5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his
lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
5:2 Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the
golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had
taken out of the temple which [was] in Jerusalem; that the
king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might
drink in them.
5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of
the temple of the house of God which [was] at Jerusalem; and
the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank
in them.
5:4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of
silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5:5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and
wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall
of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand
that wrote.
5:6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts
troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and
his knees smote one against another.
5:7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the
Chaldeans, and the sooth-sayers. [And] the king spoke and said
to the wise [men] of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing,
and show me the interpretation of it, shall be clothed with
scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about his neck, and shall
be the third ruler in the kingdom.
5:8 Then came in all the king's wise [men]: but they could not
read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation
of it.
5:9 Then was the king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his
countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
5:10 [Now] the queen by reason of the words of the king and his
lords came into the banquet house: [and] the queen spoke and
said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee,
nor let thy countenance be changed:
5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom [is] the spirit of
the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and
understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was
found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the
king, [I say], thy father, made master of the magicians,
astrologers, Chaldeans, [and] sooth-sayers;
5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and
understanding, the interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard
sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same
Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be
called, and he will show the interpretation.
5:13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. [And] the king
spoke and said to Daniel, [Art] thou that Daniel, who [art] of
the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father
brought out of Judea?
5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods [is]
in thee, and [that] light and understanding and excellent
wisdom is found in thee.
5:15 And now the wise [men], the astrologers, have been brought
in before me, that they should read this writing, and make
known to me the interpretation of it, but they could not show
the interpretation of the thing:
5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make
interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read
the writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it,
thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold
about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
5:17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy
gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I
will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the
interpretation.
5:18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy
father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor:
5:19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations,
and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he
slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set
up; and whom he would he put down.
5:20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in
pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his
glory from him:
5:21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was
made like the beasts, and his dwelling [was] with the wild
asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet
with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and [that] he appointeth over it
whomsoever he will.
5:22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart,
though thou knewest all this;
5:23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and
they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and
thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drank
wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and
gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear,
nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath [is], and whose
[are] all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.
5:24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this
writing was written.
5:25 And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE, MENE,
TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
5:26 This [is] the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath
numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found
wanting.
5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and
Persians.
5:29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with
scarlet, and [put] a chain of gold about his neck, and made a
proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler
in the kingdom.
5:30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans
slain.
5:31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, [being] about sixty
and two years old.
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