| 5:1 |
Belshazzar the king made
a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine
before the thousand. |
| 5:2 |
Belshazzar, whiles 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
therein. |
| 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 plaister 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
soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men
of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew
me the interpretation thereof, 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 thereof. |
| 5:9 |
Then was king Belshazzar
greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him,
and his lords were astonied. |
| 5:10 |
Now the queen, by reason
of the words of the king and his lords, came into the
banquet house: and the queen spake 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 soothsayers; |
| 5:12 |
Forasmuch as an excellent
spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of
dreams, and shewing 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
shew the interpretation. |
| 5:13 |
Then was Daniel brought
in before the king. And the king spake and said unto
Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children
of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father
brought out of Jewry? |
| 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 unto me the
interpretation thereof: but they could not shew 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 thereof, 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
unto 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 honour: |
| 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 ruled 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 thine 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 drunk 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, hast thou 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 threescore and two years
old. |