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Daniel 5

Belshazzar's Feast

1

Belshazzar the king  1held a great  afeast 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  avessels which Nebuchadnezzar his  1father 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  adrank the wine and praised the gods of  bgold 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  1back of the hand that did the writing.

6

Then the king's  1 aface grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his  bhip joints went slack and his  cknees began knocking together.

7

The king called aloud to bring in the  aconjurers, the  1Chaldeans 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  bclothed with purple and have a  cnecklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as  2 dthird ruler in the kingdom."

8

Then all the king's wise men came in, but  athey could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king.

9

Then King Belshazzar was greatly  aalarmed, his  1 bface grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed.

10

The queen entered the banquet  1hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, " aO king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your  2face be pale.

11

"There is a  aman in your kingdom in whom is  1a  bspirit 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  2 cthe king, appointed him chief of the  3magicians, conjurers,  4Chaldeans and diviners.

12

"This was because an  aextraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named  bBelteshazzar. 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  1 aexiles from Judah, whom my father the king  bbrought from Judah?

14

"Now I have heard about you that  1a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

15

"Just now the  awise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they  bcould not declare the interpretation of the  1message.

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  ainterpretation known to me, you will be  bclothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the  1third ruler in the kingdom."

17

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, " 1Keep your  agifts 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

1O king, the  aMost High God  bgranted  2sovereignty,  cgrandeur, 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  1language feared and trembled before him;  awhomever 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  alifted up and his spirit became so  1 bproud that he behaved arrogantly, he was  cdeposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

21

"He was also  adriven away from  1mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the  bwild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the  cMost High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes.

22

"Yet you, his  1son, Belshazzar, have  anot humbled your heart,  2even though you knew all this,

23

but you have  aexalted yourself against the  bLord 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  cgods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God  din whose hand are your life-breath and your  eways, you have not glorified.

24

"Then the  1 ahand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.

25

"Now this is the inscription that was written out: ` 1MENE,  1MENE,  2TEKEL,  3UPHARSIN.'

26

"This is the interpretation of the  1message: `MENE'--God has numbered your kingdom and  aput an end to it.

27

" `TEKEL'--you have been  aweighed on the scales and found deficient.

28

" `PERES'--your kingdom has been divided and given over to the  aMedes and  1Persians."

29

Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they  aclothed 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  1third ruler in the kingdom.

30

That same night  aBelshazzar the Chaldean king was  bslain.

31

 1So  aDarius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:23:58 2007)

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