Daniel 5 - LSB Bible Online

Daniel 5

Belshazzar’s Feast

Belshazzar the king ¹held a great ^afeast for one thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he said 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 came out 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 ¹^asplendor of the king’s face changed, and his thoughts alarmed him, and his ^bhip joints ²went slack, and his ^cknees were knocking against each other. 7 The king called out loudly to bring in the ^aconjurers, the ¹Chaldeans, and the diviners. The king answered and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this writing and declare its interpretation to me shall be ^bclothed with purple and have a ^cnecklace of gold around his neck and rule with power as ²^dthird ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ^athey could not read the writing or make known its interpretation to the king. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^aalarmed, and the ¹^bsplendor of his face changed further, and his nobles were perplexed.
10 The queen entered the banquet ¹hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen answered and said, “^aO king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or the ²splendor of your face be changed. 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, set him as 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 ¹solving 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 the Writing on the Wall

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered 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 writing 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 ¹solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the writing 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 rule with power as the ²third ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your ^agifts remain with you or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the writing to the king and make the interpretation known to him. 18 ¹O king, the ^aMost High God ^bgranted the kingdom, ^cgrandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. 19 And because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue feared and were in dread before him; ^awhomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he kept alive, and whomever he wished he raised up, and whomever he wished he made low. 20 But when his heart was ^araised up and his spirit became so ^bstrong 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 the sons of ¹men, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his place of habitation was with the ^bwild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of the sky until he knew that the ^cMost High God is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and that He sets up over it whomever He wishes. 22 Yet you, his ¹son, Belshazzar, have ^anot made your heart lowly, ²even though you knew all this, 23 but you have ^araised yourself up 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 know. But the God ^din whose hand are your life-breath and all your ^eways, you have not honored. 24 Then the ¹^ahand was sent from Him, and this writing was ²inscribed.
25 “Now this is the writing that was ¹inscribed: ‘²MENĒ, ²MENĒ, ³TEKĒL, ⁴UPHARSIN.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the ¹message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and ^aput an end to it. 27 ‘TEKĒL’—you have been ^aweighed on the scales and found lacking. 28 ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the ^aMedes and ¹Persians.”
29 Then Belshazzar said the word, and they ^aclothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now would be the ¹third powerful ruler in the kingdom.
30 That same night ^aBelshazzar the Chaldean king was ^bkilled.
31 ¹So ^aDarius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.

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