20 "But when his heart was ³²lifted up and his spirit became so ^v33proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was ³⁴deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. 21 "He was also ³⁵driven away from ^wmankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the ³⁶wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the ³⁷Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. 22 "Yet you, his ^xson, Belshazzar, have ³⁸not humbled your heart, ^yeven though you knew all this, 23 but you have ³⁹exalted yourself against the ⁴⁰Lord of heaven ; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the ⁴¹gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God ⁴²in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways⁴³, you have not glorified. 24 "Then the ^z44hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out. 25 "Now this is the inscription that was written out: '^aaMENE, ^bbMENE, ^ccTEKEL, ^ddUPHARSIN.' 26 "This is the interpretation of the ^eemessage : 'MENE '-God has numbered your kingdom and ⁴⁵put an end to it. 27 " 'TEKEL '-you have been ⁴⁶weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 " 'PERES '-your kingdom has been divided and given over to the ⁴⁷Medes and ^ffPersians." 29 Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they ⁴⁸clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the ^ggthird ruler in the kingdom. 30 That same night ⁴⁹Belshazzar the Chaldean king was ⁵⁰slain. 31 ^hhSo ⁵¹Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two .